Keynote Speakers

Mr Liang Shugen, Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Melbourne

China’s 11th Five-Year Plan – Sino-Australian Economic and Trade Potential

• Main targets for economic, social and foreign trade development in the new national five-year plan
• Commercial potential for expanding linkages with Australia, and the States of Victoria and Tasmania in particular.

Mr Liang Shugen has been the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Melbourne since September 2005. Before his current appointment, he was deputy Director-General of the Consular Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is an experienced diplomat having served in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1976. He has also held various senior positions in the Ministry and diplomatic appointments in the United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa.


Mr Chen Zeng, Managing Director, CITIC Resources Australia, Chairman of China Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne

Success via Partnering – The Story of CITIC Australia

• After two decades of operation in Australia, the CITIC team has steadily built its business and it now has a billion dollar annual turnover
• Mr Zeng will analyse the drivers for its success, with particular emphasis on partner alliances

Mr Chen Zeng has been the Managing Director of the CITIC Group’s Australian operations since November 2002. He joined the Group in 1989 and transferred to CITIC Australia in 1994. He has 17 years’ experience managing various business operations and business and asset restructures, and has developed a number of projects for the CITIC and CITIC Australia Groups. Mr Zeng is Chairman of the ASX listed CITIC Australia Trading Ltd. He is also an executive director of the Hong Kong listed CITIC Resources Holdings Limited.

Mr Xu Siwei, Senior Vice-President, China Minmetals Corporation

Australia-focused Strategic Development – The Globalised China Minmetals Group

• Role of Minmetals in the development of Australia-China economic cooperation
• The development plan of Minmetals Corporation with Australia as the strategic priority

Mr Xu Siwei is Senior Vice-President of China Minmetals Corporation and responsible for the operation of the Group’s overseas enterprises since April 2004. Mr Xu began his career in Minmetals in July 1988. From 1995 to 1999, he was Deputy General Manager and General Manager of Minmetals International Enterprises Development Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of China Minmetals. From 1999 to 2004, Mr Xu was General Manager of Minmetals Steel Co. Ltd, Vice-President and President of Minmetals Development Co. Ltd.

China Minmetals Corporation, established in 1950, is a large international trading group, producing metals, minerals and electrical products. It is also engaged in finance, real estate, shipping, bidding and tendering and investment. In 1999, Minmetals was listed among the 44 ‘key enterprises’ managed by the Central Government. In 2005, Minmetals' total revenue was more than US $17 billion.