Mr. ZENG Zhi, the Acting Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Vancouver.

Mr. ZENG Zhi has rich diplomatic work experience, and has previously worked in the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and has been engaged in protocol affairs for many years. He has also worked in Chinese diplomatic missions abroad, specifically Cyprus and Thailand.

Jacob Cooke is the Co-Founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, a leading e-commerce and technology consultancy that drives growth for global brands in China, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. As CEO, Jacob is the driving force behind WPIC’s world-class data tools, e-commerce services, and artificial intelligence technology. Under his leadership, the firm has built out an expansive solution set covering data analytics, e-commerce activations and store management, brand strategy, creative campaigns, merchandising, warehousing, 3PL integrations, and more.

Dr. Fung is the co-founder, Board Chair and CEO of the ACDEG Group of companies, a global technology integrator. Over the past 35 years, he has founded, co-founded or restructured over 25 business ventures/corporations in agri-food, manufacturing, wholesale distribution and clean technologies in North America, Europe and Asia.

Dr. Fung is also the Founding Scientist of EM Fluids Inc. of Ottawa (ON) with water remediation projects on six continents. He is the co-inventor of 46 issued or allowed patents with more than 30 patent applications pending on a variety of chemical technologies including a highly disruptive discovery on the disproportionate responses of the physicochemical properties of liquids to minute external stimuli.

Besides the ACDEG Group of companies, his board experience includes Chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada, Co-chair of the Members of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, National Board Chair of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters Association, Chair of China Committee of International Science & Technology Partnership Canada, Vice-chair of the national boards of Canada China Business Council, the Canadian Standards Association Group and the Management Board of National Zero Waste Council of Canada. He was the Chancellor and a member of the Board of Governors and the Senate of Capilano University of British Columbia, the President of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering, a member of the Steering Committee of the Metro Vancouver Regional Prosperity Initiative, a Senior Fellow of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and a member of the Advisory Board of the McGill School of Religious Studies.

He was awarded the Canadian Asian of the Year (Business and Public Service), 2009 by Asia Network Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012 by the Governor General of Canada, the honorary Doctor of Law degree by Capilano University (BC) in 2014, the honorary Doctor of Science degree by Concordia University (Quebec) in 2020, the Award of Merit by the McGill Alumni Association in 2022 and Fellow of Engineers Canada in 2024.

Bijan Ahmadi is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Canada China Business Council (CCBC), where he leads the Council’s strategic direction, operations, and programming across all seven chapters in Canada and China. In this capacity, he also serves on CCBC’s Board of Directors and its Executive Committee.

As a recognized voice in Canada–China relations, Bijan works closely with senior executives, policymakers, and institutional partners to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties, advance member services, and position Canadian companies for success in the Chinese market. His work focuses on translating policy and regulatory developments into practical insights for business leaders and supporting high-level commercial engagement between the two countries.

Prior to joining CCBC, Bijan co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD) from 2018 to 2024, where he helped build the organization into a respected binational foreign policy think tank operating in Canada and the United States. During this period, he launched IPD’s Asia research program and its annual flagship conference, the Indo-Pacific Strategy Forum (IPSF) in Ottawa, now widely regarded as Canada’s leading platform for policy and economic dialogue on the Asia-Pacific region. He was also co-editor of Canada–China Brief, an online policy publication covering political and economic developments in the bilateral relationship.

Throughout his work on China, Bijan has advised multinational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises on navigating Canada–China trade, regulatory, and policy environments. He has led Track 2 and Track 1.5 dialogue initiatives in partnership with Chinese, Canadian and American institutions and he regularly delivers lectures and professional training on Canada–China economic relations for public and private sector audiences.

Bijan also serves on the Advisory Board of the Canada China Forum, a platform dedicated to nurturing the next generation of China-competent Canadian professionals.

He holds a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from SOAS University of London and a Master of Applied Science from the University of Toronto. Earlier in his career, he worked in strategy and management roles in the financial services and real estate sectors and has served on the boards of several Canadian non-profits and NGOs, including the Toronto branch of the Canadian International Council.

As Regional Director of Western Canada, Lotta Ygartua is responsible for building the CCBC membership base throughout the region by connecting Canadian and Chinese businesses, promoting Canada-China bilateral trade, organizing events and supporting the delivery of member services. Ms. Ygartua has over 10 years of marketing experience in the technology, marketing research, communications and art sectors. Prior to joining CCBC, she was Marketing Manager at the China-Britain Business Council based in the UK, promoting trade and business with China and organizing high-calibre events involving the Chinese Premier and the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Ms. Ygartua spent several years living in China, where she studied and worked for a local company that developed products for the Chinese market. Ms. Ygartua studied Mandarin at the University of Nanjing and Nanjing Normal University. She holds a BA in Chinese and BSc in Social and Economic Geography from Uppsala University, Sweden.