John retired as a CPA after 40 years in public accounting following naval service and is a founder of the Council. In addition to remaining active in the Council, he is chairman of Connecticut State Board of Accountancy, treasurer and executive committee board member of World Affairs Council of Connecticut, member of CT District Export Council, a commissioner on Connecticut Municipal Finance Advisory Commission, and treasurer and board member of Friends of the Simsbury Public Library. John participated with the first state mission to Shandong Province in December 1986, and has been active in that relationship, participating in many trade, investment and missions over the years and has been honored with honorary provincial citizenship. He holds a BS from the United States Naval Academy and an MS in management from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Jin is an aerospace engineer at Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies company. Professionally, he has been an aerospace engineer for over 20 years. During his free time, he volunteers at the Chinese Culture Center of Greater Hartford and serves as chairman of the board of directors of Chinese Association for Science and Technology in Connecticut (CAST-CT). Since 2014, he has served as a consultant for the Connecticut Higher Education Bureau China Committee. In 2018, Jin was elected president of the Council.
As a captain, Larry sailed worldwide on various types of vessels before landing ashore in a management role at China’s COSCO Shipping. He subsequently applied this experience to become responsible for chartering and energy shipping as they relate to oil tankers and dry bulk traders in the United States. He has now been involved in these activities for more than 20 years. Currently, he is general manager of Charles R. Weber's greater China region. This company is based in Greenwich, CT and is an energy transportation brokerage and consulting firm with a history of more than 80 years. Larry was educated at Dalian Maritime University.
Paul is a partner at the international law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP. For over 40 years, his practice has focused on general business counseling, commercial finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital and international trade and cross-border transactions. Paul has counseled clients on business structuring and outsourcing transactions in China, international trade and finance matters, acquisitions by and of Chinese companies and Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) compliance. He earned a BA in Political Science from Wesleyan University and a JD from University of Connecticut Law School. He is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bar.
Carlton is a business lawyer at Kurien Ouellette LLC in Connecticut and Jia Law Group P.C. in New York. He handles export/import control, international sales, and acquisitions for his clients, including the China Import-Export Bank and other entities in China. He also is a business development consultant to Chinese healthcare clients. Carlton began his legal career at the Federal Trade Commission and previously was a lawyer at a large Connecticut law firm and Fortune 500 corporations, as well as vice president, general counsel & secretary at a major U.S. defense company. He earned a BA in economics from Columbia University and a JD from New York University School of Law. He is a member of the New York and Connecticut Bar.
Melissa is a director at U.S. Department of Commerce’s U.S. Commercial Service. She assists Connecticut firms develop effective export strategies for entry into new markets. She is a core team member of the U.S. DOC's Aerospace and Defense Team and has led several trade missions to various worldwide aerospace and defense events. Melissa completed official government assignments in Brazil, China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Thailand, the U.S. Mission to the European Union (Brussels, Belgium), Hungary and the Czech Republic. She earned a Global Certificate from Harvard Business School, an Executive Certificate in International Marketing from Thunderbird University, and a BA summa cum laude in political science and English from Southern Connecticut State University.
Laura is a project manager for the State of Connecticut’s Department of Economic and Community Development’s (DECD) Office of International and Domestic Business Development. As part of the state’s economic development mission, DECD acts as a catalyst for international activity in Connecticut. Laura’s responsibilities include foreign direct investment, business recruitment and protocol assignments. Since 2011, Laura has served as Connecticut’s project director for the State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) grant, a federal award from the U.S. Small Business Administration geared to increase small business exports. Laura is a Phi Beta Kappa summa cum laude graduate of Syracuse University and earned a M.A. in government from Columbia University.
Bruce is the co-founder of the Greenwich Economic Forum, co-chairman of Greenwich Business Institute, and founder and president of the Connecticut Hedge Fund Association. Bruce is an attorney and a 26-year veteran of Wall Street, with officer positions at Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Bruce is a Director of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce and he serves on Dean John Quelch’s Finance Advisory Board at the University of Miami Herbert School of Business. Bruce’s commentary on the economy and the alternative investment industry have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, Bloomberg, China Daily, and many other publications. In addition, Bruce has done segments on the hedge fund industry for China’s CCTV, and TV Tokyo. Bruce is a graduate of the University of Miami and is a member of the Connecticut Bar.
After a 40 year career with Orafol Corp (formerly Reflexite Corp), Tim retired as President of Orafol Asia-Pacific. A start-up technology-driven company, with proprietary products in optical engineering and polymer processing, grew from 20 employees to 500. As Director of International Operations the company transitioned from a USA based company with overseas distribution to a multinational company with licensed foreign joint ventures. Tim traveled in 1986 on the Gov. O’Neill China trade mission then moved his family to Hong Kong in 1992 and negotiated license joint venture companies in Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, and served as President of Orafol’s two China manufacturing companies. Tim was a charter member of the 1993 CT China Council and is currently on the Executive Board and Treasurer.
Tina (Peng) is a cross border relationship manager at East West Bank. She has more than six years of corporate banking experience including in Guangzhou (China) and New York (USA) in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (“ICBC”). At ICBC’s U.S. institution, she solicited and underwrote commercial loan with a focus on customers within the Large Corporate and Mid-Market Enterprise segments, provided cross border financial solution to serve Consumer, Industrials, Energy, Healthcare companies and Financial Institutions, etc. Tina also volunteered for school and church in Connecticut. In 2012, she earned an MBA degree from St. John’s University in New York.