PAST EVENT | CWF Arthur J.E. Child POP UP POLICY
The impact of China’s fifth plenum and the five-year plan on western Canadian trade
POP UP POLICY with Brett Stephenson, Public Affairs Lead for North Asia with UPS and Policy and Government Relations Chair, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong; John Gruetzner, Partner at Intercedent Limited and one of the original 24 founders of the China Policy Centre in Ottawa; and Sharon Zhengyang Sun, Trade Policy Economist, Canada West Foundation
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Time: 5:00PM-6:00PM (MT)
Virtual event on Zoom
Despite the fact Canada continues to see a 12 per cent annual growth in bilateral trade with China, understanding and predicting the future of political and trade relations with China has long been a challenge – part of the growing pains in the relationship. But clues to the goals and strategic direction China will pursue can be found in the new five-year plan due to be released this spring. This is China’s 14th five-year plan and will be based on China’s fifth plenum, a major policy meeting held last October. How will the plenum and the subsequent five-year plan impact Canadian and western Canadian businesses? What kind of trade and investment opportunities and threats did the fifth plenum propose? How will this information better help Canadian policy makers formulate policy to anticipate, mitigate and manage trade frictions with China?
Join the Canada West Foundation to hear directly from experts Brett Stephenson and John Gruetzner as they discuss what the fifth plenum and the coming 14th five-year plan mean for Canada and the West. The discussion will be moderated by Canada West Foundation’s Trade Policy Economist, Sharon Zhengyang Sun and hosted by Gary Mar, President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation.
BIOS
Brett Stephenson | Public Affairs Lead for North Asia with UPS and Policy and Government Relations Chair, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong
Brett Stephenson is a public affairs, trade and investment professional with exposure across multiple sectors and industries in the Indo-Pacific region. Mr. Stephenson is the Public Affairs Lead for North Asia with UPS. Prior to his time in Hong Kong, he worked at the American Chamber of Commerce in China, as a government affairs and energy coordinator, developing policy reports that were used by Chinese and U.S. government officials and reported on by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, and other media outlets. Mr. Stephenson has also worked for the Canadian Minister of Natural Resources, and other roles in government relations and communications in Canada’s oil and gas sector. Mr. Stephenson provides advice to Canadian politicians on Canada-Asia trade issues and political campaigns on an ongoing basis, and is the co-chair for the Policy and Government Relations Committee with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Vice-Chair of the AmChamHK’s Trade and Investment Committee.
John Gruetzner | Partner at Intercedent Limited and co-founder of the China Policy Centre
John Gruetzner is a partner at Intercedent, a Canadian business and investment advisory firm founded in 1988 and focused on Asia, with offices in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining Intercedent in 1991, Mr. Gruetzner served as the head of the Canada China Trade Council in Beijing. He has also worked for the National Broadcasting Corporation, De Laurentis Entertainment, and Filmline. Mr. Gruetzner has lived and worked in China for 38 years. During that period, he has advised approximately 10 per cent of the Fortune 500 in financial services, telecommunications, logistics and air express and resources and manufacturing. U.S. Clients have included Allstate, Federal Express, Motorola, General Motors, IBM, Lexmark, Reinsurance Group of America etc. He is currently overseeing the international business development of Syngrafii Inc. He was granted a Medallion from the Governor General of Canada in recognition of his contribution to the bilateral relations between China and Canada. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and was one of the 24 founders of the China Policy Centre.
Sharon Zhengyang Sun | Trade Policy Economist, Canada West Foundation
Sharon Zhengyang Sun is the trade policy economist at Canada West Foundation, specializing in research on international trade and trade infrastructure policy. She is also a Distinguished Fellow for the Asia Pacific Foundation. Some of her major work includes the impact of Made-in-China 2025, China’s industrial policy, on Canadian trade and western Canadian export opportunities with Japan under the CPTPP. Other work include addressing Chinese non-tariff barriers on Canadian agricultural exports among other trade agreement and trade related issues. Sharon is a Ph.D. candidate at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University. She has a background in international business (B.IB, Carleton University; MSc IB, ESCI-Pompeu Fabra University) and various international work experiences in business analysis, research and consultation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was an associate researcher with the Centre for Trade Policy and Law and an instructor at the Sprott School of Business.
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Time: 5:00PM-6:00PM (MT)
Virtual event on Zoom
