China: The Road for Global Luxury Companies
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The Luxury Marketing Council
New York Chapter - Upcoming Event
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CHINA: THE ROAD FOR GLOBAL LUXURY COMPANIES
Date: Wednesday, June 6, 2007, 6-8pm
Time: 6-8pm
Location: The Boston Consulting Group Boardroom, 430 Park Avenue (between 55th and 56th streets) 19th Floor.
Please RSVP by replying to rsvp@luxurycouncil.com
In the event that your plans change, we’d be most appreciative of the courtesy of a cancellation.
Panelists:
-Howard H. Jiang, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP (Practice focus; Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities in both domestic and cross-border transactions)
-Lily Li, Acting Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Secretary and Director, American Oriental Bioengineering Inc
-Virginia L. P'an, Chairman and Founder, TransCapital Group LLC
Moderator:
-Greg Furman, Founder and Chairman, The Luxury Marketing Council
Generously Hosted by The Boston Consulting Group
The Chinese economy has been rapidly expanding at the compounded rate over 10% per year for the past twenty years which has created a huge domestic market for luxury companies and products. The rising wealth of the uber wealthy entrepreneurs and the upper middle classes create enormous market opportunities for luxury companies. The potential market size, scale and rate of growth for luxury companies in China is staggering.
The number of Chinese citizens with at least US$1 million in financial assets, excluding the value of home real estate, increased by 12 percent year-on-year in 2003, pushing the total to 236,000, according to the 2004 World Wealth Report issued by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini. China enjoyed the sixth fastest growth rate in the world for the number High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs), defined as those with at least US$1 million in financial assets, excluding the value of home real estate, last year.
Wealthy Chinese have quickly developed a taste for luxury products ranging from 37 private jets purchased in 2006 to 5-star hotels, foods, fine wines, clothing and accessories to enhance their lifestyle.
With 60 percent of the population still on farms, China plans to create 170 new cities with a population over one million during the next 15 years. The United States currently has 9 cities with a population over one million.
Come and join our China Panel and learn more about the rapidly developing luxury market sector in China.
ABOUT HOWARD H. JIANG
Howard H. Jiang is a corporate partner in the New York office of Baker & McKenzie LLP. Mr. Jiang specializes in mergers and acquisitions and securities work both in domestic and trans-border transactions. On the merger and acquisition front, he has advised many companies in their acquisition and sale of equity interests and assets, forming and dissolving strategic alliances, joint ventures and special arrangements in the U.S. and overseas. He has advised clients in asset or equity sale auctions and auction bidding in bankruptcy court nominated Scotia 363 or nonbankruptcy related auctions. Mr. Jiang has advised clients in both public and private mergers and acquisitions. He has advised many U.S. and foreign companies on investment projects in Asia and China as well as companies from the Asia Pacific region in their investments in the U.S. and overseas. On the securities front, Mr. Jiang has represented many domestic and foreign issuers in various equity and debt instruments offerings and listing on various capital markets. He has also represented many leading investment banks in their underwriting activities involving domestic and foreign issuers. Mr. Jiang has worked on many project finance transactions designing project structures and related securities offerings. He also advises clients on international distribution and licensing matters.
Mr. Jiang has represented major U.S. and foreign multinationals in their mergers and acquisitions such as the Owens Corning $800 million asset disposition, Fresenius’ acquisition of companies in four countries, American Standard’s strategic investment in China. He has represented major investment banks in their underwriting work, such as CS First Boston in underwriting the $330 million IPO of Shandong Huaneng Power, the first Chinese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, PaineWebber in the $120 million IPO Advanced communications Group, Salomon Smith Barney in the MarineMax roll-up IPO, as well as on the issuers’ side handling a variety of equity and bond offerings, such as the Rockland Power first mortgage bond offering, $250 million commercial paper and $175 million Euro notes offerings for Sinochem, $200 million commercial paper offering or COFOC and many offerings done by domestic and foreign companies. In addition, he has also worked on many telecom, biotechnology, media-related and other transactions designing entry and investment strategies and structures as well as negotiating strategic alliances and joint ventures.
Mr. Jiang is a member of the American Bar Association and the International Bar Association and belongs to its business, securities and energy sections. Mr. Jiang receives his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, his MIA in international banking and finance from Columbia University, his M.A. in economics from Geneva University, Switzerland and his M.A. in corporate finance from Webster University, Switzerland. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York. Mr. Jiang is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin) and French.
ABOUT LILY LI
Lily Li - acting chief financial officer, chief operations officer, secretary and director of American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc. (NYSE:AOB) American Oriental Bioengineering, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, manufacture, and commercialization of plant-based pharmaceutical (PBP) and plant-based nutraceutical (PBN) products. Ms. Li is an outstanding manager with a strong sense of entrepreneurship and extensive experience in market development.
Before joining the company, she worked for China Ruida Food Limited Company and her team had successfully established the Ruida brand as the number one brand in the instant frozen food industry.
Ms. Li joined the Company in 1994 as the manager of marketing and sales of Three Happiness. She led a sales team of couple hundred people and launched a series of marketing campaigns to promote Three Happiness functional drinks all over China. The Three Happiness brand was later awarded the "Top Ten Well-known Brand in China". With her proven track record and outstanding performance, Ms. Li was appointed as the Acting CFO, COO and director. She is in charge of the Company's operations, marketing and financial activities. Ms. Li has 13 years of experience and has creative ideas in marketing consumers, pharmaceutical and neutraceutical products.
Ms. Li was named one of the "Golden Phoenix" entrepreneurs of marketing in China and is a 2007 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Business of the Owner/President Management (OPM) program.
ABOUT VIRGINIA L. P'AN
Virginia L. P'an is Chairman and founder of the TransCapital Group LLC, an international business development and investment firm established in 1984 focusing on the Greater China and Asian Pacific Region.. The firm specializes in establishing new business ventures across a broad spectrum of industries through strategic alliances partnerships, joint ventures and wholly owned enterprises for U.S. and European multinational companies and companies located in the Greater China and the industrialized nations of Asia.
Virginia P’an is a recognized business pioneer, innovator and authority on the Pacific Rim region with over 30 years international experience. Through the years she estimates logging nearly 100 trips to the Asia Pacific region alone for client meetings and conferences and many senior government ministry level relationships.
Mrs. P’an advises senior global executives and corporate board members on issues related to strategic investments, international marketing, positioning and branding, investor relations and operations from concept and planning through implementation, execution and enhancement of operations. Mrs. P’an has completed numerous business ventures in China and the Asia Pacific Region for multinational companies ranging from Pepsico Foods International, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Valmet Paper Machinery Company, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Aetna Life Insurance Company, Leaf International, The Genlyte Group, Finnish Sugar Company, Hutamaki Oy and China Merchants Development Co., Ltd.
Virginia P’an is a pioneer in opening the China market through joint ventures for western multinational companies and is presently engaged in negotiating 2008 Beijing Olympic Games contracts. Her success stories include the introduction of bubble and chewing gum to the 1.3 billion consumer China market as the board advisor to Leaf International, a division of Hershey Foods, Chief Negotiator on a $30 million China joint venture for Valmet Paper Machinery Co., the world’s largest paper machinery company, completion of numerous international market entry strategy studies with impact in the multi-million-investment level for clients including Lightolier and PepsiCo Foods International.
Prior to forming TransCapital Group, she was the first woman Vice President at American Express Bank and architect of the national debit card banking system for Taiwan. As Senior Advisor to the Securities and Exchange Commission of Hong Kong, she actively participated in the negotiations with the board of the four Hong Kong stock exchanges which resulted in the consolidation of the exchanges into one Hong Kong Stock Exchange which today is the seventh largest bourse in the world with a daily turnover rate averaging over 20 billion shares or market capitalization of 10 trillion Hong Kong dollars or l.5 trillion U.S. dollars.
During her distinguished career at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Mrs. P’an managed 15 Asian central bank investment portfolios valued in excess of $7 billion dollars. As Manager of Banking Operations, she supervised the Important Federal Reserve Bank’s central processing division responsible for the commercial banking industry’s fund clearing and settlement in New York averaging over $250 billion or a quarter trillion dollars daily with over 400 people in a 24 hour line operating environment. Mrs. P’an is also the first Chinese American woman working as a professional on Wall Street.
Virginia P’an has been frequently profiled and featured in television and print media including Wall Street Journal Television, Business Week, New York Times, South China Morning Post, The Manila Times, The Hong Kong Standard, Asian Enterprise Magazine, USA Today and Gazelle Production’s video film entitled “21st Century Leaders”. Cited as “One of the 500 most influential Asian Americans” by Avenue Asia Magazine, she was also the cover article for the November-December 2001 issue of Minority Business Entrepreneur Magazine entitled “Chinese Legacy, a Niche in the Financial Market Meant Success for TransCapital”. In 2003 she was
honored with the prestigious “The Leading Women Entrepreneur of the World”
Award. She is also the recipient of the 2006 Business Innovation Award at the 2nd
Annual Conference of America-China Women Business Leaders.
She is an active Board member and Advisor in many professional and cultural organizations including the for Women’s Business Research (CWBR) National Advisory Board, Babson Graduate School of Business Advisory Board, the Luxury Marketing Council, International Women’s Forum (IWF), National Committee on US-China Relations, the Leading Women Entrepreneur of the World International Advisory Board, the Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute (APAWLI) Trustee, the Asia Society, the China Institute, the Women’s Leadership Exchange National Advisory Council, Chinese American Executive Forum, and Women's Economic Roundtable, the New York New Media Association and AIESEC US Board of Directors, the world’s premier International student organization dedicated to developing global leadership in young professionals by providing international work internships opportunities in 90 countries and 250 universities around the world.
Born in China, Mrs. P’an moved with her family to the United States at the age of ten and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and several other dialects. She is happily married to Albert, a financier, educator and engineer, with two adult children, Everett and Jessica, both raised to be entirely at home in a global environment. She has many personal interests including cultural activities, sailing, tennis, gourmet cooking, interior design, gardening, international travel and family.