Facing hard quotas for air emission, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and local environmental agencies have clamped down on manufacturers and producers in China, some of whom have been ordered to stop operations or relocate factories on short notice.

Join the US-China Business Council as we host experts from Control Risks for a roundtable discussion on MEP’s new enforcement strategies and their implications for businesses and their supply chains. Julia Coym, senior analyst at Control Risks, will provide an overview on recent environmental enforcement and the crack-down on manufacturing facilities. Sean Molloy, Partner and Thomas Zhang, director of Control Risks who successfully led several factory closure and restructuring projects in China, will share the best practices for responding to factory shut down or relocation.

Please join the US-China Business Council for this exclusive event on Monday, December 11.

Seating is limited and available on a first-come first-serve basis for members and invited guests of USCBC only. The event will be off-the-record, and media will not be present. 

Time:   13:30 – 14:00: Registration & Coffee

             14:00 – 15:20: Presentation

About the speakers

Julia Coym is senior analyst in Control Risks’ Global Risk Analysis practice, based in Shanghai and consulting on regulatory, political, and security issues in China and North-East Asia. Julia has worked on numerous projects advising clients on how to respond to intensifying regulatory enforcement on environmental, anti-competition and anti-corruption issues. In addition to working on bespoke consulting projects and stakeholder mappings, Julia is a regular contributor to Control Risks’ Country Risk Forecast (CRF) and PRIME services. Her recent projects include:

• ·  Bespoke monitoring of political and regulatory risks resulting from increased investigations into foreign automotive companies in China 
• · Mapping of local government views for a client in an environmentally sensitive industry, looking at environmental and overcapacity policy trends to assess the viability of a proposed project and inform the client’s investment decision
• · Stakeholder mapping of key government institutions participating in intensified anti-corruption and anti-competition enforcement against a healthcare multinational in China
• ·  Development of a bespoke risk assessment tool with a multilateral financial institution to incorporate environmental and social risks to emerging market investment decisions

Prior to joining Control Risks, Julia worked as a Principal Political Risk Analyst for Maplecroft, a UK-based global risk and investment advisory firm, where she conducted and managed risk assessments on China and other Asian countries, examining sectors including transport, healthcare, financial, extractive, and retail. She was also previously a contributor of political and economic analysis for the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Julia is completing a PhD on market access for foreign companies in China, with focusing on the automotive and energy sectors. She has a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Julia speaks Mandarin, is a native German speaker and is fluent in French.

Sean Molloy is a Partner leading Control Risks’ for the Greater China region. Having lived and worked in China for more than 20 years, he has extensive experience working with clients to develop strategic new business initiatives and key account networks in several industries.

Sean helps clients plan, execute and manage strategic initiatives in complex and challenging environments. He helps clients realise effective solutions using the entire range of the Control Risks’ services portfolio, with a strong focus on risk assessment, crisis management, security response, anti-corruption compliance and stakeholder relationship management.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Sean was managing director of a China-focused consulting firm providing market entry and government relations strategies in the energy and security service sectors. He also has executive and project management experience with Lojack Corporation, the Brookings Institute, the National Committee on US-China Relations and Sodexo Alliance. Sean has experience building and managing interdisciplinary stakeholder networks for public and private sector leadership initiatives. He has developed new sales and leadership initiatives for corporations, think tanks and NGOs, and he has provided cross-border security and risk management training to private corporations and some of China’s largest and most influential regulatory agencies.

Recent projects include:

• ·   Assisted a multinational security services provider to assess business, operational and political risks related to China’s newly revised commercial law on physical security and guarding services.
• ·    Assisted a large e-commerce retailer to assess and manage China-based supplier opportunities and related IP risks through site visits, supplier audits and strategy assessments.
• ·    Offered strategic government relations and partner selection research for one of the world’s largest energy companies seeking Chinese joint investment in North American resources.
• ·     Represented one of the world’s leading stolen asset recovery companies to assess, mitigate and manage market entry risk in China and other Asian markets.

Sean holds master’s degrees in Chinese studies and Asia Pacific business studies from the University of Montana and the Fletcher School at Tufts University; he graduated from Whitman College with a degree in political science and a minor in Spanish. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and limited French.

Sean is a board adviser to a number of firms in Asia and a board member of the Mansfield Center for Pacific Affairs at the University of Montana.

Thomas Zhang is a Director at Control Risks and covers the Greater China and North Asia region. Based in Shanghai, he is responsible for consulting in areas of crisis management and response, security support, security vulnerability review, event security, close protection, security system design, complex problem solving, business continuity planning and training. Recent examples of his work include:

• ·  Designed and directed the largest security operations in Control Risks’ Asia Pacific regional history in response to a large, complex business restructure.
• ·   Ran emergency response services for a global healthcare company’s 50th anniversary event, looking after more than 800 high-level participants in Macau.
• ·     Provided security vulnerability reviews and managed the entire project implementation at multiple facilities for a global leading packaging manufacturer in mainland China and Taiwan.
• ·     Provided crisis management and consulting for a global leading chemical company’s major business restructure in Shandong Province, involving security review, crisis management consulting, negotiation strategy advisory, executive protection and security guard force functions.
• ·    Established a country-level crisis management plan and framework and business continuity template for a leading Japanese electronic products manufacturer in China and trained the client’s crisis management leadership.
• ·    Designed and conducted a semi-live crisis management training for a German manufacturer in China with involvement of its regional and global crisis management teams.
• ·     Conducted training programmes for Asia Pacific security managers of a well-known hospitality group.

Prior to joining Control Risks, Thomas held a leadership position in an Asia Pacific-based security solution provider company in Shanghai. He also has five years’ entrepreneurial experience in establishing and running an IT service company.

Thomas earned a master’s degree in business administration from Lancaster University Management School and has been involved in a variety of post-programme consulting projects. Thomas also holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from Cardiff University Business School. He speaks native Mandarin and Shanghainese as well as fluent English.