Movements, promotions and new appointments in the Australia China Business Community. 

 Mr Ma Zhaoxu is the new Chinese ambassador to Australia. Ma Zhaoxu commenced his term at the end of August and replaces outgoing Ambassador Chen Yuming, who held the post for three years. Prior to his appointment, Ma Zhaoxu was the director-general of the Information Department and the Chinese government’s lead spokesperson in foreign affairs. “At present, the Sino-Australian relations are at a new historical starting point,” said Mr Ma upon his arrival in Australia in August. 

Ma Zhaoxu is the 13th Chinese ambassador to Australia.

Melbourne has also welcomed new Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Melbourne – Mr Yumin Song. Mr Song is a career diplomat, most recently he was Deputy Director-General of the Department for Diplomatic Missions Abroad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China.

Tourism Australia has appointed Tony Everitt as its new Regional General Manager for Greater China, Australia’s highest yielding and fastest growing international inbound market. Mr Everitt will commence in the Shanghai-based role in December. He joins Tourism Australia from Tourism New Zealand, where he was General Manager Asia, responsible for all commercial and marketing activities.

Vivian Zhao is Tasmania’s first China-based Senior Business Development Manager, and will be based out of the Australian Trade Commission’s Shanghai office. Vivian’s experience includes 12 years with Austrade across a range of sectors including mining, environmental and clean technologies, education, creative industries and sports. Her new role will see her promoting and attracting Chinese investment to Tasmania and assisting Tasmanian businesses operating with China.

After more than three decades with Rio Tinto, Ian Bauert, managing director, China, has retired. Ian joined the Group in 1979 to support Rio Tinto’s growing relations with China and in 1983 established the first Group office in China. Since then he has been involved in a number of initiatives with China, including the Channar and BaoHi Ranges joint ventures, and more recently the Simandou and CRTX joint ventures with Chinalco.

Ian Bauert has been replaced by Dr Binyan Ren who joined Rio Tinto in 2010 as vice president, China. Binyan holds an extensive array of experience across the mining, manufacturing and financial services sectors in China, the US and Australia and has previously held senior positions in Comalco, Alcoa and Anglo American.

After 12 years in China, Morry Morgan, the co-founder and marketing director of Shanghai-based ClarkMoagan, has returned to Melbourne to set up the business’s first Australian office. Morry has been a prominent figure in China’s Human Resource community, publishing China’s longest running bilingual HR magazine – NetworkHR. He is also the author of Selling Big to China: Negotiating Principles for the World’s Largest Market, and Managing the Millions: Practical HR Management in China.

Melbourne-born Italian chef Stafano Pace is the executive chef of newly opened D.O.C. Italian Pizzeria, Bar & Ristorante in Shanghai’s French Concession. Stefano began his career at Melbourne’s Florentino’s, followed by roles at Icebergs in Sydney and the Beach Hotel in Byron Bay. Stefano has worked in Germany, Japan, India, Hong Kong and Rome, where he was Executive Chef at the Michelin Two-Star restaurant Gusto. Stefano arrived in China in 2004 as the Head Chef at Danielli’s at St. Regis Shanghai Hotel before opening Favola in Shanghai Sureno at Beijing’s Opposite House. Most recently he was Executive Chef for Shanghai’s award winning Italian restaurant, Issimo.

James Hudson is the newly appointed CEO for ACBC NSW. James joins the Australia China business Council from the CSIRO where he was the Advisor to China & East Asia. James is looking forward to building the business and trade relationship between China and Australia as well as serving the diverse membership base of ACBC.

The Australia China Alumni Association has appointed Emily Dunn as Director of Development & Communications, East China. Most recently, Emily studied Mandarin at Nanjing University as part of a Victorian Government Hamer Scholarship programme. She has previously worked with AustCham Shanghai. Emily holds a Bachelors of Journalism/Arts (extended major Economics) degrees from the University of Queensland.

The Beijing Consulting Group has welcomed Stephanie Dunn as a Senior Project Manager in its Beijing office. Stephanie holds a Bachelor of Economics with first class honours from the University of Sydney. She began her career as an economist with the central bank in Australia, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and has also worked as a foreign exchange and commodities analyst, as well as a senior dealer. Stephanie speaks English, French and Chinese.

David Burns has joined INTO University Partnerships as Chief Operating Officer in China. In China, INTO is working in partnership with Nankai University in Tianjin, and Dongbei University of Finance and Economics in Dalian, to recruit foreign students for undergraduate and Masters (by coursework) programs. These courses are taught in English by Chinese academics who have themselves studied abroad. David has been involved in international education for just on 20 years – having joined Taylors College Melbourne in 1994, setting up the company’s agent recruitment network in China and subsequently managing the four Taylors campuses in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland. ■

*If you or your organisation have a human resources related announcement to make, or you know of people on the move, please send details to sophiel@chinaconnections.com.au