CCBC on May 8, 2020, released the findings of the 2019/2020 Canada-China Business Impact Survey examining the impact of bilateral tensions, the US-China trade war, and COVID-19 on both Canadian and Chinese companies. Sarah Kutulakos, Executive Director of CCBC, presented the findings. A panel discussion followed with Walid Hejazi, Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy and Academic Director, Rotman School of Management; and Cheng LI, Director and Senior Fellow, The John L. Thornton China Center, The Brookings Institution.

Missed the webinar? Click here to download the presentation slides and watch the recording below. 

Sarah, Walid and Cheng discussed:

• What happened to bilateral business in 2019,

• What companies say they need to drive their business forward, and

• How US-China policies have impacted and may further influence Canada’s business in/with China.

The session was free of charge for CCBC members in good standing; $40+HST for non-members.

Download the 2019/2020 Canada-China Business Impact Survey Report here.

To access the McKinsey report, “China and the world: Inside the dynamics of a changing relationship,” Cheng LI referenced during the webinar, click here.

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About the speakers

Sarah Kutulakos
Executive Director, CCBC

Sarah Kutulakos 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.

Walid Hejazi
Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy and Academic Director, Rotman School of Management

Walid Hejazi is an Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy, and Academic Director, at the Rotman School of Management. He has researched and published extensively on topics related to international trade and foreign investment. He has advised the Canadian and foreign governments extensively, and testified many times before parliamentary and senate committees on global competitiveness. He is currently working on a series of studies with the Canadian government which shed light on the competitiveness and productivity of Canadian firms. He teaches Macroeconomics and Global Strategy in Rotman’s MBA and EMBA programs, and has also delivered lectures in over 30 countries. He has traveled extensively to China over the past decade and has worked with several companies and many executives on deploying global strategies, particularly as it relates to the evolution of China into an innovation based economy.

Cheng LI

Director and Senior Fellow, The John L. Thornton China Center, The Brookings Institution

Cheng LI is Director and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center. Dr. LI is also a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and a Distinguished Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at University of Toronto. LI’s research areas include the transformation of political leaders, generational change, the Chinese middle class, technological development in China, and U.S.-China relations.

He is the author/editor of numerous books, including Rediscovering China: Dynamics and Dilemmas of Reform (1997), China’s Leaders: The New Generation (2001), Bridging Minds Across the Pacific: The Sino-US Educational Exchange (2005), China’s Changing Political Landscape (2008), China’s Emerging Middle Class (2010), China’s Political Development: Chinese and American Perspectives (2014), Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership (2016), The Power of Ideas: The Rising Influence of Thinkers and Think Tanks in China (2017), Middle Class Shanghai: Pioneering China’s Global Integration (forthcoming). He is currently completing a book manuscript with the working title Xi Jinping’s Protégés: Rising Elite Groups in the Chinese Leadership. LI received an M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Princeton University.