Yan Lan (born 1957)

2017 (est)https://www.leparisien.fr/economie/yan-lan-elle-ouvre-la-porte-du-marche-chinois-21-10-2017-7346316.php2017-leparisien-fr-economie-yan-lan-img-ex70z.jpg

Wikipedia (in France only, not available in English as of Oct 2021) 🌐 Yang Lan

born January 17, 1957 in Beijing, China [HK008B][GDrive]

Father is Yan Mingfu (born 1931) .

Saved Wikipedia (Oct 13, 2021) - Only available in France - "Yan Lan"

Source : [HK008B][GDrive]

Yan Lan, née le 17 janvier 1957 à Pékin, est une avocate puis banquière d'affaires et écrivain franco-chinoise, connue pour diriger les activités de la banque Lazard en Chine, et pour son livre racontant l'histoire de sa famille dans le contexte de l'histoire de la Chine.

Débuts

Yan Lan naît le 17 janvier 1957 à Pékin. Enfant unique, elle fait ses premiers pas dans une famille au passé prestigieux, intégrée dans la classe dirigeante¹. D'abord bourgeoise et protestante, sa famille rejoint le communisme dans les années 1930².

Le traumatisme de la Révolution culturelle

Yan Lan vit la Révolution culturelle « comme un cauchemar »³.

Son grand-père paternel, Yan Baohang, est un héros de la guerre contre les Japonais¹. Il informe l’URSS du déclenchement imminent de l'opération Barbarossa⁴. En novembre 1967, pendant la révolution culturelle, malgré son statut de haut fonctionnaire historique du Parti Communiste, il est accusé de révisionnisme et d'espionnage au profit de l'Union soviétique, assigné à résidence, et meurt en détention quelques mois plus tard⁵.

Son père, Yan Mingfu, est diplomate, interprète attitré pour le russe de Mao Zedong, notamment dans ses discussions avec Kroutchev¹^,⁶. Arrêté en 1966, il est emprisonné à Qincheng⁷ et battu pendant la révolution culturelle.

Son grand-père maternel étudie au MIT dans les années 1920¹.

Sa mère, Wu Keliang, est diplomate et interprète d'italien⁵^,⁶. Décrite par sa fille comme une intellectuelle déterminée, elle est assignée à un camp de travail pour rééducation¹, et rejointe par sa fille en mars 1969⁵ ; elle éduque sa fille pour qu'elle ait un « caractère de garçon » et l'initie aux lettres françaises, dont Balzac, Maupassant et Hugo.

Études

À la mort de Mao, la Révolution culturelle prend fin. La famille Yan retrouve son statut de premier plan¹. Profitant de la réouverture des universités pour tous⁸, Yan Lan entre à l'université des langues étrangères de Pékin ⁹en 1977, où elle suit une licence de français, puis à l'université de Pékin, où elle est dplômée en 1984 d'un master de droit¹⁰. En 1988, elle obtient un doctorat de droit de l’arbitrage interétatique à l'Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales⁹ à Genève¹^,⁵, d'où elle suivra les évènements de Tian'anmen en 1989. Elle devient ensuite chercheur associé à Harvard⁸. En 1994, elle est admise au barreau de Paris¹⁰.

Activités professionnelles et reconnaissance

Elle intègre comme avocate d'affaires le cabinet Gide Loyrette Nouel en 1991, et accède à la direction de sa branche chinoise en 1998²^,⁵, devenant la première femme associée du cabinet¹.

En 2011, elle crée et dirige l’antenne de la banque Lazard pour la Grande Chine (Chine, Hong Kong, Taïwan), où elle est spécialiste des fusions-acquisitions. Elle conseille en particulier de grandes entreprises françaises comme Areva ou Saint-Gobain pour leurs activités chinoises⁴^,¹¹, évitant notamment à PSA un déclin économique brutal en 2013 en rapprochant le groupe de Dongfeng, entreprise d’État chinoise¹^,¹². En 2019, elle est nommée vice-présidente de la banque pour la Grande Chine⁶.

Le 1^er novembre 2012, elle reçoit la Légion d'Honneur pour avoir « contribué à construire des ponts entre la France et la Chine, dans les domaines économiques et juridiques, à travers son action au sein du cabinet Gide, mais aussi dans le domaine culturel »¹³.

Elle exerce ou a exercé d'autres fonctions dans les domaines économique et culturel, dont celles d'arbitre de la Commission dʹarbitrage économique et commerciale internationale de Chine, Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur de la France, et présidente du Comité consultatif pour la Fête de la Musique internationale de Pékin⁹.

Personnalité

Décrite comme féministe⁵^,⁴^,⁸, elle est vice-présidente du Women's Forum for the Economy and Society pour l'Asie⁹. On la peint également ambitieuse¹⁴, pragmatique, efficace, réfléchie, discrète², représentante d'une élite mondialisée et patriote. Yan Lan a été proche de Deng Xiaoping, auprès duquel elle passait ses vacances enfant⁶, dont elle a loué la stratégie visionnaire², et qui connut lui-même la France où il a travaillé à l'usine Renault Billancourt⁴.

Comme écrivain : Chez les Yan

En 2017, elle fait paraître Chez les Yan, aux éditions Allary¹⁵, autobiographie dans laquelle elle raconte l'histoire de sa famille et, à travers elle, l'histoire de la Chine¹⁶^,⁴^,¹⁷. En 2018, le livre est lauréat du prix Simone Veil¹⁸^,¹⁹. Une traduction en anglais paraît en janvier 2020 chez HarperCollins²⁰^,²¹^,²².

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Yan Lan, born January 17, 1957 in Beijing, is a Franco-Chinese lawyer, then investment banker and writer, known for leading the activities of Lazard Bank in China, and for her book telling the story of her family in the context of Chinese history.

Beginnings

Yan Lan was born on January 17, 1957 in Beijing. An only child, she took her first steps in a family with a prestigious past, integrated into the ruling class1. First bourgeois and Protestant, her family joined Communism in the 1930s2.

The trauma of the Cultural Revolution

Yan Lan saw the Cultural Revolution “like a nightmare” 3.

His paternal grandfather, Yan Baohang, is a hero of the war against the Japanese1. He informed the USSR of the imminent outbreak of Operation Barbarossa. In November 1967, during the Cultural Revolution, despite his status as a historic high official of the Communist Party, he was accused of revisionism and espionage for the benefit of the Soviet Union, placed under house arrest, and died in detention a few months later5.

[Her] father, Yan Mingfu, is a diplomat and official interpreter for Mao Zedong's Russian, notably in his discussions with Kroutchev1,6. Arrested in 1966, he was imprisoned in Qincheng7 and beaten during the Cultural Revolution.

Her maternal grandfather studied at MIT in the 19201s.

[Her] mother, Wu Keliang, is a diplomat and Italian interpreter5,6. Described by her daughter as a determined intellectual, she was assigned to a labor camp for re-education1, and joined by her daughter in March 1969; she educates her daughter so that she has a "boyish character" and introduces her to French letters, including Balzac, Maupassant and Hugo.

Studies

When Mao dies, the Cultural Revolution ends. The Yan family regains its prominent status1. Taking advantage of the reopening of universities for all8, Yan Lan entered the Peking University of Foreign Languages 9 in 1977, where she took a bachelor's degree in French, then at Peking University, where she obtained a master's degree in 1984. of right10. In 1988, she obtained a doctorate in interstate arbitration law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies9 in Geneva1,5, from where she followed the events of Tian'anmen in 1989. She then became an associate researcher at Harvard8. In 1994, she was admitted to the Paris bar10.

Professional activities and recognition

She joined the firm Gide Loyrette Nouel as a business lawyer in 1991, and took over the management of its Chinese branch in 19982,5, becoming the firm's first female partner1.

In 2011, she created and managed the Lazard branch for Greater China (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), where she specializes in mergers and acquisitions. In particular, she advises large French companies such as Areva and Saint-Gobain on their Chinese activities4,11, in particular avoiding a sudden economic decline for PSA in 2013 by bringing the group together with Dongfeng, a Chinese state-owned company1,12. In 2019, she was appointed vice-president of the bank for Greater China6.

On November 1, 2012, she received the Legion of Honor for having "contributed to building bridges between France and China, in the economic and legal fields, through her work within the Gide cabinet, but also in the cultural field. ".

She exercises or has exercised other functions in the economic and cultural fields, including those of arbitrator of the International Economic and Commercial Arbitration Commission of China, Foreign Trade Advisor of France, and President of the Consultative Committee for the Fête de la Fête. Beijing International Music 9.

Personality

Described as a feminist5,4,8, she is vice-president of the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society for Asia9. She is also portrayed as ambitious14, pragmatic, efficient, thoughtful, discreet2, representative of a globalized and patriotic elite. Yan Lan was close to Deng Xiaoping, with whom she spent her holidays as a child6, whose visionary strategy she praised2, and who himself knew France where he worked at the Renault Billancourt factory.

As a writer: Chez les Yan

In 2017, she published Chez les Yan, published by Allary15, an autobiography in which she tells the story of her family and, through her, the history of China16,4,17. In 2018, the book won the Simone Veil Prize18,19. An English translation will be published in January 2020 by HarperCollins20,21

Notes et références

^a^b^c^d^e^f^g^h^etⁱ Yan Lan : elle ouvre la porte du marché chinois [archive] Le Parisien, 21 octobre 2017.
^a^b^c^et^d Yan Lan, le yin et le yuan. [archive] Libération, 20 octobre 2017.
↑ Yan Lan : "J’ai vécu la Révolution culturelle comme un cauchemar" [archive]France Info, 6 octobre 2017.
^a^b^c^d^et^e Yan Lan, La Banquière Au Cœur De L’Histoire Chinoise [archive]Forbes, 4 avril 2018.
^a^b^c^d^e^et^f Yan Lan, la banquière d'une Chine nouvelle [archive] Le Journal du Dimanche, 4 novembre 2017.
^a^b^c^et^d Yan Lan, banquière française, chinoise de cœur. [archive] Le Monde, 3 août 2019.
↑ Yan, une famille chinoise presque comme les autres. Le Rouge et le Noir version chinoise. [archive] Paul-Henri Moinet, Le Nouvel Economiste, 19 octobre 2017.
^a^b^et^c De Mao à la banque Lazard : l'itinéraire incroyable de Yan Lan, business woman la plus célèbre de Chine [archive] Madame Figaro, 6 novembre 2017 .
^a^b^c^et^d En nouvelle diffusion - Yan Lan, banquière, femme d'affaires et auteure "Chez les Yan" Ed. Allary. [archive] Radio Télévision Suisse, 21 juin 2020.
^a^et^b Témoins de la Réforme et de l'Ouverture---YAN Lan. [archive] Radio Chine International, 14 novembre 2008.
↑ Cette femme détient les clés de la Chine [archive] Le Point, 4 juin 2016.
↑ Comment le scénario Dongfeng a fini par s'imposer pour Peugeot. [archive]les Echos, 21 janvier 2014.
↑ Remise de la Légion d’honneur à Mme Yan Lan par Mme l’Ambassadeur [archive] Ambassade de France à Pékin, 2 novembre 2012.
↑ Une journée avec Yan Lan [archive] Elle, 13 octobre 2008.
↑ Chez les Yan. [archive] Editions Allary, 5 octobre 2017.(ISBN 978-2-37073-145-6).
↑ Banquière et femme d’affaires : Yan Lan, une Chinoise dans la mondialisation [archive] France Culture, 5 octobre 2017.
↑ Le siècle tourmenté d'une famille de dignitaires chinois [archive] Les Échos, 20 octobre 2017.
↑ Yan Lan, lauréate du prix Simone Veil 2018 pour Chez les Yan. [archive]Actualitte, 25 mai 2018.
↑ Le prix Simone Veil 2018 distingue Yan Lan. [archive] Livres Hebdo, 25 mai 2018.
↑ The House of Yan A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History. [archive] Lan Yan, traduit depuis le chinois par Sam Taylor, HarperCollins, 28 janvier 2020. (ISBN 978-0-06-289981-1).
↑ The House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History. [archive] Publishers Weekly, 10 août 2019.
↑ 'The House of Yan': One Woman's Odyssey in China. [archive] Asia Society New York, 27 janvier 2020.

2014 (est) Resume (PDF not downloadable, so only images available)

[HL008A][GDrive]

[HL008B][GDrive]

Yan Lan : Managing Director : Head of Greater China Investment Banking at Lazard China

Current position Managing Director, Head of Greater China Investment Banking

Studies / Qualifications:

1977-1981 Bachelor’s degree in French Literature, Beijing University of Foreign Languages, People’s Republic of China
1981-1984 LLM in Law, Beijing University (School of Law), People’s Republic of China
1984-1991 Studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, in Geneva, Switzerland, where she obtained a Doctorate in Law (PhD)
1987-1988 Research Associate at Harvard Law School in the United-States of America
1991 8-month internship at the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Court in Paris
Languages: French, English and Chinese

Professional Experience

In 1988, Yan Lan worked as a foreign lawyer at Baker & McKenzie, then at White & Case in New York.
In 1989-1990, she worked as a part-time associate at Baker & McKenzie in Geneva.
In 1991, Yan Lan joined Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris as an associate and was in charge of Sino-French files.
In 1994, she was admitted to the Paris Bar, after having studied at the Bar School.
In 1997, she was elected worldwide partner at Gide Loyrette Nouel.
In 1998, she was sent to Beijing to lead Gide Loyrette Nouel Beijing Office.
1998-2011, Yan Lan had been partner in charge of Gide Loyrette Nouel Beijing Office.
Since April 2011, Yan Lan joined Lazard as Managing Director and Head of Greater China Investment Banking

Areas of Expertise

Ms. Yan has extensive coverage of China’s domestic banks, helping them access project/acquisition financing. She also has strong relationship with central government regulators and China’s largest stateowned enterprises. Recently, Ms. Yan advised on Dongfeng Motor on its acquisition of minority stake in PSA Peugeot Citroën, Bluefocus on its acquisition of 19.8% stake in Huntsworth, MiaSole on its sale to Hanergy, A123 Systems on its $257 million strategic investment by Wanxiang Group, abertis on sale of its 7% stake in Eutelsat to China Investment Corporation and the sale of Gloucester Coal to Yanzhou Coal.
Prior to joining Lazard, Lan Yan was a partner in charge of Gide Loyrette Nouel’s Beijing office, where she advised on mergers and acquisitions and foreign direct investment projects in China across a wide range of sectors for 12 years. She also advised Chinese companies on their investment projects in Africa and Europe.
She was listed arbitrator for the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC).

Miscellaneous (Associations, Works Published)

- French Trade Advisor (CCE) since 2006
- Independent board director of China Merchant Bank 2007 - 2013
- President of the China Heritage Society since 2004 (NGO)
- Vice President of China Art Foundation since 2010 (NGO)
- Member of the International Advisory Board of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society and Vice President of the Women's Forum Asia 2007 -2010
- Honorary Consul of Monaco in Beijing since 2008
- Member of the International Advisory Board of Moet Hennessy since 2013
- Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (France)
- Chevalier dans l’Ordre de Saint-Charles (Monaco)
- Author of articles relating to various aspects of Chinese Law and contributed to the book “Business Law in China: Trade, Investment, Operations and Finance”, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC Publication No. 672, 2008 Edition

https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/lan-yan

2021-10-harpercollins-com-blogs-authors-lan-yan.pdf

2021-10-harpercollins-com-blogs-authors-lan-yan-img-1.jpg

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Lan Yan was not allowed to enter higher education because her Communist family had been designated as counter-revolutionaries. In 1969, she was sent to a re-education camp in Henan, where her mother had been for a year. In 1977, the year after the Cultural Revolution ended, she enrolled at university. Exceptionally motivated, she was awarded grants to study at the most prestigious universities in Europe and the United States. In 1991, she joined the Gide Loyrette Nouel law firm based in Paris and became the first foreign woman to make partner. In 1998, she returned to China to run the firm's Beijing office. In 2011, Lan Yan joined Lazard as managing director to lead its Chinese activities. Today, she is the vice chairman of investment banking of Lazard and the chairman and CEO of Lazard Greater China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan).

EVIDENCE TIMELINE

2001 (Jan 08)

https://www.newspapers.com/image/462326078/?terms=%22yan%20lan%22&match=1

2006 (March 31) - NYTimes : "U.S. softens tone on trade ties with China"

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/business/worldbusiness/us-softens-tone-on-trade-ties-with-china.html?searchResultPosition=2

2006-03-31-nytimes-us-softens-tone-on-trade-ties-with-china.pdf

By David Lague / March 31, 2006

BEIJING — The United States has nothing to fear from the rise of China as a low-cost manufacturing power and should concentrate on further growth in high-value industries, the U.S. commerce secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, said Friday.

At a time of mounting friction over a $202 billion trade deficit with China, Gutierrez said U.S. unemployment was declining and wealth increasing even as imports from China have risen.

"Our economy is growing, and the average take-home pay per American is increasing," Gutierrez told a business forum in Tokyo.

His comments followed a blunt warning delivered during a visit to Beijing this week that rising protectionism in Washington could hurt China if the country failed to open its markets further to U.S. products.

The two messages highlighted the fact that Washington is more concerned with what it perceives as Beijing's unfair trade practices than with the growing might of China's manufacturing industry.

The Bush administration and U.S. manufacturers have long complained that China keeps its currency, the yuan, undervalued to give its exporters a competitive advantage. They also argue that a broad range of regulatory barriers, subsidies and rampant theft of intellectual property restrict U.S. exports to China, contributing to the ballooning deficit.

The European Union joined Washington on Thursday in confronting China at the World Trade Organization over tariffs that Beijing places on auto- part imports. (Page 15)

This trade gap is now one of the major irritations in what senior U.S. officials describe as the most important global economic relationship of the 21st century. It seems certain to be a source of contention when President Hu Jintao of China visits Washington this month.

Some trade specialists maintain that U.S. and European Union manufacturers have little choice but to surrender low-cost manufacturing to China.

"For the time being, the strategy for developed countries is to go further into new generation technology and value-added products," said Yan Lan, a Beijing-based specialist on international trade with the French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel.

Senior U.S. trade officials acknowledge that Chinese-U.S. trade is a complex relationship with benefits to both sides.

"The United States draws significant benefits from our commerce with China," Gutierrez said Wednesday in speech in Beijing after he held talks with senior Chinese leaders.

"Our consumers gain additional choices and many American companies are operating profitably in China."

Senior Chinese officials argue that some critics of the U.S. trade deficit fail to recognize that a significant proportion of Chinese exports of manufactured goods are shipped by subsidiaries of American companies or subcontractors.

And they note that the value to China of these exports was often limited to inexpensive labor, materials and packaging - while the high-value returns from design, marketing and retail sales were earned in the United States.

Despite ongoing U.S. frustration over the deficit, there are signs that some of this tension could ease.

Two of Beijing's most strident critics in the Senate, Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Lindsay Graham, Republican of South Carolina, this past week shelved plans for bill that would have required heavy tariffs on Chinese imports if Beijing failed to let its currency rise in value.

After a weeklong visit to China last month, both lawmakers said Chinese officials had expressed willingness to allow the yuan to appreciate and tackle other barriers to U.S. exports.

The yuan did rise this past week, albeit incrementally, and it finished the week at its highest level since July, when it was partly released from a peg to the dollar. The dollar eased to 8.017 yuan on Friday from 8.027 yuan on Thursday, adding to about a gain for the yuan of about 0.5 percent since early February.

Some trade specialists suggest that trade tensions could also be expected to ease if both sides recognized that they had a lot to gain from cooperation rather than conflict.

Gutierrez said Friday in Tokyo that China and the United States were at different stages of development and not competing head-on.

2009 (Oct 05) - Yan Lan at 5th Women's Forum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63em0zKnI8k

Women's Forum Global Meeting 09 - Flash n°1

Oct 15, 2009

Women's Forum for the Economy & Society

First impressions of the 5th Edition of the Women's Forum.

Expectations from Dorcas Muthoni and Rica Rigwamba, 2009 Rising Talents, and Yan Lan, vice-president of the Women's Forum Asia. Aude Zieseniss de Thuin on stage.

2011 (March 15) - NYTimes : "REVOLVING DOOR :Lazard Names Head of Investment Banking In China"

BY DEALBOOK MARCH 15, 2011 9:24 AM / March 15, 2011 9:24 am

https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/lazard-names-head-of-investment-banking-in-china/?searchResultPosition=1

2011-03-15-nytimes-lazard-names-head-of-investment-banking-in-china.pdf

Lazard announced on Tuesday that it had hired Yan Lan to lead investment banking in the Chinese market as it sharpens its focus on the region.

Most recently, Ms. Lan worked at Gide Loyrette Nouel, leading the law firm’s Beijing office for the last 12 years. During her tenure, she advised clients on mergers, acquisitions and foreign direct projects in China. She also worked with Chinese companies on deals in Africa and Europe.

“Yan Lan is highly respected within the Chinese business community. Her breadth of experience will help us further serve the growing M.&A. market in China and underscores our intentions to participate in the economic growth of this important region,” Kenneth M. Jacobs, the chairman and chief executive of Lazard, said in a statement.

Lazard first moved into China 10 years ago, opening an office in Hong Kong. It opened an office in Beijing in 2006. Ms. Yan’s appointment reflects the Lazard’s strong interest in the region.

“There is now an increasing demand for independent financial advice from Chinese companies seeking overseas expansion, as well as from foreign companies looking to invest in China,” Mr. Jacobs said.

2015 (Feb 24) - Bloomberg : "Scene Last Night: Huntsman, Lazard’s Yan Lan, Peter May, Cornell"

Amanda Gordon / February 24, 2015, 9:38 AM EST

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-24/scene-last-night-huntsman-lazard-s-yan-lan-peter-may-cornell

2015-02-24-bloomberg-com-scene-last-night-huntsman-lazard-s-yan-lan-peter-may-cornell.pdf

2015-02-24-bloomberg-com-scene-last-night-huntsman-lazard-s-yan-lan-peter-may-cornell-img-1.jpg

Present : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue-Sai_Kan

Gary Parr, a Lazard Ltd. vice chairman, and Yan Lan, Lazard's head of greater China investment banking. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg

Business is “booming” in the world’s most populous nation, Yan Lan, head of greater China investment banking at Lazard, said in an interview Monday night at the China Arts Foundation International gala in New York. “It’s a good moment for mergers and acquisitions.”

The Beijing-based executive said total Chinese investment in American companies in 2014 was $12 billion, representing 92 transactions. She added that the most activity is in technology, real estate and hospitality, food and agriculture, and pharmaceuticals.

“Chinese companies are looking to update their industry know-how, technology and branding abroad,” Yan said.

Yan wore a bright red jacket and black pants to the event celebrating the Chinese New Year. Violinist Stephanie Song performed and 583 Park’s waiters served Magnolia Bakery cupcakes decorated with sheep. Guests included Gary Parr, a Lazard vice chairman; Selig Sacks, co-chairman of the international practice at Foley & Lardner, who said work brings him to China 10 days a month; Morgan Stanley’s Haiman Cai; designer Vivienne Tam; and Vasilios Philippou, consul general of Cyprus.

Yan, who has raised funds for a music festival in Beijing, sees a new tradition of check-writing in her country. “In 2000, the donors were an international group,” Yan said. “Now, the majority are Chinese companies and individuals who are aware of their social responsibilities.”

Yan’s ties to music go back to her grandfather, who studied engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and violin at Juilliard.<-----

Huntsman & Kissinger

At the same dinner, Jon Huntsman Jr., the former Utah governor who sought the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, told of his 11-year-old-self’s encounter with Henry Kissinger. It was 1971 and Huntsman, visiting his dad in the White House, where Huntsman Sr. worked for President Nixon, found Kissinger preparing for a trip.

(Note - 2017 (??) - Yang Lan Interview with Jon Huntsman Jr. ,.. https://youtu.be/jaQwS9eyQeg ]

[ Note ... John Huntsman Jr. not really fluent in Chinese .. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/10/is-jon-huntsman-fluent-in-chinese.html ]

Huntsman asked where. “Young man, don’t tell anyone,” Kissinger replied in Huntsman’s telling. “I’m going to China.”

Thus began Huntsman’s fascination with the country, where he served as U.S. Ambassador between 2009 and 2011.

“I kind of feel I was there at the creation of the U.S.- Chinese relationship,” Huntsman said, earning his keep as an honoree of China Arts Foundation International, which promotes cultural exchange between the two nations.

The moderator on stage, Andy Serwer, the former editor of Fortune, asked Huntsman if he’s running for president again.

Neighborhood Memories

Huntsman replied that as a diplomat, he’d learned to say something when there’s nothing to say, and nothing when there’s something to say.

Billionaire John A. Catsimatidis, who sought New York City’s Republican mayoral nomination in the last election, also spoke of his childhood Monday night. The occasion was the gala for the Citizens Committee for New York City, which helps individuals improve their neighborhoods with grants ranging from $500 to $3,000.

“When I was a boy, I played stickball in the street,” Catsimatidis said. “Sadly, one of the boys I played with went off to Vietnam and never came back. It was a wide street. We took my mother’s broomstick and we used Spaldeens.”

The event at Gotham Hall didn’t precisely honor stickball, but rather some people who’ve kept New Yorkers safe and healthy, such as former police commissioner Ray Kelly and Angela Diaz, director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. Peter May, president of Trian Partners and chairman of Mount Sinai Health System, was on hand to introduce her.

Bronx Gourmets

Also honored were Citizens Committee grantees. Feed Your Mind Music, based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, taught 16-year-old Caleb McDaniel to play the piano. “It helps me memorize things, I get things faster,” McDaniel said.

In Staten Island, kids and cops weeded and planted a garden together outside a precinct with help from H.E.A.L.T.H. for Youths. In Elmhurst, Queens, a vacant lot turned into a community garden. In the south Bronx, Coqui the Chef teaches healthy recipes (guacamole is a favorite), while the South Bronx Farmers Market makes fresh produce accessible.

Retired Goldman Sachs partner Henry Cornell, now head of Cornell Capital, is chairman of Citizens Committee. The Bronx native’s pitch when he fundraises: “Save the neighborhood,” Cornell said. “Help people help themselves, whether you’re a liberal or a libertarian.”

https://twitter.com/lazard/status/1238147037910183938?lang=en

2020 (Jan) - Columbia SIPA : "The House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History"

Through the sweeping cultural and historical transformations of China, entrepreneur Lan Yan traces her family’s history through early 20th Century to present day.

Jan 30, 2020 / Columbia SIPA / Live link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcNqBo1-7dE

Download page : [HV00JH][GDrive] / Downloaded 720p MP4 : [HV00JI][GDrive]

'The House of Yan': One Woman's Odyssey in China

Jan 30, 2020

Asia Society

NEW YORK, January 27, 2020 — Lan Yan discusses her remarkable life story — from persecution during China's Cultural Revolution to business success — with CNN correspondent Bianna Golodryga. Lan Yan's new book The House of Yan is now available for sale online at AsiaStore. (51 min., 14 sec.)

Same date?

2020-01-30-youtube-asia-society-house-of-yan-one-womans-odyssey-in-china-img-1.jpg

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1s5jlNsfTIRipy4g25eDWIirGPoLDILjF/view?usp=sharing

2020-01-30-youtube-asia-society-house-of-yan-one-womans-odyssey-in-china-720p.mp4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q0LZatt-ZUFh9O2asEjFTsi58v4OlNzT/view?usp=sharing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7JSY3tPzmo

2020 (Feb) - Yan Lan presentation : "Author Stories Podcast Episode 821 | Lan Yan Interview"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyMBgZqi0co

2020-02-28-youtube-hank-garner-author-stories-podcast-episode-821-lan-yan-720p.mp4

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EaMwcC1xx1GVir9_qGD-dzyWsCiuA2vx/view?usp=sharing
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Hank Garner

Today’s author interview guest is Lan Yan, author of The House of Yan: A Family at the Heart of a Century in Chinese History.

Through the sweeping cultural and historical transformations of China, entrepreneur Lan Yan traces her family’s history through early 20th Century to present day.

The history of the Yan family is inseparable from the history of China over the last century. One of the most influential business leaders of China today, Lan Yan grew up in the company of the country’s powerful elite, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping. Her grandfather, Yan Baohang, originally a nationalist and ally of Chiang Kai-shek, later joined the communists and worked as a spy during World War II, never falling out of favor with Soong May-ling, aka Mrs. Chiang Kai-shek. Lan’s parents were diplomats, and her father, Yan Mingfu, was Mao’s personal Russian translator.

In spite of their elevated status, the Yan’s family life was turned upside down by the Cultural Revolution. One night in 1967, in front of a terrified ten-year-old Lan, Red Guards burst into the family home and arrested her grandfather. Days later, her father was arrested, accused of spying for the Soviet Union. Her mother, Wu Keilang, was branded a counter-revolutionary and forced to go with her daughter to a re-education camp for five years, where Lan came of age as a high school student.

In recounting her family history, Lan Yan brings to life a century of Chinese history from the last emperor to present day, including the Cultural Revolution which tore her childhood apart. The reader obtains a rare glimpse into the mysteries of a system which went off the rails and would decimate a large swathe of the intellectual, economic and political elite country. The little girl who was crushed by the Cultural Revolution has become one of the most active businesswomen in her country.

In telling her and her family’s story, Lan Yan serves up an intimate account of the history of contemporary China.

Lan Yan was not allowed to enter higher education because her Communist family had been designated as counter-revolutionaries. In 1969, she was sent to a re-education camp in Henan, where her mother had been for a year. In 1977, the year after the Cultural Revolution ended, she enrolled at university. Exceptionally motivated, she was awarded grants to study at the most prestigious universities in Europe and the United States. In 1991, she joined the Gide Loyrette Nouel law firm based in Paris and became the first foreign woman to make partner. In 1998, she returned to China to run the firm’s Beijing office. In 2011, Lan Yan joined Lazard as managing director to lead its Chinese activities. Today, she is the vice chairman of investment banking of Lazard and the chairman and CEO of Lazard Greater China (Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan).

https://qz.com/933971/the-intricate-ties-between-the-woman-who-paid-16-million-for-trumps-condo-and-chinas-power-elite/

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An intricate web ties the woman who paid $16 million for Trump’s condo to China’s power elite

Published March 16, 2017This article is more than 2 years old.

A Chinese businesswoman who specializes in connecting her clients with the powerful in China bought a $16 million penthouse in a building owned by Donald Trump, one of the first notable deals at any Trump property since he became US president.

Chen Xiaoyan (陈晓燕) purchased the four-bedroom, six-bathroom condo at Trump Park Avenue on Feb. 21, according to New York City property records. Before taking office, Trump removed himself from the board of directors of Trump Park Avenue LLC, which sold the unit, but he remains the entity’s owner.

Chen, who also goes by the names Chen Yu (陈妤) and Angela Chen, is the founder and managing director of Global Alliance Associates, a consulting firm that helps American businesses connect with powerful figures in China, and that is located in the same Trump building as the penthouse.

After first reporting the deal last month, US political news outlet Mother Jones followed up with a March 15 report on Chen’s ties to China’s elite and military intelligence service through a nonprofit.

Chen chairs the China Arts Foundation International, the New York branch of an organization founded in 2006 by Deng Rong (邓榕), the youngest daughter of Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount leader throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 1990, the younger Deng has served as a vice president of the China Association for International Friendly Contacts (CAIFC), believed to be an affiliate of the intelligence service of the Chinese army. As Mother Jones notes, the CAIFC, which frequently works with China Arts Foundation, has previously prompted concerns in both the US Congress and the State Department over its links to military intelligence.

Chen’s purchase is among a series of recent deals that raise concerns over Trump’s potential conflicts of interest in China. Chen, the White House and the Trump Organization declined to comment on the real estate transaction when contacted by the New York Post and Mother Jones. A White House spokeswoman referred an inquiry from Quartz about the property deal to the Trump Organization.

“All transactions, including this one, are vetted in accordance with our ethical guidelines and procedures which include thorough background checks and independent analysis conducted by third parties,” said a representative for the Trump Organization in an email.

Angela Chen declined via email to comment at this time. China Arts Foundation International’s official website and Facebook page are offline. The group didn’t reply to an inquiry from Quartz via email. (Here’s an archived page of its board member information.)

China “princelings” foundation

Chen describes herself as a “respected and sought-after advisor on establishing business relationships in China” in her bio page on Global Alliance’s website, which carries slogans such as “Global Alliance opens the right doors to China.” Before founding her company, she managed portfolios for high-net-worth clients with Prudential in China, and oversaw the trading desk of Merrill Lynch’s international division, where she served big Chinese state firms such as Sinochem and China Ocean Shipping Group.

She is also a donor to the National Committee on United States—China Relations, a New York-based nonprofit that describes its mission as working towards a more constructive relationship between the two nations through the “education of senior policymakers—including military leaders, senators, congressmen, and their staff members—about the realities of Sino-American relations.” In 2015, the organization co-hosted a special dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping in Seattle, during which he made his only public policy speech during his US visit.

At the New York-based China Arts Foundation International, aside from Chen, the group’s board has three other Chinese members: media tycoon Wang Boming (王波明), orchestra conductor Yu Long (余隆), and Yan Lan (阎兰), China head for asset management firm Lazard. Wang and Yan are known as China’s “princelings”—a term for sons and daughters of former high-ranking officials in the ruling Communist Party who now have influence in political and business circles.

Wang Boming

Wang Boming, editor-in-chief of Chinese financial magazine Caijing, is the son of former deputy foreign minister Wang Bingnan (王炳南). Last November, Wang Boming, who helped launch China’s stock exchanges in the 1990s, resigned as chairman of SEEC Media Group, parent company of the influential financial magazine Caijing, for unspecified reasons. Wang Boming is also widely known as close to Wang Qishan, China’s top graft buster and close ally to president Xi. He is also the younger brother of Wang Dongming (王东明), retired chief of CITIC Securities, China’s biggest brokerage, which led the stock market bailout in 2015.

Yan Lan

Yan is the daughter of Yan Mingfu (阎明复), a retired government official who was ousted for badly handling the 1989 student protests at the Tiananmen Square, but was later cleared and served as a vice minister of civil affairs in the 1990s. A veteran banking lawyer who has advised Chinese companies on investments in Africa and Europe, the younger Yan had stints at law firms Baker & McKenzie, and White & Case, and joined Lazard in 2011.

Group centered around Deng Xiaoping’s daughter

The New York branch’s parent, China Arts Foundation, acts as a magnet for China’s elite, perhaps thanks to its founder Deng Rong, who is also the nonprofit’s chairwoman. Mother Jones noted that a video originally posted on the New York branch’s website showed other associates, including honorary board members Li Zhaoxing, a former foreign minister, and Guo Shuqing, head of China’s top bank regulator.

Deng’s daughter, known as Zhuo Yue (卓玥), also serves as a vice director of the group. Zhuo, in her thirties, runs a PR firm in Beijing, and is the initiator of an annual philanthropy event that started in 2003, and had attracted more than 270 million yuan (around $40 million) (link in Chinese) by 2014.

Deng’s husband He Ping (贺平) also has deep ties in the military. In the 1990s, the former general helped found Poly Group, a state-run conglomerate that started off by selling weapons to the Chinese army, and later was made its president. He is still listed as honorary chairman of the company.

This article has been updated with comments from Angela Chen and the Trump Organization.

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