Damian Maib (Panelist)

Founder and CEO of Genuine German

Founder and CEO of Genuine German, a full-service E-Commerce (TP) and Marketing agency focused on the FMCG industry in China. Damian has been strategizing, executing and managing brand operations for industry leaders across multiple categories. Recognized for scaling e-commerce stores in combination with social media, live-streaming and branding activities.

Sven Otten (Panelist)

General Manager of TUENKERS (Jiangsu) Automation Technology Co., Ltd. and Member of the Board of Directors of the German Chamber of Commerce in China | Shanghai

Mr. Sven O. Otten, born in Germany, completed his apprenticeship as a precision mechanic, he studied mechanical engineering at Cologne University of Applied Sciences. After his first station in the film-processing industry, he switched to machine tools industry to work for renowned global companies. During his career, he passed through the stations from the area sales manager, international sales director and general manager. Since 2018 he is the responsible General Manager of an automation company in the automotive area in Taicang. Additionally he did some voluntary work. From 2015 to 2017, where he was the Chairman of the Taicang Roundtable, an industry organization for German and European SME companies in Taicang, working closely together with the German Chamber of Commerce and the Taicang Government.

Dr. Sigrid Winkler (Moderator)

Deputy Executive Director at German Chamber of Commerce China · East China

In June 2022, Dr. Sigrid Winkler was appointed Deputy Executive Director at the German Chamber of Commerce in China | East China and is in charge of the membership organization at the Chamber as well as the development of strategic projects for the organization. Dr. Winkler joined the German Chamber in spring 2016, initially as Project Manager Social Responsibility where she was responsible for the More than a Market initiative and was promoted in October 2016 to Executive Chamber Manager. Dr. Winkler holds a PhD in Political Science from Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium and a bachelor’s degree in Chinese Studies from Vienna University. Before joining the German Chamber, she was Head of Office of the Austrian Academic Exchange Agency (OeAD) in Shanghai. Previously, Dr. Winkler managed international business development projects in China and Eastern Europe for Business Upper Austria, the economic agency of the regional government of Upper Austria. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on EU-China relations, and since 2002, she has been regularly coming back to China for shorter and longer-term stays.

Dr. Gang Yang

President of TRUMPF Group China

Dr. Gang Yang heads the entire business of the TRUMPF Group in China, including TRUMPF (China) Co. Ltd. in Taicang and Jiangsu Jinfangyuan CNC Machine Co., Ltd. (JFY) in Yangzhou. In total, the TRUMPF Group currently employs more than 1,700 people in China. Gang serves as an officer of the company and he’s based in Taicang, the APAC Hub of TRUMPF Group. Gang also serves as vice chairman of Taicang Roundtable (TRT), a professional industry organization for German and European invested enterprises in Taicang Hi-Tech Zone. Additionally, he is an Advisory Board Member of China Netzwerk Baden-Württemberg e.V (CNBW). Gang has been with TRUMPF since January 2015, formerly as Global Sales Director in the Machine Tool Business Division at the company's headquarters in Ditzingen, Germany. He was appointed Managing Director of TRUMPF (China) in 2018. Prior to TRUMPF, Gang served in several management roles, including Ernst & Young, McKinsey and Bielomatik Leuze Group. Gang also served as Professor of DHL Chair for Global Supply Chain Management at Sino-German College for postgraduate Studies (CDHK) in Shanghai Tongji University. Gang holds a doctorate degree in economics and master’s degree in engineering from Technical University Berlin (TU Berlin).

Sen Ye (Panelist)

General Manager at Haering Precision (Taicang) Co., Ltd.

Mr. Ye studied MBA at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 2012 to 2017. After his graduation, he began his PhD study at Shanghai Jiaotong University. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. Ye was responsible Advanced Training in Management and Technology at Anton-Häring KG, involved in quality management, operation management, Engineering planning, product and technology transfer. Then in 2019 , he became the General Manager of Haering Precision (Taicang) Co., Ltd., responsible for the operation of Haering in China, promote the rapid and high-quality development of the company, provide employment for more than 800 people.

Denis Depoux (Panelist)

Global Managing Director at Roland Berger Enterprise Management (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Denis Depoux began his career in China in 1993 with French energy giant EDF before entering the management consulting industry. In 2001, Depoux joined Roland Berger, focusing on the energy and environmental sectors, and sharing his strong consulting expertise and rich industry experience in the US, Europe and Asia. Depoux has been actively supporting the firm's Greater China operations since 2007. Since moving to Shanghai in 2015, he has contributed a lot to the transformation towards the new Roland Berger in this region. For Roland Berger Greater China, he has been committedly overseeing a wide variety of Competence Centers. In 2020, Denis was elected Managing Director and has been devoted to the management of Roland Berger's global affairs. In the energy and utilities sector, Depoux has supported the transformation of major European players throughout the energy market's transition facing a more liberalized and competitive market. He has made extensive contributions in the areas of new products and services, the development of wholesale-market trading, risk management, the development of energy services, etc. He has also advised on several major mergers of European energy players and supported the expansion of electricity and natural-gas players into Europe, the Americas and Asia. More recently, Depoux has supported European and Asian energy players in addressing challenges raised by the trends toward low-carbon energy, energy efficiency, decentralized energy generation and the Internet of energy. Beyond the energy sector, Depoux has extensive experience in performance and operations improvement, operational and G&A cost reduction, purchasing process transformation, screening, commercial and strategic due diligence for acquisition targets, post-merger integration and organization and governance. Depoux is a key speaker at top-level forums in Asia, including the Boao Forum for Asia, World Knowledge Forum and China Development Forum. As one of the leading foreign experts working in China, he was invited to a New Year meeting with Chinese Premier to discuss the nation's development. Besides, Depoux often shares his insights on trendy topics both inside and outside China by taking interviews and writing articles for mainstream media channels, including People's Daily, CCTV and Caijing.