Changing of the Guard

European Chamber 2023 election results

The European Chamber held elections for our Executive Committee and local chapter boards from 11th April to 24th May 2023.

The elections for the Chamber’s president, three vice presidents and treasurer took place during the national Annual General Meeting (AGM), held in hybrid format in Beijing on 24th May. Jens Eskelund was elected to serve as president.

President Eskelund, who has lived and worked in China for 25 years, is chief representative for Maersk in Greater China and Northeast Asia. He has served two terms as vice president of the European Chamber—from 2019 to 2021 and from October 2021 to May 2023—as well as State Representative, and has also been actively involved with the Chamber’s working groups since the Chamber’s inception, including as chair of the International Liner Shipping Sub-working Group (formerly the Maritime Working Group). He has also served as both board member and chair of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China.

Bruno Weill was re-elected as European Chamber vice president, with Miguel Montoya and Stefan Bernhart both being elected to serve as vice presidents for the first time. Xiaobo Zhang was re-elected as treasurer. Members of the Shanghai, South China and Southwest China chapters had previously elected Carlo D’Andrea, Klaus Zenkel and Massimo Bagnasco as their respective chairs, all of whom will also serve as national vice presidents.

The AGM also marked Jörg Wuttke’s 10 years at the helm, in three separate stints, as president of the Chamber. Jorge Toledo Albinaña, ambassador of the European Union to China, delivered a speech on Mr Wuttke’s legacy.

The States Representatives were selected by the Supervisory Board on 25th May, with Gianni Di Giovanni, Renato Roldão and Peter Ling-Vannerus the successful candidates.

President

Jens Eskelund, Maersk

Vice Presidents

Stefan Bernhart, Volkswagen

Miguel Montoya, KPMG

Bruno Weill, BNP Paribas

Treasurer

Xiaobo Zhang, TotalEnergies

States Representatives

Gianni Di Giovanni, Eni

Peter Ling-Vannerus, SEB

Renato Roldão, ICF

Nanjing

The local board elections for the Nanjing Chapter were held on 27th April, with the following results.

Chair

Andreas Risch, Fette Compacting (China)

Vice Chair

Jianhua Shan, BASF-YPC Company Ltd

Board Members

Alessandro Brenda, Marposs (Nanjing) Automation Co Ltd

Florian Hobelsberger, Diehl Controls (Nanjing) Co Ltd

Frank Redecker, REACH Talent Consulting (Xuzhou) Co Ltd

Shanghai

The Shanghai AGM took place on 18th May, where the following candidates were elected to the board for the next two years:

Chair

Carlo Diego D’Andrea, D’Andrea & Partners

Vice Chairs

Jens Ewert, Deloitte China

Holly Lei, Covestro

Board Members

Charles Billard, Sanofi China

Roberto Donà, International Business School Suzhou, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Felix Hess, Siemens China

Francis Liekens, Atlas Copco China

Shenyang

Elections for the board of the Shenyang Chapter took place on 28th April, when the following were elected to serve for the next two years:

Chair

Erich Kaiserseder, Conrad Shenyang

Board Members

Sebastian Bittner, GG Cable

Diane Chen, Shenyang New World EXPO

Stephane Gonnetand, Dalian ODC Marine Manufacture Co Ltd

Robert Kuessel, BMW Brilliance Automotive

Matt Sullivan, Trench High Voltage Products

South China

The South China Chapter’s AGM took place on 11th April in Guangzhou, where the chapter’s leadership was elected for the next two years:

Chair

Klaus Zenkel, Imedco Technology (Shenzhen) Co Ltd

Vice Chairs

Fabian Blake AMS Products Assembly (Foshan) Co Ltd

Gianluca Giorgi, ES Automation Consulting Ltd

Board Members

Aaron Finley, Deloitte

Blandine Cressard, Residence G Shenzhen

Chris Gassner, SZMuri

Joanna Ye, Mazars Guangzhou

Southwest China

The local board elections for the Southwest Chapter took place on 13th April 2023 in Chengdu, returning the following results:

Chair

Massimo Bagnasco, Progetto CMR (Beijing) Architectural Design Consultants Co Ltd

Vice Chairs

He Donglin, Siemens Ltd China Chengdu Branch

Leo Zhang, Sika (China) Ltd

Board Members

Raquel Ramirez, RR Consulting

Paul Sives, Proton Products Chengdu Ltd

Dieter Vanonckelen, Md Business Management (Chengdu) Co Ltd

Jessica Wu, IvyU Limited

Tianjin

The Tianjin AGM was held on 12th May, where the following were elected to the board for the next two years:

Chair

Christoph Schrempp, Airbus (Tianjin) Delivery Centre Ltd

Vice Chair

Bernd Averes, Volkswagen Automatic Transmission (Tianjin) Co Ltd

Board Members

Massimo Dinelli, Weilburger Coatings (Tianjin) Ltd

Jiangang Gao, Schlote Automotive Parts (Tianjin) Co Ltd

Cindy Zheng, WAGO Electronic (Tianjin) Co Ltd