Prof. Dr. Markus Taube has joined the University of Duisburg-Essen in April 2000, where he holds the chair for East Asian Economic Studies / China. From 2004 on he is also director of the Institute for East Asian Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Born in 1965 Prof. Taube started his academic career studying sinology and economics at the universities of Trier and Wuhan (PR China). Later on he went to the Ruhr University Bochum, where he received his doctorate. In 1996 he entered the ifo Institute for Economic Research, Munich, where he was responsible for the ifo Institute’s China-oriented research activities, before moving on to Duisburg. He is the Walter-Eucken Prize laureate of 1998, Guest Professor at the University of Wuhan (PR China), Member of the OECD-China Investment Network, the Euro-Asia Management Studies Association (EAMSA), the International Society for New Institutional Economics (ISNIE), the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE), and other associations.

Born 1972 in Munich, diploma in economics from the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. Scholarship from the "German Academic Exchange Service" (DAAD) for the study of the Chinese language at the Fu Jen University in Taiwan. Spent around two years in Taiwan. From 1998-2001 graduate student at the renowned "Ifo Institut for Economic Research" in Munich. Specialized in the research of the "Greater China" area. 2001 to 2004 as a senior consultant for telecommunications and Internet industry with Capgemini. Dr. Christian Schmidkonz received a doctorate degree from the University Duisburg-Essen, Germany, for doing extensive research on the Internet economy and the development of ecommerce in China. Spezialized in China's Internet, environmental protection in China as well as Taiwan-China relations.

Born in 1973, Linda Li studied business administration and economics at the University of Konstanz (Germany) and the Shanghai Jiaotong University (PR China). She has working experience in state-owned companies, international joint ventures, wholly foreign owned enterprises and Chinese national companies. In her function as a party member of the communist party, she has gained thorough experience in Chinese politics.

Areas of experience:
Foreign direct investments, mergers and acquisitions, interim management and interims assistance, intercultural coaching, headhunting

Mr. Richter holds a diploma in Business Sinology and is director of China Linkstar Consulting, a THINK!DESK China Research & Consulting partner, in Shanghai. He has got over five years of experience in the fields of China entry consulting, supply chain management and interim management for mainly German and Dutch companies.

Mr. Richter used to work for the Landesgewerbeanstalt Bayern, Shangai Office, where is was responsible for inspections of factorys as well as quality management.

He speaks German and is fluent not only in English but also in Chinese.