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Rahul Ahluwalia (Minister Counsellor and Director of Department for International Trade)

Rahul Ahluwalia

Minister Counsellor and Director of Department for International Trade

Rahul Ahluwalia is Minister-Counsellor and Director for Financial & Professional Services at the British Embassy in Beijing, on secondment from HM Treasury.

Rahul is responsible for deepening UK-China cooperation across a range of sectors including banking, law, capital markets, asset management, insurance, pensions, green finance and FinTech. Rahul also leads the UK government’s work on two-way investment between the UK and China.

Rahul previously served as a British diplomat in India, working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as First Secretary (Financial Services). Rahul also worked at HM Treasury, after stints at the Department for Work and Pensions and at the FCO in London.

Rahul was educated at Oxford and Yale.

Maria Liu (Managing Director of Greater China at Experian)

Maria Liu

Managing Director of Greater China at Experian

Maria Liu comes with 25 years’ banking experience, having worked in various leadership roles in banking management and client development, and supporting global financial services firms in various stages of their growth in China.

Her most recent role was Managing Director and Co-Head of China Corporate Banking for Bank of America (BofA), where she successfully managed the bank’s corporate banking strategy and team amidst a challenging business environment. Prior to her tenure at Bank of America, Maria served as General Manager of ANZ Bank Beijing, where she was responsible for the local incorporation of the bank and its business strategy and led major cross-border acquisition financing landmark deals. Maria also spent 12 years at HSBC, where her last role was General Manager of the bank’s Qingdao branch, a key contributor to its China operations.

Maria brings with her decades of banking expertise and global business networks having worked in Hong Kong, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Qingdao. She has forged important working relationships over the years with Chinese government officials, regulators, as well as major leading financial institutions and corporate clients. Maria has served on several boards, including the Board of Directors for ANZ Laos, ANZ LiangPing Rural Bank and Australia Chamber of Commerce China. Maria has an executive MBA from Tsinghua University.