Edoardo Agamennone has 20 years of experience in doing business with China, including 7 years in private practice with leading consulting firms both in Europe and China, 7 years as manager of an MNC in the energy field, and a vast experience as investor,  board member and fund manager. Throughout his career, he has advised a number of investors, multinational companies, governments, sovereign funds, banks and other financial institutions on investment projects and corporate transactions in more than 30 jurisdictions worldwide.

Edoardo holds an LLB from the University of Rome III, an LLM degree from the University of Hong Kong and a PhD in financial and management studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. He is the author of several publications in the field of China’s financial system, Chinese outward foreign direct investments, China-Europe and China-Africa commercial relationships, energy and corporate law. Edoardo is co-founder and managing partner of Levante Capital, the first and only fund specialised in investing in Southern Europe's most promising technology companies and supporting them in their commercial expansion in Asia.

Prof. Sheikh Fayaz Ahmad is working as an Assistant Professor at ZIBS. He holds an M.Phil and a PhD from the Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University and a Postdoc from Zhejiang University. He is co-editor of the book titled ‘Informal Sector Innovations: Insights from Global South’, (Routledge, 2015).

His research interests include: Alternative Innovation Models, Digital Frugal Innovations, Regional Development and China Innovation. Journals such as Oxford Development Studies, International Planning and Development Review, Current Science, Journal of Rural Studies and Science Technology and Society have published some of his recent papers. He has also contributed to the Handbook on Alternative Theories of Innovation (Edward Elgar, 2021) and the upcoming Handbook on Frugal Innovations (Edward Elgar, 2022). Recently, he co-edited a special issue on ‘Rethinking Innovation and Development Discourses in Light of COVID-19’ for Science Technology and Society, a Sage Journal. Notably, this special issue includes contributions from prominent scholars in the fields of innovation and development, including a Nobel Laureate.

Giovanni Andornino is Assistant Professor of International Relations of East Asia at the University of Turin, where he heads the TOChina Hub, coordinating research, advanced training and track 1.5 networking with China. He is the President of the Torino World Affairs Institute (T.wai), with responsibility over the “Global China” research program. He teaches Geopolitics for the Executive MBA of ESCP Business School and Understanding the World for the Master in Management of IESE Business School.
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Giovanni holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Catholic University of Milan and an MSc in Global History from the London School of Economics and Political Science.  A former Fellow of the Transatlantic Academy (Washington D.C.) and Visiting Associate of the China Research Centre of the University of Technology Sydney, he has been the co-director of the Executive Training Seminar on China at the European University Institute in Fiesole.
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Giovanni is the Founding Editor of OrizzonteCina, Italy’s leading journal on current China's politics, foreign policy and political economy. His latest book, "La Cina e noi" [China and us] was published by Solferino in 2023.

Prof. BEN Shenglin is a Professor and the Dean of ZIBS, Dean of the Academy of Internet Finance (AIF), Zhejiang University and President of Beijing Frontier Institute of Regulation and Supervision Technology (FIRST). Prior to joining Zhejiang University in May 2014 as a Professor, he spent 20 years in China and abroad with ABN AMRO, HSBC, and lastly JP Morgan Chase, where he served as China CEO, JP Morgan Chase Bank. He is the founder and Director of the International Monetary Institute, Renmin University of China. He is also founder and chairman of the Zhejiang Association of FinTech (ZAFT), the industry association of global fintech hub - Zhejiang Province. He serves as a Counselor to the Zhejiang Provincial Government, a Standing Committee member of CPPCC Zhejiang and Vice Chairman of its Economic Commission. He currently serves as a board member of leading companies including China Construction Bank and China Industrial Bank.

Shenglin has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Tsinghua University, a Master’s degree in management from Renmin University of China and Ph.D. in Economics from Purdue University, USA.

His research interests include: International Finance, Fintech, Digital Economy, Global Business. He has published over 10 books and various articles.

Regina Brix is an Affiliate Professor of Marketing at the ESCP Business School - Turin Campus and the Academic Co-Director of the International Master in Food & Beverage Management. After completing her Master’s Degree in Germany, Regina worked over 20 years in leading management positions in the area of Marketing in multinational companies (Nivea, Danone, Lavazza) in different countries like Germany, China and Italy.

In her career in international marketing she has experienced firsthand the profound changes and challenges that have occurred in marketing, having covered important operational and strategic roles in the field. Her ambition is to transfer her know-how and experience combining theoretical models with future-proof hands-on training, so as to prepare students and young managers to become leaders in their business career.

From 2010 Regina has been collaborating with ESCP Business School teaching at the Turin Campus in different programs, including MBA, EMBA, Master in Management, Master in Hospitality, Bachelor in Management and Master in International F&B Management. Since 2008 Regina has also been working as a strategic business consultant for numerous multinational firms in the Food & Beverage, Cosmetics and Healthcare sectors.

A cum laude graduate in Economics, Vittorio De Pedys is Affiliate Professor at ESCP Business School - Turin Campus, where he offers executive courses on Private Banking, Financial Markets and Corporate Finance, mostly tailor-made for key Italian and international banks. For ESCP Europe he also teaches at MBA seminars and executive management courses of Problem Solving & Decision Making. Furthermore, he is Adjunct Professor of Private Equity at the University of Rome (Tor Vergata), and teaches Finance at a number of international business schools. Valuing education being as a two-way process, Vittorio is also receiving training on Participants-Centered Learning from the Harvard Entrepreneurship Education Colloquium.

Throughout his 20-year business career Vittorio worked in banking and investment banking in Italy, the UK and the US: having started as a Treasury (BNL) and bond dealer (UniCredit), he later became Director of Proprietary Trading (Merrill Lynch), then Executive Director of the Smith Barney London Branch, Head of Finance at Banca Salento, and finally group CFO at Banca ICCREA. A certified financial analyst, Vittorio also works as a consultant for the Italian Banking Association.

Senior Manager with more than 20 years of corporate finance and business development experience in the Financial Services and in the Banking industry. Walter has a good expertise on Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions, Company Valuation, Project Management, Business Planning and Operations.

Throughout his career, Walter has been Strategic Consultant in McKinsey & Co. working in banking and insurance companies in Italy and Europe on strategic projects to improve organizational models, service levels and business strategies.

He holds a cum laude degree in Physics, a Ph.D degree in nuclear Physics and has been Fulbright Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA). He studied Active Teaching and General Management at Harvard Business School in Cambridge and Shanghai.

Walter is the author of several books and publications in the field of finance, innovation and technology and he is Board Member of Companies and Foundations.

Prof Graham Mitchelmore is a full-time Foreign Expert in Leadership and Organization Management at Zhejiang University, China. He has more than 30 years of experience in public sector leadership roles for both the British Army and the Hong Kong Police. His career spans operational leadership of counter-terrorist teams, executive leadership of police districts, field command of major security operations, head of a prestigious training school, and management of a branch of internal consultants responsible for the strategic management practices of an organization with around 40,000 employees. Graham has a passion for excellence and relishes developing young talent.

Graham has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with Mathematics from the University of Reading, UK, a Master’s degree in business administration, Master of science and Doctorate in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University, UK.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), Honorary Advisor at the Hong Kong Police College and a Honorary Judge for the International Association for Strategy Professionals, Goodman Award.

Prof. WANG Yiwei is an Assistant Professor of Operations Management at ZIBS, and a researcher at Zhejiang University - International Center for Data Science. He obtained his Ph.D. from UC Irvine, Paul Merage School of Business, and his bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley, department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. His research uses field experiments, causal inference, machine learning, and applied economic modelling to study consumer behaviors and operations management problems in online and brick-and-mortar retail settings. His research has been accepted at journals such as Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and Service Science. He currently serves as the Ad Hoc reviewer for Management Science.

His research interests include: Retail Operations Management, Data-Driven Operations Management, Empirical Methods and Business Model Innovations.

Prof. ZHANG Ruidong is a Professor of Computer Information Systems and CTO at ZIBS. He is a tenured professor of computer information systems at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He currently also serves as the founding director of the Blockchain Labs at the Academy of Internet Finance at Zhejiang University (AIF). His research areas include cloud computing architecture and optimization, blockchain technology application architecture, digital currency, fintech innovations and regulations, e-commerce and the next generation of Internet.

Ruidong has a bachelor’s degree in telecommunication engineering management from Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications, a Master’s degree in business administration from Renmin University of China and Ph.D. in management information systems with emphases in Computer Science, Management Science, and Statistics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.

His research interests include: Architecture and optimization of cloud computing, Blockchain and distributed technologies, Digital currency technologies, Fintech innovations and regulations, E-commerce and the next generation of Internet, AI and machine learning.