Meet the Judges | 2025 Sustainable Business Awards

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Fei Li is CDP’s China Market Director, responsible for market strategy and business development in China. 

Since joining CDP in 2017, he has been dedicated to enhancing corporate environmental risk management capabilities and improving their ESG disclosure performance. He explores the application of sustainable finance to drive corporate low-carbon transition and is actively engaged in supporting the development of sustainable procurement policies for businesses.

Prior to joining CDP, Fei Li served various organisations of United Nations. He contributed to the implementation of Green Jobs Project in ILO’s Asia Pacific Region. Later, he was supporting grants approval and management for the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program in UNDP China Office. 

Fei Li graduated from Michigan Tech University with dual master’s degrees in Environmental and Energy Policy and Applied Nature Resource Economics. He published articles in Energy Strategy Reviews and other International and Chinese journals on renewable energy and carbon emissions trading. 

He holds the CFA ESG Investing Certificate and serves as an Industry Advisor of Master’s Program at  China UK Low Carbon College of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a Lecturer for the UN Global Compact Climate Ambition Accelerator, and  the Judge of Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Green Fintech Competition.

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Dr Jian Zhong Lu, as one of the pioneers in the field of CSR and Sustainability, has rich, systematic and forward-looking theoretical system and practical experience in this field. Dr Lu actively advocated the idea of sustainability, led many CSR managers, philanthropists and initiatives to innovate, and made outstanding contributions to the promotion of public welfare and CSR development. 

Dr Lu is the founder of CSR Thought Lab, a Board member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Deputy Director General of China Corporate Social Responsibility Think Tank, Expert of the Think Tank of China Federation of Industry & Economy, Expert of the Southern Weekly CSR Research Center, Member of the Shenzhen Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Board; former Co-chair of American Chamber (Shanghai) BCSR Committee, Guest Professor at Nankai University.

Dr Lu Jian Zhong is currently Board Member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Essilor Group (China) President General Affairs Greater China. Former Weir Group (China) President. Former Global Partner of Brunswick Group. Previously Group Executive Vice President of RGE (China), Chief Rep of RGE (China), Chairman of Asia Symbol Pulp & Paper (Shandong) Ltd., Vice President Sateri Group. Prior to RGE, President BHP Billiton Group (China).

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Mr Jilai Peng is the General Manager and Partner of SynTao Consulting Beijing Office, Director of China CSR Map (CCM), a certified trainer for Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and lecturer of SynTao Academy.

Mr Peng has over 15 years of CSR/ESG consultancy experience and has served many clients in the automobile, FMCG, healthcare, financing, ICT and IDC industries. He is professional in developing sustainability strategy and ESG management systems, CSR internal & external communication, CSR training, CSR/ESG reporting, CSR program planning, monitoring and evaluation.

Besides business consultancy, Mr Peng is heavily involved with corporate-NGO cooperation and has successfully developed a dozen of cross-sector partnership. He is also proficient with charity project implementation and evaluation and he particularly focus on child development, gender, rural revitalization, environment & climate change, health & nutrition issue. Mr Peng provides advisory service for a dozen of large foundations and NGOs.

Before joining SynTao, Mr Peng worked for four years as Project Coordinator with GIZ on Sino-German CSR Project. Mr Peng earned his bachelor degree in English Language and Literature from Capital Normal University.

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Zhang Jing, Deputy Chairperson of the Beijing Luoming Foundation for Public Welfare Development, brings 18 years of public welfare experience. She served as a judge for the National Poverty Alleviation Award and has deep expertise in rural revitalization policy, having designed and managed projects like East-West Collaboration. She has partnered with over 20 corporations including Yili Group, Walmart Foundation, and J.P. Morgan on ESG-aligned rural initiatives, managing projects totaling over RMB 100 million.

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Education

Mr Bruntse graduated from Copenhagen Business School, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Language and Culture, a Master’s Degree in International Business and Development Studies, as well as a Master’s in International Management from University College Dublin, Ireland. Alongside, Mr Bruntse has studied at the Universitat de Valéncia in Spain.

Career

• 2025 Minister Counsellor, Head of Trade, Regional Coordinator, The Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark, Beijing

• 2023 Special Advisor and Team Lead, Cabinet of the Minister’s and Executive Secretariat

• 2021 Geopolitical Business Advisory Team Lead, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Copenhagen

• 2017 Senior Commercial Advisor and Team Lead, The Trade Council of Denmark in the MENA region, The Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Dubai, U.A.E.

• 2015 Business Consultant and Senior EMEA Inbound Specialist, Falcon.io, Copenhagen

• 2014 Market Analyst for Africa, Danfoss, Lagos, Nigeria

• 2012 Administrative Officer and Programme Coordinator Central America, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke – ActionAid Denmark, Copenhagen

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Li Li, PhD, Professor of School of Economics, University of International Business and Economics (UIBE); Director of China Research Center for Technical Barriers to Trade (CCTBT), UIBE; Registered expert of ISO Social Responsibility Working Group for ISO26000 and ISO TC 292 WG 8 for ISO 28018 (supply chain security and resilience); Member of the VSS(Voluntary Sustainability Standards)  Academic Advisory Council, The United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards(UNFSS); Member of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics sustainability advisory committee; Expert of several Think tanks on social responsibility and sustainable development.

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Dr Guo Peiyuan is co-founder and Chief Advisor of SynTao, a leading ESG and sustainability consulting firm established in 2005 and based in Beijing. Dr. Guo founded SynTao Academy and SynTao Green Finance in 2015. SynTao Academy collaborates with universities and provides training to ESG professionals and university students. SynTao Green Finance provides ESG rating, green bond verification and green finance advisory services in China.

Dr Guo has around 20 years experiences on green finance and responsible investment. He has served a number of clients covering banks, asset management firms, governments as well as international organizations. In 2012, he founded China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF) in Beijing and serves as Chairman. He is also a board member for the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), and he advises UNEP FI’s work in China.  

Dr Guo holds B.S. in environmental engineering and a Ph.D. in management from Tsinghua University.

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Ms Stina Hinderson is a career diplomat who leads the work of the Embassy of Sweden’s Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, which promotes sustainable business practices in China. Ms Hinderson holds an MSc in International Business and Politics from Copenhagen Business School and has business experience as a management consultant in the ICT sector. Ms Hinderson also holds a BA in Chinese language.

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Walter has over 20 years of experience in supply chain management and international trade in international and local companies/institutions. He is currently responsible for the strategic development and overall operations of Sedex in Asia, working with multi-stakeholders from upstream and downstream companies in the supply chain, industry associations, governments and UN agencies to raise awareness, capacity and performance of companies in the supply chain dimension. He serves as a guest lecturer on supply chain sustainability and ESG  in relevant universities and academic institutions to promote education and dissemination of responsible business，also serves concurrently as a judge for supply chain awards in relevant ESG fields.

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Dr Xiaojun (June) Qian is currently the Associate Dean of Academics at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University and a professor of the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. She is also the director of the Research Center for Green Economy and Sustainable Development of Tsinghua University. She teaches managerial communication, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, sustainability related courses for MBA, EMBA and executive education programs. She leads the Faculty Code of Conduct Committee as well as the Institutional Review Board of School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. 

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Dr Xiaoting Chen, Program Manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (UK) Beijing Representative Office, to lead the Foundation’s Plastic Initiative and policy workstream (circular economy policy and climate effort) in China. PhD in Sustainability Economy from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China.

Chen has over 15 years’ working experience in Sustainability and has worked as the Global Coordinator for Greening the Belt and Road Initiative at WWF China, Senior Manager in charge of the Strategic Corridor Program at KPMG China’s Global China Practice and Senior program manager at Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Environment and Ecology of China (FECO/MEE). Published papers on Study on Carbon Budget Governance Mechanism, The scientific and political views of carbon budget for global climate governance and The Comparison of the 2050 Long-term Low Emission Development Strategies and its Implications, etc. 

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Dr Cao is an associate professor of management at International Business School at Suzhou (IBSS), Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). Dr Cao’s research interest, at the intersection of strategy and sustainability, include corporate environmental strategy, corporate sustainability, sustainable entrepreneurship and sustainable innovation. Since 2008, he has conducted one NSFC research project and ten contracted consulting research projects for Suzhou government as principal investigator. Currently, he is supervising a Ph.D. student focusing on research of entrepreneurial orientation, corporate environmental strategy and performance. Dr Cao is the honorary "Middle-Aged Academic Leadership" awarded by 'Qing-Lan Project' of the Education Department of Jiangsu Province.

In the past years, Dr Cao pioneered many innovative teaching practices in XJTLU. He has developed broad international collaborations on research and teaching. Dr Cao is the visiting researcher at Institute of China Business and Economy of University of Würzburg and Centre for Sustainable Management of University of Lüneburg, Germany.

Within IBSS of XJTLU, Dr Cao is the team leader of PRME (Principles of Responsible Management Education) working group. Dr Cao is also the founder, convener and host of PRME China Signatories Sustainability Management Education Roundtable Forum, an annual event of PRME signatories for promoting sustainability management education in business schools. Beyond IBSS, Dr Cao keeps close engagement with businesses in Suzhou and Shanghai. Dr Cao is a special invited consultant by Suzhou Industrial Park CSR Alliance.

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Guo Yi, Ph.D., a professor and doctoral supervisor in the School of Economics, the director of the School of Economics and Management, Beijing Technology and Business University (Beijing, China). In July 2004, he graduated from the School of Economics of Xiamen University with a PhD in Economics. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Economics of Renmin University of China and the Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences during 2005 to 2010. He used to be a visiting scholar at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, University College Cork, Ireland, and the University of Edinburgh, UK. 

His research interests include corporate social responsibility, ESG theory and practice, and sustainable development. He serves as a member of the Chinese Expert Group of the ISO 26000 Social Responsibility Standard Global Stakeholder Network of the International Organization for Standardization, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Academic Committee of the United Nations Responsible Management Education (PRME), Vice Chairman of the Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development Professional Committee of the China Enterprise Management Research Association, and an expert in many domestic research institutions such as the China Corporate Social Responsibility Think Tank, the China Federation of Industrial Economics Social Responsibility Think Tank, the Southern Weekend Corporate Social Responsibility Think Tank, and the Goldenbee Corporate Social Responsibility Think Tank. He has participated in the research and formulation of many international, national, provincial and ministerial corporate social responsibility standards and industry corporate social responsibility management standards. 

He also serves as a special commentator for Xinhua News Agency’s Financial Channel, a commentator for China Education Television’s International News Channel, and a news commentator for Beijing Traffic Radio. He was selected into Beijing’s youth elite talent training program and was awarded the title of “Beijing Excellent Teacher”. In September 2022, he was awarded the title of “Beijing Outstanding Teacher”.

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Ms Yiqi Zhou works for GIZ as Senior Manager of Partner Relations and Cooperation in the Sino-German Center for Sustainable Development, a joint initiative by German and Chinese governments to contribute to the sustainable development goals of the Agenda 2030 in third party countries and globally. In this context she is responsible for engaging partners from government, business, research and academia for policy dialogue, triangular projects and improvement of business practices. Ms Zhou also manages topics of sustainable infrastructure, digital economy, and circular economy in China for a global project Emerging Markets Sustainable Dialogues. Before joining GIZ in 2014, she was Senior Manager of China ICT Industry CSR Pilot Programme of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Starting her professional career as international news Journalist and Editor at China Youth Daily, Ms Zhou also previously worked for the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 29th Olympic Games and the Insurance Society of China.

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