As always, March is the most hectic month in the Chinese political calendar, headlined by the meetings of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, collectively known as the "Two Sessions".
These meetings are immediately followed by major set-piece events such as the China Development Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, and the Zhongguancun Forum, where China's leadership engages directly with foreign business and where its private sector showcases its emerging technological innovation advantage across key strategic sectors.
These moments do not take place in isolation. They communicate to the world the policies set out in China's latest 15th Five-Year Plan and reinforce China's position as a beacon of stability and a dependable investment destination in an otherwise uncertain global environment.
To help make sense of both the headline announcements and the more subtle signals emerging across China's political season, BritCham China is delighted to welcome back our annual China Now policy event. In true BritCham style, we will convene a panel of leading English language commentators for an engaging discussion, before transitioning into a networking session where attendees can continue the conversation with speakers and peers over a beer or a preferred soft drink. Entry includes soft drinks and nibbles. Alcoholic beverages will be available at happy hour rates.
Agenda
- Doors Open
- China Now: Panel Discussion
Markus Herrmann Chen•Kaiser Kuo•Wang Zichen
Markus Herrmann Chen
Co-founder & Managing Director of China Macro GroupMarkus is a cross-cultural China analyst, strategy consultant and mediator, advising international corporate, investment and public sectors on China’s evolving political economy, specialized in assisting strategic decision-making of governance, executive and functional bodies regarding business engagement in the Chinese market, as well as collaborating with Chinese companies and organizations more generally, across key management issues such as strategy, partnerships, negotiations, risk management and resilience, or HQ-subsidiary alignment.
Prior to CMG, Markus worked as Government Affairs Director with Bayer MaterialScience in China and as Management Consultant with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in its Shanghai, Hong Kong and Zurich offices. Moreover, he is the Strategic Advisor Europe to Caixin Global, China’s leading financial media group, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network and he is a member of the advisory board of CEIBS Zurich / Europe.
Markus holds law degrees with specialisation in public-, international, and WTO-law from the Universities of Geneva and Berne, plus he studied Mandarin at Peking University as a resident student.
Kaiser Kuo
Host at Sinica PodcastKaiser Kuo is the host of the Sinica Podcast, a weekly discussion of current affairs in China that has run since 2010. He was Head of Podcasts and Editor-at-Large for The China Project, and previously served as Director of International Communications for Baidu. In his over 20 years in China, his career ran the gamut from rock music to tech journalism to corporate communications. He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and holds an M.A. from the University of Arizona.
Wang Zichen
Deputy Secretary General at Center for China & GlobalizationZichen Wang is the Founder and Editor of Pekingnology, a Chinese mainland–based English-language newsletter with the largest subscriber base—and among the most influential—across overseas audiences, particularly within Western China-policy, media, academic, business, and investor communities.
He grew up in China and earned a bachelor’s degree from Shandong Economic University (now Shandong University of Finance and Economics) in July 2011. He then worked for Xinhua News Agency for over 11 years, including a 29-month posting in Brussels covering the European Union.
In October 2022, he left Xinhua and joined the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a leading non-government think tank in Beijing, as Research Fellow and Director for International Communications. During a one-year leave from CCG between July 2024 and July 2025, he completed a mid-career Master in Public Policy (MPP) at the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), Princeton University, fully funded by an SPIA fellowship. After graduation, he returned to CCG and has served as Deputy Secretary-General since December 2025.
- Networking
