The Yorkshire and Humber Chinese New Year Dinner 2018

Join other businesses from around the region to celebrate the successes of the previous year and mark the arrival of the Year of the Dog.

Ticket sales for this event have now closed.

This black tie business dinner is an opportunity for representatives of firms and organisations engaged with China to network and share their experiences. The event is organised by the Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds in cooperation with the Department for International Trade and China-Britain Business Council.

The After-Dinner speech will be given by Matthew Rous, Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council.

Matthew Rous has been Chief Executive of the China-Britain Business Council since September 2017.  Previously he spent 26 years with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office working as a career diplomat.  During his first posting Matthew headed a team at the British Embassy Beijing working on Hong Kong affairs in the immediate run-up to 1997.  In his last diplomatic role he was British Consul-General in Guangzhou, leading UK engagement across South China, including the provinces of Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan and Jiangxi.  Matthew’s other postings include Tokyo, Brussels, Jakarta and Baku.  He also spent four years in the private sector working for Japanese companies in Tokyo and London.

Matthew read Modern and Medieval Languages at Churchill College, Cambridge.  He subsequently studied Mandarin Chinese at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.   He was also the first graduate of the Major Projects Leadership Academy at the Oxford University Saïd Business School to be sponsored by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.