Steering committee

Mr Matthew FLYNN principal and managing director of Flynn Consulting and managing director of Worldyards.com 

Based in Hong Kong, Mr Flynn is one of the most recognised names in Asian shipping media. Having worked as East Asia Editor for Lloyd’s List, he helped found Lloyd’s Freight Transport Buyer Asia six years ago, where he continues to serve as its Hong Kong correspondent/commentator. Mr Flynn was also editor of Maritime Asia, the only pan-Asian maritime publication, where he still serves as it correspondent-at-large. His experience and vast network of contacts accumulated through more than 10 years of research work in Asian maritime issues has made him an authoritative voice. He was the leading contributor to Yangtze River Ports 2006.

He has also conducted consulting projects on shipbuilding, container shipping, air cargo and China logistics. His current clients include Japanese, South Korean, Chinese, European and American maritime/logistics companies. Flynn Consulting, the company he founded in 2001, is engaged in industry analysis, media consulting, public relations, crisis communication and business development. It has offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

A 1993 MA graduate of American Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a concentration in China, Japan and International Economics, Mr Flynn has lived in Hong Kong and Tokyo for the past 12 years. He is a fluent Mandarin speaker. Mr Flynn chaired the Yangtze Business Network 2007.

Mr GU Qiangsheng, deputy general manager of Wuhan Port Group, 55 per cent owned by Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG). The highest ranking official seconded by SIPG to Wuhan, Mr Gu is also general manager of the group’s subsidiary Wuhan Port Container Co, which currently handles most of Wuhan’s container traffic.

Mr Gu was originally deputy general manager of Shanghai Port Container Terminal Co (SPCCO), the listed investment arm of SIPG, in charge of planning and execution of the company’s Yangtze strategy. Mr Gu has an extensive knowledge of the Yangtze.

Wuhan Port Group is keen to attract foreign participants in several of is projects, including the Container Freight Station at Wuhan Port Container Co. Work has already begun. The management is looking for a foreign joint venture to provide finance and management expertise. It also plans to buy port handling equipment for its upgrading and expansion projects.

Mr Ian HOWARD, MBE, adviser to Chongqing Government and Chongqing Foreign Investment Consultation and Service Co, director of First Stop Services (Hong Kong), a consultancy specialising in politics, strategy and investment in China and IndoChina. Clients include The Shui On Group, the Business & Professionals Federation of Hong Kong, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Council for Promotion & Development of Yangtze, Munich Trade Fairs, the Hong Kong government and a number of European development agencies.

Mr Howard believes passionately in Chongqing’s growing importance to the overall Chinese economy, and has worked tirelessly to promote the city to the outside world.

He is also a Member of the International Advisory Board of ChinaOnline, the Chicago-based internet media company focused exclusively on China. Previously he worked for more than 20 years as an administrator and policy adviser for various governments in the Asia-Pacific region. He has been the Technical Adviser to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Vanuatu, Assistant Financial Secretary and Assistant Director-General of Industry in Hong Kong.

He studied Development Economics at Cambridge University.

Mr HUANG Qiang, Party Secretary, the Yangtze River Administration of Navigational Affairs, Chinese Ministry of Communications

Still in his 40’s, Mr Huang belongs to a new generation of government officials who are knowledgeable and passionate about the industry they oversee. A 1982 graduate from Chongqing College of Communications specialising in ports and waterway engineering, he went on to work in the Yangtze Waterway Bureau, Wuhan Waterway Industrial Institute and the Three Gorges Dam Administration. At 42, he became the youngest ever director of the Yangtze River Administration of Navigational Affairs under the Chinese Ministry of Communications. In August 2005, he was promoted to the position of its party secretary.

Mr Huang is a champion of the Yangtze development programme. He is also a realist who readily acknowledges the challenges facing foreign investors simply to get accurate information to help them invest in the Yangtze. He is approachable and ready to help solve problems.

Mr TANG Guanjun, director of the Yangtze Waterway Bureau under the Yangtze River Administration of Navigational Affairs, Chinese Ministry of Communications

Mr Tang was involved in the management of Gezhouba Dam Shiplocks for over 10 years before being transferred in August 1996 to the Three Gorges Dam project, responsible for navigational affairs. Between January 1998 and October 2003, he was first the chief of director’s office and then executive deputy director of the Administrative Bureau of Navigational Affairs of the Three Gorges Dam. In April 2000, he was promoted to the position of deputy director of the Yangtze River Administration of Navigational Affairs. Since July 2005, he has been director of the Yangtze Waterway Bureau, spearheading the multi-million-dollar ‘digital waterway’ programme.

For this programme, Mr Tang and his team are looking for technology and equipment for data collection and management. They are also looking for foreign expertise in building the digital waterway.