Provided

Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs, welcomes Jonathan Zhu, J.D. ’92, to the Cornell-China Advisory Board April 2.

Cornell University inducted seven members of its inaugural Cornell-China Advisory Board in a ceremony April 2 in Beijing.

The role of the board members is to provide the university with ongoing strategic advice regarding the development of Cornell’s increasing presence in China, according to Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs. It is anticipated the inaugural board will grow and evolve to match the expanding needs of Cornell-China relationships.

“The Cornell-China Advisory Board will provide important counsel, and we are enormously grateful for the members’ commitment and energy,” Spitz says.

The board members are leaders of some of the most innovative firms in China:

• Jun Lei, founder and chief executive officer of Xiaomi Corp., an electronics company;
• Qiangdong “Richard” Liu, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of JD.com, an electronic commerce company;
• Huateng Ma, core founder, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Tencent, an internet service portal company;
• Shi Wang, founder and chairman of China Vanke Real Estate Co., residential developer and pioneer in green home construction;
• Gang Yu, M.S. ’86, co-founder of Yihaodian.com, an e-commerce company and founder of No.1 Pharmacy, a health care company;
• Yaqin Zhang, president of Baidu, a Chinese-language internet search provider; and
• Jia “Jonathan” Zhu, J.D. ’92, managing director of Bain Capital Asia.

Spitz and Yu, chair of the newly inducted board, conducted the ceremony and presented the board members to an alumni audience who were gathered for the Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference hosted by Cornell’s International Alumni Programs office.

The board members will serve three-year terms.