Steve Blake
China director, WildAid
A marine conservationist from the United States, Blake has lived in China since 2005, working in the fields of media, communications and conservation. He joined WildAid in 2013 and has gone on to lead numerous national media campaigns to promote protection of endangered wildlife, including rhinos, sharks, elephants and pangolins.
Mr. Yu Zhihua
Director of the Kunshan Environmental Protection and Waste Management Bureau
Director Zhihua has been committed to creating a cultural and livable city, Kunshan values the harmony between humans and nature and strives to create a better place to live and work. In 2010, Kunshan won the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honor Award; in 2015, it passed the re-evaluation for the National Health City. In 2016, Kunshan’s GDP grew to RMB 316 billion and reported RMB 31.89 billion in general public budget revenue; RMB 909 billion in industrial output; RMB 75.8 billion in fixed assets investment; RMB 80.5 billion in retail sales; USD 71.5 billion in imports and exports; and RMB 54,400 and 28,370 in per-capita disposable income in urban and rural area. Kunshan has taken the top spot on Forbes’ list of the Best Business Cities in the Mainland of China for seven consecutive years. In addition, Kunshan has ranked number one among China’s 100 small and medium-sized cities and 100 county-level cities in terms of overall competitiveness and business environment for many consecutive years.
Mao Da, Ph.D.
Chairman of the board, Shenzhen Zero Waste; Academic director, Toxic-Free China
In addition to co-founding Nature University and the Rock Environment and Energy Institute, Mao launched the Chinese Zero Mercury Campaign in 2005, a Chinese NGOs network on chemicals and environmental health in 2007, and co-founded the Citizens’ Initiative on Plastic Bag Policy in 2008. He inexhaustibly publicizes reliable scientific research and various reports on the environmental impacts of mixed-waste disposal, and promotes waste reduction, separation and recycling.
Thomas Johnson, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield
Johnson has extensively researched environmental activism in China and an expert on “smog art,” which refers to artwork that engages with the issue of severe ambient air pollution and includes various forms, such as painting, photography and performance art.
Shu-chin Tsui. PhD.
Professor of Asian Studies and Cinema Studies. Bowdoin College. California
Professor Tsui work extends across interdisciplinary fields, such as film studies, cultural studies, and visual art studies. Professor Tsui is working in a new book on EcoCinema in China. Her first book, Women Through the Lens: Gender and Nation in a Century of Chinese Cinema, demonstrates how woman, as visual image and discursive element, was appropriated in the construction of the nation-state.
Jet Chang
Spokesman for Tomra Asia
Tomra Systems ASA is a Norwegian multinational corporation active in the field of instrumentation for recycling solutions, and Chang has more than 15 years of experience in the energy and clean technology sectors in China.
Dr. Jiang Nanqing
Secretary-general, China Plastics Reuse & Recycle Association
As head of one of the only associations for plastic recyclers in China, Jiang is a leading figure in efforts to tackle plastic pollution issues. Under her leadership, the CPRRA has signed up to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment and provided action plans for policymakers on recycling solutions.
Denggao Zhang
Director of the Green Anhui Environmental Development Center
The Green Anhui is Anhui is the only grassroots environmental organization in the province. Since its founding on September 24, 2003, Green Anhui has established three offices: in Hefei, in Bengbu and in Wuhu. Currently it employs 10 environmental experts as well as a core group of approximately 100 volunteers. Green Anhui is also affiliated with and supports 52 student environmental organizations throughout the province. GA currently have five programs: water conservation and protection, environmental education, environmental health, conservation of local ecosystems, and public awareness campaigns. Since its founding, Green Anhui has achieved international recognition for its powerful impacts on Anhui’s environment and society. Green Anhui has received two awards: Ford’s 2004 Conservation and Environmental Grant as well as Society of Environment and Ecology’s (SEE) 2005 Ecological Conservation Prize.
Its mission is to promote sustainable development in Anhui Province. By fostering public interests and activism in environmental protection through education, conversation and encouraging open dialogue among public, private, and government stakeholders and the media.