People Watch Movements, promotions and new appointments in the Australia China business community.

MALCOLM SMITH has been appointed Executive Director of Financial Services Risk Management for Ernst & Young in China. His role involves advising banks on all aspects of risk management. Malcolm has recently relocated from Ernst & Young’s Sydney Office.

LAURIE PEARCEY has recently been appointed General Manager and Company Secretary with the Australia China Business Council. His previous roles include a presenter on China Central Television, working in Kevin Rudd’s electorate office and for then Queensland MP Rod Welford. Laurie is a Visiting Fellow in Pacific and Asian History at the ANU, a Scholar of the Order of Australia Association Foundation and is fluent in Mandarin.

The Australia China Business Council has also recently appointed PETER CHONG as its National Director. Previously Peter has served as Executive Secretary, Treasurer and Executive Director of the ACBC WA Branch and authored the national business plan for the ACBC. Peter also works as Senior Executive in the China Business Practice and Corporate Finance division of KPMG.

After almost 12 years in China, JUSTIN RICHARDSON has relocated back to Melbourne to take up the position of Business Development Manager - International Education with the Asian Pacific Building Corporation. Previously Justin was Global Campus Management’s China General Managerin Beijing and most recently worked as the Strategic Development Director forStudypath.

RENE CROSS has recently relocated from Sydney to Shanghai as General  Manager Australia, Asia Pacific with ParkTrent Property Group. Rene’s expertise covers finance, insurance, sales and marketing. She has an MBA from Bond University and qualifications in Company Directorship.
MATTHEW BAHEN was recently appointed Sales and Marketing Director for Australian company, the Wine Republic – which distributes a range of wines in China, including many from Australia. Matt has an extensive background in wine, having grown up working on vineyards around his hometown of Bendigo in Victoria and most recently as a brand manager for ASC. Matt has lived in China since 2004 and currently resides in Beijing where he is coach to Australian expatriate football team – the Beijing Bombers.   

JAMES HUTCHINSON has also joined the Wine Republic as Sales Manager. James speaks Mandarin Chinese and is originally from Sydney.

HAL PHILP is the new Hotel Manager for the St. Regis Shanghai after relocating from Sydney where he was Executive Assistant Manager at Sheraton on the Park. Hal has more than 15 years experience in the hospitality industry and has a long history with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Shanghai is Hal’s first China posting.

SHERRY ZHANG has been appointed the University of Melbourne’s new Office Manager in Shanghai. Sherry will be responsible for developing and maintaining a strong in-country presence for the University.

REBECCA GEE is the new Human Resources Manager for KPMG. Based in KPMG’s Shanghai office, Rebecca will be focussed on experienced recruitment for Shanghai and international employee assignments for the China practice.

If your company or organisation has an Aust-China HR related announcement to make or you know of people on the move, send details to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it