the The China Project next gen rising star awards, and lifetime achievement awards, given out at the annual The China Project Women's Conference

The outstanding individuals honored at The China Project’s fourth annual Women’s Conference

The Next Gen Rising Star star awards for Emma Yang and Virginia Tan (far right / far left), and Lifetime Achievement awards for Yang Lan and Janet Yang (center-left / center-right).

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Next Gen Rising Star award, Emma Yang and Virginia Tan, and the winners of the 2020 Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement award, Yang Lan and Janet Yang!

On September 9 and September 10, The China Project held its fourth annual Women’s Conference, continuing a tradition of empowering women and celebrating the extraordinary achievements of rising stars.

The event kicked off on the morning of September 9 as over 300 participants virtually gathered from all over the world to hear a series of presentations and panels. The first panel discussed Technology and VC with Catherine Zhu, Ruth Jin, Virginia Tan, Lu Zhang, and Ruby Lu.

A panel on a booming industry in China, wealth management, was next, followed by a fireside chat with Amy Chua and Pauline Brown:

To round out the first day, a live Sinica Podcast featuring Susan Shirk:

The Next Gen Rising Star and Lifetime Achievement awards

Attendees logged on the second day for an evening all about celebrating the achievements of outstanding women and networking. First, a panel on Environment and Climate Change was convened featuring Dong Ke, Fan Dai, Deborah Lehr, and Lesley Ma, and moderated by Lynn Scarlett. Stella Li, the President of BYD, also gave a keynote presentation.

A panel of distinguished judges — Wei Sun Christianson, CEO China, Morgan Stanley; Yang Lan, Chairperson, Sun Media Group; Merit Janow, Dean, SIPA, Columbia University; Alondra Nelson, President, Social Science Research Council, and Amy Zhang, Executive Vice President, Alger — then announced their selection of two rising stars among dozens of nominees: Emma Yang and Virginia Tan.

Congratulations to our 2020 Next Gen Rising Star award winners!!

We also honored two world-class businesswomen who have reshaped the U.S.-China business community through cultural impact: Yang Lan, the “Oprah Winfrey of China” and CEO of Sun Media; and Janet Yang, a Golden Globe- and Emmy Award-winning Hollywood producer of Joy Luck Club and advisor to Crazy Rich Asians, and the first Asian or Asian woman Governor-At-Large of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Finally, attendees split into small virtual “cocktail rooms” to mingle with speakers, network, and be inspired.

Congratulations to all, and a massive thank you to all of our speakers, attendees, and sponsors who came together to make this event possible!

Our Gold Sponsors are UBS, the Nature Conservancy, and FD Gallery.

Our Bronze Sponsors are Pillsbury, Deloitte, and Dorsey and Whitney.

Our Contributing Sponsors are UHY, Tiffany & Co., Corcoron, Plastpro, Kingdon Capital, Alpha Square Group, the Long Family Foundation, and Adastra Ventures.

Thank you to Ken and Carol Yu for their generous sponsorship of the For-Profit Rising Star Award and Rendrcare for their sponsorship of the Nonprofit Rising Star Award!