Dr. Renwei HUANG

Professor HUANG Renwei was born in September 1954 in Haimen, Jiangsu Province. He is a doctoral supervisor and recipient of a special expert allowance from the State Council, with a PhD degree in History. He now serves as Executive Vice President and Distinguished Professor of the Fudan Institute of Belt and Road & Global Governance. He is concurrently Director of the Academic Committee of Huazhi Institute for Global Governance, Nanjing University, Academic Member of the Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University, and Vice Chairman of China National Association for International Studies. He is the former Vice President and Director of the Institute of History in Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, former President of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs (formerly known as the School of International and Diplomatic Affairs), at Shanghai International Studies University, and Senior Consultant of the Advisory Board of Pangoal Institution. He also serves as Distinguished Researcher of the Research Center for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Vice President of China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy, Decision-making Consultant of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Association of International Relations, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Association of American Studies, Executive Director and Vice Chairman of Shanghai Taiwan Research Center, Executive Director of the National American Economic Association, Director and Executive Director of the National American Historical Association, Director of the Pudong Institute for US Economy, and Vice Director of Shanghai International Studies Research Center.

His research interests are international relations and international economy, including Chinese international strategies, Sino-American relations (including Taiwan issues), international relations theories and international economic relations.

Dr. Jisheng SUN

SUN Jisheng is a professor of international studies and Vice President of China Foreign Affairs University. She is the Secretary General of the China National Association for International Studies and deputy Editor in Chief of Foreign Affairs Review. She has been a research fellow in the Weatherhead Centre of International Affairs at Harvard University (2006-2007), visiting scholar at Princeton University (2018), and visiting professor at Luiss University (2019). Sun has been teaching courses in international relations, such as International Relations Theories (MA course), Language and International Relations (PhD course) and Interpretation in Diplomacy (MA course), and has been actively involved in the training of foreign diplomats in CFAU. She has published and translated books and has produced articles and papers on international relations, China’s foreign policy, and international political linguistics in several key journals such as World Economics and Politics, Foreign Affairs Review, International Studies and the Journal of International Studies. She is the author of Language, Meaning and International Politics—On Iraq War, International Political Linguistics: Theory and Practice (ed), Traditional Culture and the Improvement of China’s Diplomatic Discourse. She holds a PhD in international relations.

Ms. Xiaoxi ΧΙΑ

Ms. Xia Xiaoxi, from China’s Hebei Province by origin, was born in Tianjin in April 1972. She graduated from China Foreign Affairs University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts.

She started her career as a diplomat in 1995 and worked in Treaty and Law Department, Policy Planning Department,   Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Department, African Affairs Department and European Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China and Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in New Zealand, Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco, Liaison Office of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of The Gambia and Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of The Gambia.

Since 2020, she has been working as a Counsellor in the Secretariat of China-CEEC Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PRC.

Dr. Ilias Lekkos

Dr. Ilias Lekkos is the Group Chief Economist and Head of Investment Strategy with Piraeus Bank, one of the largest banks in Greece. He is also Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Hellenic Statistical System, a member of the Board of Directors of European Reliance Asset Management and of the Foundation of Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE).  Finally he is a member of the External Advisory Committee of MSc in Quantitative Management at Actuarial and Financial Risk. He is also a member of the Council of Economic Advisors of the Hellenic Bank Association. As Chief Economist with Piraeus Bank, he leads the division which reports on developments in the Greek economy and the Greek banking system. He also monitors macroeconomic developments at the G7 economies and is responsible for devising the investment strategy and asset allocation policy of Piraeus Bank Group. Before joining Piraeus Bank he was a Senior Economist at Eurobank-EFG and prior to that he has worked at the Bank of England, HBOS-Treasury Services and Standard and Poor’s. Dr. Lekkos holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Athens University of Economics and Business, an MSc in Economics and Finance from Warwick University and a PhD in Finance from Lancaster University. His research has been published in a number of academic journals.

Dr. Young Tae Kim

Dr. Young Tae Kim is the Secretary-General of the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD. Elected by transport ministers of the ITF member countries in 2017, he was confirmed for a second five- year mandate in 2022.

Under the leadership of Secretary-General Kim, the ITF has grown from 59 to 66 member countries and into a truly global organisation with a presence on five continents. He has strengthened the ITF’s role as a convener of transport policy leaders and global platform for dialogue for better transport, inter alia by establishing Regional High-level Dialogues on Transport for Asia, Latin America and in Europe, that complement the ITF Summit, the world’s premier transport policy event and largest gathering of transport ministers.

Before becoming ITF Secretary-General, Dr Kim distinguished himself in the civil service of his native Korea, serving as Director-General in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT). As Deputy Director-General from 2015, he was responsible for coordinating various transport policies including autonomous vehicles, greenhouse gas reduction, urban transport, Intelligent Transport Systems and road safety, among others.

Dr Kim also held several Deputy Director and Director positions with responsibility for housing welfare, integrated city development and overseas infrastructure construction. He was seconded to the Prime Minister’s Commission on Administrative Reform in 1996 and the Presidential Committee on Social Inclusion in 2005-07. From 2010 to 2014, Dr Kim worked at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C., as a Counsellor for Construction, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

Dr Kim earned a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Seoul National University, Korea, and in Urban Studies from Paris University de Vincennes-Saint-Denis, France. He also received his Doctoral degree in Political Sociology and Public Policy from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences-Po) in Paris, France.

Dr Kim speaks fluent English, French, and some Spanish, in addition to his native Korean.

Mr. ΥU Zenggang

Mr. Yu Zenggang is the Executive Chairman of Piraeus Port Authority S.A. He started his career in August 1984, and served as the Chief Representative of the Japan Representative Office of Shanghai Shipping Bureau, Director and General Manager of Shanghai Haixing Shipping (Japan) Co. Ltd., Deputy General Manager, General Manager of the Development Division of China Shipping (Group) Company, Executive Vice President of China Shipping (North America) Holding Co., Ltd., President of China Shipping (Europe) Holding GmbH, General Manager of the President Office of China Shipping (Group) Company, Director of BOD Office and General Office, Executive Vice President and BOD Secretary of China Shipping (Group) Company, Executive Vice President and Member of China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited. He has over 30 years’ working experience in shipping industry, and has abundant expertise in corporate management, corporate governance, overseas industry development, international operation, and listed company management. He has taken his current position since June, 2019. Mr. Yu Zenggang graduated from Wuhan University of Technology with a Bachelor’s Degree of engineering science in 1984 and obtained the Master’s Degree in 2012 from CEIBS (China Europe International Business School).

Ambassador Xiao Junzheng

Male, born in March 1970, Ji’an, Jiangxi Province, and holds a PhD degree in history


1997-1998     Assistant Research Fellow, China Institute of International Studies

1998-2002     Third Secretary, Second Secretary, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Islamic Republic of Iran

2002-2003     Assistant Research Fellow, China Institute of International Studies

2003-2008     Second   Secretary,    Deputy    Division    Chief,    Division    Chief,   the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs, MFA

2008-2012     Counselor, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Turkey

2012-2019     Counselor, Deputy Director General, the Department of West Asian and North African Affairs, MFA

2019-2021     Minister Counselor, Minister, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Arab Republic of Egypt

2021-             Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Hellenic Republic


Married

Mr. François Davenne

Mr. François Davenne is the Director General of UIC since June 2019. He graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications d’Evry in 1988 and from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA) in 1999. Throughout his career, he has consistently promoted interdisciplinarity as a key factor for success. Having gained experience in international satellite telecommunications, he initially held various roles in the housing sector, making use of his strong financial and legal skills. He was involved in policy and regulation of the sector and managed key operational programmes, most notably for the city of Paris.

After three years with the French Ministry of Transport, working on railway safety and regulation, with an emphasis on European regulations, he was elected in 2012 as Secretary General of OTIF, the Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail. From early 2013 to the end of 2018, he promoted interdisciplinarity and partnership building in order to expand and develop the uniform regulations for international carriage by rail.

Mr. Olivér Várhelyi

  • Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement/Member of the European Commission, 2019-present
  • Permanent Representative of Hungary, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, 2015-2019
  • Deputy Permanent Representative of Hungary, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, 2011-2015
  • Head of Unit responsible for Industrial Property Rights, European Commission, Directorate-General Internal Market and Services, 2008-2011
  • Head of the European Union Law Department, Ministry of Justice, Hungary, 2006-2008
  • Head of the Legal Service, Permanent Representation of the Republic of Hungary to the European Union, 2003-2006
  • Legal counsellor, Mission of the Republic of Hungary to the European Union, 2001-2003
  • Head of cabinet, Head of the Legal Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cabinet of the Deputy Head of the State Secretary for Integration, 1998-2001
  • Desk officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for EC Harmonization, State Secretary for Integration, 1996-1998
  • Desk officer, Ministry for Industry and Trade, Office for European Affairs, Department for EC Coordination and Harmonization, 1996
  • Trainee, Ministry for Industry and Trade, Office for European Affairs, 1995
  • Bar examination, 2005
  • Law degree at University of Szeged, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, 1996
  • Master of European Legal Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark, 1994

 

H.E. Mr. Noam Katz

A career diplomat since 1994. Ambassador Noam Katz has been serving as Israel’s Ambassador to Greece since September 2022.

Prior to coming to Athens, the Ambassador served as the Senior Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs heading the Public Diplomacy Directorate and was responsible for Israel’s public diplomacy and strategic communications throughout the world.

He has previously served as the Minister of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel in Washington DC (2009-2014), Director of Public Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem (2007-2009), Israel’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (2002-2007), Deputy Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000) and Spokesman of Israel’s Embassy in Rome (1998-2000).

Ambassador Katz holds a BA in history and an MA in Public Policy and Management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a 2017 graduate of the Wexner Senior Leadership Program at Harvard University.