Dr. Sean Randolph, President and CEO, the Economic Institute

Ken Wilcox, Chairman, Silicon Valley Bank

Dr. Michael Keyoung, Managing Director and Head of Burrill Pan-Asia, Burrill & Company

Dr. Jiang Lin, Senior Vice President, China Strategy and Analysis, The Energy Foundation

Niels Erich, Co-author, Ties That Bind - Moderator

On January 23, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute will release the 2014 edition of Ties That Bind: The Bay Area's Economic Ties with Greater China. The Institute's groundbreaking analysis systematically examines the ties linking China to the region a complex relationship that dates back to the Gold Rush era and is shaped today by immigration policy, technological innovation, emerging student and professional networks, tourism, cross-border capital flows, and China's pressing need to modernize. Since the Institute's initial 2006 report, and particularly since the 2008-09 global downturn, the relationship has matured. Chinese investment in Bay Area real estate, biotech and IT is on the rise. Bay Area companies invested in China since the 1980s face challenges from government-supported domestic competition. New incubators and connectors are finding creative ways to bridge the two economies for aspiring entrepreneurs. And China's 12th five-year plan provides a cautionary road map plus surprising new opportunities for sectors where the Bay Area naturally excels ­including green buildings and planned cities; big data and cloud computing; renewable energy and health care.

MLF: Asia Pacific Affairs
Program Organizer: Cynthia Miyashita