BritCham Shanghai held its Annual General Meeting 2025

This is an annual occasion for members to review the Chamber’s works and achievements in the past year under our three key pillars Advocacy, Knowledge and Community. In attendance were Chamber members, Executive Committee members as well as British Consul-General, Shanghai, Matthew Burney CMG, and British Deputy Trade Commissioner for China, Sohail Shaikh.

The Chair’s Report highlighted the following:

• Advocacy: Strengthened UK-China relations through high-level government engagements, expanded regional partnerships, and a successful British Business Awards 2024.
• Knowledge: Hosted 70+ industry events with 2,700+ attendees, covering key topics like ESG, AI, and cross-border trade, reinforcing BritCham as a vital business resource.
• Community: Engaged 4,500+ participants through flagship events like the Great British Day Out and Sports Day, expanding our reach to Ningbo with the first St. Andrew’s Dance.
• Growth & Impact: Achieved 7.7% membership growth, 187 events and meetings, 73K+ RMB raised for charity, and increased digital reach with 23% more WeChat followers.
• Looking Ahead: Launching a refreshed Executive Committee governance model to enhance transparency and strategic alignment, ensuring continued value for our members in 2025.

For more details about the Chamber’s 2024 activities in review, please download the Annual Review here, which shows everything that has been built and all that those connected with the Chamber can be proud of.

The AGM also shared with members the Chamber’s key focuses in 2024 and the new initiatives and activities. In the Executive Director’s Report, Stuart Dunn emphasised that one of the key priorities of 2025 is the 110th Anniversary Celebrations of BritCham Shanghai. As the oldest Chamber in mainland China, with its inaugural meeting on 20 May 1915, this milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all who have been part of the Chamber’s journey.

Parallel to the 110th Anniversary, Membership Retention and Warming Bilateral Relationships are the other two focused areas coming forth.

New Initiatives of 2025:

• F1 in Schools STEM programme
• 110th Birthday Dinner (May) & 110th Anniversary Government Dinner (Q4)
• Education & Recruitment Fair
• Increased Platinum membership programme

Key Activities

• Sustainability & Innovation Awards (Gala Dinner on 28 April)
• A Great British Day Out & Corporate Sports Day Combined
• 1915 Dinners
• 110th Anniversary British Ball/St. Andrews Ball

During the AGM, the results of the recent annual member survey were also announced. This year, we received valuable feedback from a record number of participants across diverse membership categories. Key takeaways include High Engagement on roundtables and events focusing on AI emerged, Networking & Collaboration within the community and beyond (cross-chambers), Digital Engagement spread across the ecosystem of email and WeChat, as well as potential opportunities raised around Paid Services.

This year, seven (7) Executive Committee (ExCo) positions were open for election. The positions of Policy Adviser and Consultant Director each received exactly one nomination. Therefore, in accordance with the Chamber’s constitution and as approved by the Executive Committee, there was no need for a vote for these two positions. For the other five positions, the voting was conducted via the online platform “Election Runner”.

The 2025 BritCham Shanghai Executive Committee:

[Chair]

Kirsten Johnston, Founder & CEO, JWDK (tenure continues)

[Vice-Chairs]

Ted Wan, President, Greater China, Smiths Group (tenure continues)

Edward Weeks, Sr. Executive Vice President (Designate), Deputy Chief Executive, HSBC China (newly elected)

[Treasurer]

John Chattock, Partner, KPMG Shanghai (newly elected)

[Consultant Director]

Alex Roberts, Partner, Chief Representative, Linklaters LLP Shanghai Representative Office, UK (unopposed)

[Policy Adviser]

Christopher Dunn MBE, Associate, Brunswick Group (unopposed)

[Strategic Adviser]

Julian Jeffrey, Chief Executive Master, Executive Office, Wellington College China Group (newly elected)

[Committee Ambassador]

Vicky Li, FCMA, CGMA, Regional VP, North Asia, the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA&CIMA) (newly elected)

[Brand & Comms Ambassador]

Daniel Lyons, Director of Communications, Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong (newly elected)

[Ex-Officio Members]

Matthew Burney, CMG, British Consul-General Shanghai

Sohail Shaikh, British Deputy Trade Commissioner for China

Cat Sinclair-Jones, Director East China, British Council; Consul (Culture and Education), British Consulate General Shanghai

Stuart Dunn, Executive Director, BritCham Shanghai

*The new ExCo is reviewing the co-opted members and will share the updates soon.

The Chamber would like to send our heartfelt thanks to the following outgoing ExCo members for their outstanding contributions to the Chamber and the membership during their tenures. 

• Daniel Aylmer, Chief Executive Officer, Greater China, IHG
• Dr Terry Creissen OBE, Regional Managing Director, Nord Anglia Education
• Grace Guan, Regional Director, China and East Asia, Edinburgh Global, University of Edinburgh
• Gayle Lacey, Chief Risk Officer, HSBC China
• Steven Parker, Partner, KPMG Shanghai
• Garry Russell, Head of College, Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong
• Richard Shore, Transformation Director China, Jaguar Land Rover China