Former Australian ambassador to China, Geoff Raby has joined PR firm Kreab Gavin Anderson as a senior advisor and will remain based in China. Since completing his post with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in August 2011, Dr Raby has taken up positions with a number of Australian firms operating in China, including as non-executive director at Fortescue Metals and OceanaGold, executive director at Riverstone Advisory, co-chair of Corrs Chambers Westgarth’s China Practice and advisor to the Queensland Investment Corporation.

 

Iain Watt from the Australian Embassy in Beijing’s education team has returned to Canberra to take up a position with the Australian National University as Director of Student Recruitment and International Operations.  Iain has been a key player in the international dimension of Australian education and training for the past 15 years following posts in Taipei (1995–1998) and prior to that, also in Beijing (1998–2002) and has been an important contributor to international education policy development since 1992.

Jill Collins is leaving Beijing after three years at the Australian Embassy as counsellor Public Affairs & Culture. During that time, Jill has been involved in several major projects including the successful rollout of Imagine Australia – the Year of Australian Culture in China, the launch of the Embassy’s Sina Weibo account – DFAT’s first overseas social media trial (and which today has attracted more than 100,000 fans) and initiating the inaugural Australia-China Film Industry Forum in 2010.  She returns to Canberra to continue working for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Jill is replaced by Michael Growder, who has worked with DFAT for at least 10 years and is an economist by trade.

 

Cher Jones has recently joined the NSW trade office in Guangzhou as the Senior Representative for South China and Hong Kong, replacing Lawrence Chan. Her main role will be to identify opportunities and offer facilitation services to overseas investors and technology collaborators who are seeking to grow their business and ventures into New South Wales. Prior to her recent appointment, Cher was the Associate Director of the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group ‘ANZ’ Guangzhou Branch with responsibilities in corporate and institutional banking for large local corporations in South China. Cher has a postgraduate MBA degree from the University of Michigan and undertook a Master Degree of Public Policy with the Australian National University. She speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin.

 

Australian Cate Fittock has joined Shanghai’s Geisha Club as General manager. Cate joined the Collective Concepts team in the early stages of opening. The new addition to Shanghai’s party and dining scene takes a play on a modern upscale West Coast influenced Japanese Restaurant, Sushi Bar and Sake Lounge.

After almost eight years in Shanghai, ACT Link Business Development Director, Richard McCooey returns to Australia with his wife Ling Ling. Richard commences management assignments for two Chinese companies operating in Australia upon his return.

 

Violet Hu has recently joined Which Property as Business Development Manager in Shanghai. Violet has a strong background in the banking industry, and worked most recently within the Department of Immigration & Citizenship at the Australian Embassy in China. Previously, Violet lived in Sydney for almost five years with her family. She is originally from Shanghai.

 

Ivan Kinsella joins the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) Beijing office as Investment Director Greater China where he will be responsible for shaping and supporting NZTE’s investment strategies with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, working closely with the NZTE Capital team in New Zealand. Ivan joins NZTE after four years with Austrade Beijing where he worked on the Business Club Australia program for the Olympics then in the infrastructure sector. He has over 20 years’ experience dealing with Asia in corporate, advisory and government roles during which time he has also been based in Taipei and Hong Kong.

 

AustCham Shanghai has welcomed Helen Cai, the team’s acting Membership Associate while Jane Xia is on maternity leave for six months. Helen has managed client support teams across information technology, banking, finance and human resources sectors in both Small-to-Medium Enterprises and large corporations across the Asia Pacific region. Originally from Shanghai, she grew up in Sydney and returned to China with husband Danny in 2007. ■