Paul Niven was the General Manager of Pure Source dairy farming company, in Shandong, China. He commenced this role is 2015, and has managed the business registration, acquisition of land, building of two new 8,000 cow units and 5000 acres of crop land.

After identifying a considerable gap in the services available, Paul is pivoting into consulting, advisory and training within the Chinese cattle industries. This involves dairy farm design, on farm management, financial performance review and improvement, acquisition and sale of businesses, market entry and new product assessments and launch.

Paul is drawing on his experiences, cultural understanding and networks from many years of living and working in “real China” - outside the Shanghai and Beijing bubbles to provide a 3D, on the ground presence that adds real value for both companies abroad and the operators here in China.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney, Masters of Veterinary Science from the University of Melbourne and a MBA from Buckinghamshire New University (UK). In 2014, he was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship, supported by Dairy Australia.

Dean is currently the Minister Counsellor (Agriculture) at the Australian Embassy in Beijing. He commenced in this role in January 2020. China is Australia’s largest agricultural trading partner at around 30 percent of Australia’s total agricultural exports. Key priorities include maintaining and enhancing meat, dairy and seafood market access and gaining new access for Australia mainland apples and then blueberries.

Dean has previously held senior positions within the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment with responsibilities including: policy to manage biosecurity risk for import pathways, livestock export operations, technical market access for meat, dairy and seafood products, export certification reform, and animal and plant health policy.

Dean has a strong background in agricultural trade having previously been the Minister-Counsellor (Agriculture) in Indonesia and the United States.

Michael Boddington has twenty five years of Agribusiness experience in Asia Pacific Region. He graduated from Roseworthy Agricultural College in 1987 with a Bachelor degree in Science in Agricultural Studies and has a Master degree in Business Administration from the University of New England.

Since 1988 Michael has been highly engaged in the intensive livestock industry. His career began with PIC, the world’s largest swine genetics company. At PIC, Michael was an Asian Business Manager for the Pork Chain Project. Michael was involved in the entry of firms into the Chinese market where he developed an understanding of marketing, pricing and distribution in China.

In 2007 Michael founded Asian Agribusiness Consulting as a boutique advisory business specializing in Chinese and Asian agribusiness markets (intensive livestock, food and animal health). Michael has been a lead consultant and project manager of the firms’ market research projects, including over forty animal nutrition and health research projects. Michael has also undertaken projects for private equity and institutional investors to assist in identifying potential acquisition targets in China and Asia and he is a frequent expert for the GLG network.

Mr. Bobby Richey assumed the role of Minister Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China on July 23, 2018. Prior to arriving in China, Bobby was the Acting Associate Administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He was also the Director General of the Foreign Service for FAS with responsibility for managing the FAS’s Foreign Service Corps of 130 officers, mentoring 30 Foreign Service trainees, and overseeing about 350 foreign nationals working in FAS’s 93 offices around the world. He joined FAS in 1986. Bobby has served at the U.S. Mission to the European Union, and in the U.S. Embassies in Mexico City, Berlin and Bangkok. When he served as Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, he covered USDA’s interests not only in Thailand, but also Burma and Laos. Over his career, he has worked on a breadth of issues ranging from international food and health regulations to global food security.
Bobby earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics from Texas Tech University in 1984 and a Master of Science degree in economics from Iowa State University in 1986. He grew up on his family’s cotton farm near Lubbock, Texas. He currently has the rank of Career Minister Counselor in the Foreign Service of the United States. He is married with no children.