Callan hails from the United Kingdom, having grown up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he was involved in business consulting at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce. Callan has also been Chairman of several non-governmental charitable entities, as well as serving a period as General Manager of a United Nations infrastructure company during the Bosnian War 1992-1995. Callan is a business specialist with significant private and public-sector experience in strategic and business planning, human resource management and corporate services.

 

With over 25 years’ experience in management and consulting, Callan has been instrumental in assisting firms from Australia, Canada, UK and USA to develop a presence in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Since Callan’s first appointment in Asia since 1999, he has led many global firms in their expansion within the region, as well as taking up voluntary posts including Director of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

 

He is a Fellow of the following organisations; The Hong Kong Institute of Directors, the UK Institute of Directors and The Royal Society of the Arts and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Christopher Chen is the head of the InvestHK presence for Canada, responsible for driving foreign direct investment from Canadian companies, organisations, and educational institutions to Hong Kong and Asia Pacific. Prior to InvestHK, he was a senior fintech professional, leading growth marketing and customer engagement initiatives for multinational insurance and asset management companies throughout Canada, Europe, and Asia. He has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and Scotland. He has a Master’s degree from the University of British Columbia with post-graduate fellowships at the National Taiwan Normal University and Yusof Ishak Institute/ISEAS.

Karen Cvornyek is a Partner at B+H and President of the firm’s operations in Asia, overseeing a team of over 200 architects, interior designers, landscape architects, urban planners and strategists across the firm’s studios in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ho Chi Minh City. Karen joined B+H as a Principal in 2002 and has led the firm’s practice in Asia since 2003, overseeing an unprecedented period of growth throughout the region. Karen has practiced architecture in Canada, England, Japan, Italy, Germany and the United Arab Emirates and has delivered projects of all scales and typologies across the Commercial, Mixed-Use, Residential, Retail, Hospitality, Education, Healthcare, Corporate Workplace and Transportation sectors.

Cindy is the current National Chair of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA), where she has been involved since 2015 and acted previously as National Vice-Chair, Secretary and Director.

 

Cindy is also a partner at DS Lawyers Canada LLP and specializes in business law and works in a wide range of fields, including corporate and commercial law, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, leasing, public and regulatory law. She assists corporations in their general business operations by negotiating and drafting agreements. Cindy has an outstanding record involving national and international transactions, with a particular emphasis on China related matters. She supports the firm in its larger files, namely in international trade and customs law, IP and franchise law. She leads numerous share, asset and real estate purchase and sale transactions. Cindy has also assisted many companies in their establishment abroad and accompanied many corporations in their expansion, including Chinese entrepreneurs in Canada as well as Canadian companies in China, and namely in the creation of WFOEs in China and JVs with a Chinese companies. Cindy has already been recognized and awarded with Corporate Lawyer of the Year by the Young Bar of Montreal at its 2019 Gala « Leaders of Tomorrow » and is recognized as a Corporate Rising Star 2021 by The Inside Network.

 

Giving back and volunteering are Cindy’s core values. She has volunteered and fundraised for Héma-Québec, the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the Montreal Chinese Hospital. She sits on an advisory committee board of the Future of the Chinatown of the City of Montreal and was involved in various committees for the Young Bar of Montreal between 2014 and 2016. She was President of the Young Chinese Professionals Association where she perpetuated their missions to unite, empower and propel young Asian professionals and entrepreneurs by continuing existing projects and created new programs (such as the first trade mission to China in May 2018), while maintaining partnerships and alliances. She organized and served for several years as President of the Orchid Ball organized by the YCPA, one of the most prestigious events of the Chinese community in Montreal which celebrates Asian Heritage Month. She was a panelist at the 2017 National Women in Business Conference and she organized, in collaboration with the young chambers of commerce of the Island of Montreal, a networking event to discuss key issues such as diversity, retention of talent, equality, etc.

Sarah joined the CCBC in 2007 and has since revitalized CCBC’s role as Canada’s premier bilateral trade and investment organization. Sarah has re-centered the Council’s activities around providing business services, catalyzing business growth and activity, and advocating for stronger Sino-Canadian bilateral trade and investment. This has resulted in extensive public outreach activities, internal infrastructure improvements, the launch of new programs such as the Business Incubation Centre, and thriving member relations.

 

Prior to joining CCBC, Sarah worked for 11 years in marketing, product development, and management with a major multinational corporation, where she had multiple assignments involving China. Sarah managed worldwide product businesses that marketed to China and used China-based sources of supply. She was also involved in several projects requiring cooperation with the Chinese government. Sarah has led both established and start-up businesses within the context of a global corporation and has broad emerging market business experience, and has been involved in the Greater China region since the late 1980’s when she lived and worked in Taiwan. There, she was the first non-Chinese employee of a local high-tech start-up firm, where she gained a deep understanding of Chinese business practices.

 

A fluent Mandarin speaker, Sarah’s interest in China began at the University of Wisconsin, where she studied Chinese, marketing, and international business. She holds an MBA in finance and operations from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester. She frequently speaks on China issues, including marketing, trade, investment, and Canada-China relations.

Emily joined the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China in 2001 as a member of the Administrative Officer Grade. In December 2018, she took up the Director post in the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Toronto, the mandate of which is to foster closer economic trade ties between Canada and Hong Kong, and also promote bilateral cultural relations and people-to-people ties. Before that she had worked in different offices of the HKSAR government.

Jia Wang is currently the Interim Director of the China Institute at the University of Alberta, where she manages research, programs, and government and media relations since 2011. Jia has over 15 years of direct management experience focusing on the economic and political dimensions of contemporary China and Canada-China relations in various capacities. At the China Institute, in addition to overseeing the operations, she leads policy research initiatives examining Canada’s diplomatic, trade, investment and energy linkages with China. Jia also provides strategic and policy advice on China to University senior leaders as well as executives at public and private sector organizations. She is a frequent media commentator, speaker and moderator at community, national and international events.

 

Before joining the China Institute, Jia worked as a television news reporter, anchor and producer covering major political, business and cultural affairs for OMNI TV network from 2008 to early 2011. She also served as a business consultant for Enbridge Pipelines Inc. and as a conference interpreter for various business, government and higher education institutions at executive-level meetings and major conferences.

 

Jia holds a Bachelor of Laws (first class honours) from Peking University and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Toronto. She has written columns for the largest Chinese newspaper and taught business communication and cultural etiquette in Canada.

 

Born and raised in Beijing and lived for nearly two decades in Canada, Jia is fully bilingual (Chinese and English) and bicultural. She serves on the Board of Directors for Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Winspear Centre for Music and is an Advisory Board Member for the Canada China Forum. An avid animal and nature lover, she supports animal rescue and nature conservation efforts around the world and enjoys hiking in the Canadian Rockies every summer.

As Chair of McMillan’s Hong Kong Office and Chair of the China Practice Group, Stephen takes the lead in providing service to China-based clients seeking acquisitions, investments or financing in Canada. McMillan has a long history of advising on China in-bound and out-bound transactions across a variety of industries, particularly mining, energy, oil & gas, natural resources, transportation and investment banking. With a long track record in the Asia-Pacific region for over 20 years, and with one of the largest China-based client lists in Canada, McMillan offers an in-depth understanding of the Chinese marketplace. Stephen has been recognized for his work in M&A by Chambers Global and The Legal Media Group – Guide to Leading Practitioners: China.