On January 18, 2024, Asia Society Northern California will host its sixth annual Future of U.S. & China Conference in Mountainview, CA. This conference consists of multiple panels featuring top leading voices across the fields of business, government, technology, academia, and entrepreneurship. Two panel discussions will be livestreamed to members and non-members. A special interactive virtual session will be offered to all members in Seattle and Groundbreaker, Innovator, Advisory Council and Board members in Northern California.

1. The U.S.-China Competition – A Tale of Two Countries (10:05 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Pacific)

Intensifying U.S.-China competition have had rippling effects on the global distribution of power. It is more important than ever to carefully assess the root causes of the tension, as well as motivation and factors shaping each country’s foreign policies towards each other. What are respective domestic policy priorities, including economic growth and social stability? 

Speakers:

• Ryan Hass, Director of the John L. Thornton China Center and the Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies, Brookings
• James McGregor, Chairman, Greater China Region, APCO Worldwide
• Keith Zhai, Senior Adviser, Global Counsel 

2.  Special Interactive Virtual Discussion with Ryan Hass (11:20 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Pacific)

The  U.S.-China Competition – A Tale of Two Countries session will be followed by a special interactive virtual discussion with speaker Ryan Hass, so participants can continue the conversation directly with him online. This special private session is exclusive to all members in Seattle and Groundbreaker, Innovator, Advisory Council and Board members in Northern California. 

• Ryan Hass, Director of the John L. Thornton China Center and the Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies, Brookings

3. The U.S. and China Innovation Race (3:30 p.m. - 4:20 p.m. Pacific)

What role does innovation play in the prospects of U.S.-China competition and collaboration? In which industries does each country hold dominance? Join our panel of experts to explore the latest innovative trends between the U.S. and China, spanning AI, EVs, sustainability, and semiconductors.

Speakers:

• Gary Rieschel, Chair, Asia Society Northern California and Asia Society Seattle; Founding Managing Partner, Qiming; Asia Society Global Trustee
• Rui Ma, Chief Operating Officer, AlphaWatch.AI; China Tech Analyst & Creator of Tech Buzz China
• Ganesh Iyer, Chief Executive Officer, NIO U.S.

Registration and confirmation of registration are required for all sessions. Space is limited. Confirmed guests will receive Zoom links the week of our program.

For in-person panels, speaker line-ups, and registration, please visit our event page here. To become a Member please contact [email protected].

SPEAKER BIOS

Ryan Hass is director of the John L. Thornton China Center and the Chen-Fu and Cecilia Yen Koo Chair in Taiwan Studies at Brookings. He is also a senior fellow in the Center for East Asia Policy Studies. He was part of the inaugural class of David M. Rubenstein fellows at Brookings, and is a nonresident affiliated fellow in the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School. Hass focuses his research and analysis on enhancing policy development on the pressing political, economic, and security challenges facing the United States in East Asia. From 2013 to 2017, Hass served as the director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia at the National Security Council (NSC) staff. In that role, he advised President Obama and senior White House officials on all aspects of U.S. policy toward China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, and coordinated the implementation of U.S. policy toward this region among U.S. government departments and agencies. Hass received multiple Superior Honor and Meritorious Honor commendations during his 15-year tenure in the Foreign Service.

Ganesh V. Iyer joined NIO in April 2016, and currently serves as the chief executive officer of NIO U.S. Mr. Iyer has over 33 years of experience delivering proven results in various industries including autonomous technology, hi-tech, manufacturing, and telecom. Mr. Iyer worked as vice president of Information Technology at Tesla Inc. until 2016. Prior to Tesla, Mr. Iyer joined VMWare in 2010 and held senior information technology leadership roles at VMWare. Prior to VMWare, Mr. Iyer served as director of information technology at Juniper Networks and WebEx and worked in consulting primarily at Electronic Data Systems. Mr. Iyer received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Calicut in India.

Rui Ma was born in China but grew up in the U.S., mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is currently based. She has over fifteen years of experience in investment banking and investing, spanning seed stage to pre-IPO investing, and spent eight of those years working across multiple industries including real estate and media as well as technology in Shanghai and Beijing. She is currently an angel investor and advisor to several startups and funds. Rui is also active in philanthropy and currently runs Rookie.Fund, a nonprofit student venture fund network in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. She’s vegetarian and would like to be a Chinese calligrapher when she retires.

James McGregor is chairman of APCO Worldwide’s greater China region and author of two highly regarded books: No Ancient Wisdom, No Followers: The Challenges of Chinese Authoritarian Capitalism, and One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China. He also wrote the noted APCO monograph China’s Drive for Indigenous Innovation—A Web of Industrial Policies. Prior to joining APCO, Mr. McGregor was the founder and CEO of a China-focused consulting and research firm for hedge funds, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and a chief executive of Dow Jones & Company in China. Mr. McGregor is also a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, and has long served as a leader of AmCham’s U.S., government relations. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, the International Council of Asia Society and a board member of the U.S.-China Education Trust. He has lived in China for nearly three decades and is fluent in Chinese.

Gary Rieschel is Chair of Asia Society Northern California and has over 25 years of successful operating and investing experience as a senior executive, entrepreneur, investor, and global business strategist. He is Founding Managing Partner of Qiming, a firm with over $3 billion focused on early stage investments in China and one of China’s premier venture capital firms. Gary’s personal investment areas are Healthcare and Cleantech. He advised the China Greentech Initiative, and the Rocky Mountain Institute in its move to China. He actively supports the U.S. China Clean Energy Forum, PERC (Property and Environmental Research), the Climate Leadership Council, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the U.S. Olympic Foundation. He served on the joint venture boards of Blackrock and Bank of China and Silicon Valley Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. Gary holds a BA in Biology from Reed College in Portland, OR, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He lived in Japan for five years in the late 1980s and lived in Shanghai from 2005 through 2016. He now lives in Seattle, WA.

Keith Zhai is a co-founder of a stealth AI startup and a Senior Adviser to Global Counsel. Prior, Keith was Senior Correspondent with The Wall Street Journal. He has more than two decades of journalism under his belt, and specializes in decoding China's complex political and economic landscapes. His work has been featured in top global publications including Bloomberg, South China Morning Post, and Thomson Reuters. Keith is a Pulitzer Prize Finalist for his coverage notably of the 2020 Hong Kong protests. His insights and analyses have been cited in U.S. congressional testimonies and have guided crucial global policy decisions. Keith was part of a Wall Street Journal team that won the Malcolm Forbes Award at the 2021 Overseas Press Club Awards, and is a recipient of multiple awards from the Society of Publishers in Asia (SoPA), Asia’s Pulitzer equivalent. Keith also held key roles at China’s digital conglomerate Ant Group and at broadcast news. Zhai also contributed to the craft of journalism as a judge for SoPA. This role complements his commitment to upholding journalistic integrity and advocating for press freedom in the Asia-Pacific region.