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Gabriel Lopez ’06, Policy Analyst, American Chamber of Commerce, China
… Although not a CAPS major on paper, I am most definitely a CAPS student in spirit.
… I now realize how fortunate the CAPS students are to be given the opportunity to interact with the leading experts on China, work with some of the most influential and dynamic players in China, and have such a unique network of contacts at their disposal. The skills and contacts they acquire along the way will pave their China successes in the future.
I graduated from Cornell in May of 2006, as a Government, History and Asian Studies triple major. Throughout my four years at Cornell, I had many interactions with the various dimensions of CAPS, ranging from the faculty and students to the courses. During the major’s early inception stage in 2002, Professor Sherman Cochran and I spoke about the program’s potential coursework and future ambitions. Unfortunately, it was not until my Senior year in 2006 that the major materialized. Although not a CAPS major on paper, I am most definitely a CAPS student in spirit.
At Cornell, I inundated myself with China-related classes, studying the country’s history, politics, language, and culture. My two advisors, professors Sherman Cochran and Allen Carlson, helped inspire and steer my intellectual ambitions while offering invaluable advice and recommendations along the way. With their assistance, I consistently tried to understand Chinese government, history, and culture through a multidisciplinary and international lens. Four years later, with hundreds of hours of language study, stacks of China books climbing over my bed, and possessing the zeal of a four year-old boy playing cops-and-robbers, I left Cornell realizing that China and I were inexorably linked.
Subsequent to graduation, for personal, professional, and academic reasons, I felt the time was ripe to move beyond the walls of academia and to address both larger publics and issues of public policy. In September, after facing several rounds of grueling interviews, I became the policy analyst for the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in China. One of the best parts of AmCham is its unique position, acting as a vital nexus between public policy and business. The Chamber, which represents over a thousand American companies in the PRC, serves as a liaison between the American business community in China and the Chinese and American governments. Working in AmCham’s government relations department, we help lobby our members’ interests to the Chinese government. My position at AmCham allows me to find a professional experience concentrating on U.S.-China relations that provides for the necessary substance and coherence to the intellectual breadth of my interests and ambitions.
As AmCham’s policy analyst, I track and monitor regulatory and legislative changes across a wide variety of industries and sectors, ranging from banking to law. I research, analyze, and write on China commercial issues and policy developments, such as Merger and Acquisitions, Intellectual Property Rights, Export Controls, and Direct Selling. I have had the chance to prepare and deliver presentations and briefings on China business issues to member companies, U.S. and Chinese government officials, and company executives. Best of all, I help provide recommendations and analysis to inform decision makers in the U.S. and China.
I have also been very involved with many of the Chamber’s efforts to promote and execute programs and policy positions relating to U.S. trade and investment in China. Currently, I am leading an Export Compliance Working Group (ECWG) that is headed by Boeing’s China President David Wang and United Technologies International’s CEO Jim Gradoville. The Working Group was formed to create a forum for the American business community in China to assist the U.S. Government by providing on-the-ground research on China’s existing indigenously-developed capabilities and technology, and foreign availability in specific sectors.
The most exciting part of working at AmCham has been the people I have met and work with on a regular basis. Among those include, Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, deputy USTR Karan Bhatia , Beijing’s Mayor Wang Qishan, and Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi. I work with many U.S. Government delegations from the Treasury, State Department, Department of Commerce, and various other agencies. Here in Beijing, I have taken part in meetings and events with many Chinese government agencies, such as the Ministries of Foreign Relations, Commerce, Finance, the National Development and Reform Commission, Xinhua News, and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce. I am fortunate to be positioned at the front-lines of public policy in China.
As the CAPS students are well aware of, there is much to gain from our devotion to China. Having lived in China and traveled to Asia frequently, I have a unique familiarity with the nuances of Chinese culture, fluency in Mandarin, and an in-depth understanding of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship. Better yet, with my new position at Amcham I am at the forefront of one of the most complex and vital foreign policy challenges today, and for decades to come.
I now realize how fortunate the CAPS students are to be given the opportunity to interact with the leading experts on China, work with some of the most influential and dynamic players in China, and have such a unique network of contacts at their disposal. The skills and contacts they acquire along the way will pave their China successes in the future.
I look forward to working with the next generation of China leaders and experts emerging from the CAPS program.