Carl Breau is a professional engineer and the CEO of Saimen based in Shanghai. He holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and has over 10 years of China management experience in both Multinational companies and SMEs and his expertise is in the management of projects with an engineering or technology element in China.

Mr. Breau was awarded the Exceptional Achievement Medal from the Canadian Council of Engineers in 1999. He reads, writes and speaks Chinese fluently, lives in Shanghai, and is a frequent speaker on doing business in China.

Jean-Christian joined the then Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Canada (DFAIT) in 2003 as a Policy Officer with the Political Section of the Canadian Embassy in France (Paris). Following his return to DFAIT’s HQ in Ottawa, he held a number of policy and operational positions, mainly focusing on international security matters such as Canada’s participation in the international Campaign against Terrorism, Non-proliferation, Arms control and Disarmament, etc. He represented Canada on multilateral fora such as the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. Jean-Christian served as Deputy Director with the Afghanistan Task Force and conducted several missions to Afghanistan between 2008 and 2010. From 2010 to 2014, he was posted to the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao as the Head of the Foreign Policy and Diplomacy Service. From 2014 to 2018, Jean-Christian was Counsellor (Commercial) at the Embassy of Canada in China (Beijing) where he led teams in charge of promoting Canadian exports in the areas of clean technologies, energy, forestry and infrastructure, amongst other sectors. He began his current assignment as Deputy Consul General and Senior Trade Commissioner at the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai in August 2018.

Stuart Mercier is a Managing Director and Country Head for China, overseeing all of Brookfield’s operations and institutional relationships. Mr. Mercier also has direct responsibility for Brookfield’s Real Estate activities across Asia including business development, investment and portfolio management.

Mr. Mercier joined Brookfield in Hong Kong in 2012 before relocating to Shanghai to establish Brookfield’s mainland Chinese operations. Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr. Mercier held various investment roles within a boutique Asian real estate investment and advisory firm. He also held various positions at Oxford Properties, the global real estate platform of the OMERS pension fund.

Mr. Mercier received a BA from Bishop’s University and an MBA in Finance from the University of Hong Kong and London Business School, where he was the recipient of the Haitong Securities “New Generation of Leaders” scholarship. Mr. Mercier serves on the board of the Canada China Business Council and is a Global Governing Trustee of the Urban Land Institute.

Lisa XIA is the Head of Shanghai and Greater China Head for International Financial Institutions at BMO Financial Group. Prior to that, Ms. XIA led the Shanghai office as Chief Representative and has been in charge of business development since May 2008 when BMO upgraded its office to a full-fledged operating branch.

In the past 19 years, Ms. XIA has had wide-ranging banking experience in both North America and China in such diverse areas as investment and corporate banking, trade finance, project finance, credit risk management and correspondent banking.

Ms. XIA started her banking career with ABN AMRO Bank in 1996 as a Credit Analyst. Later, she was transferred to Structured Finance Unit as a deal specialist, extensively working on non-traditional lending on project finance basis, including deal structuring, pricing, documentation and execution.

Ms. XIA serves as a director on the supervisory board of Shanghai-based Fullgoal Fund Management Company, in which BMO has a 27.775% equity interest. She holds an MBA degree from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).