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.

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 in 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.

Damien Plan is an agronomist engineer, graduated from the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie de Montpellier” (ENSAM) in France.

Damien Plan joined the European Commission in 2009. He initially worked at the European Commission Joint Research Centre. In 2014 he joined the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development where he worked successively as team leader for commodity crops markets (Cereals, Rice, Oilseeds and Protein Crops) and as International Relations Officer for South-East Asia (ASEAN countries).

Damien Plan is Counsellor for Agriculture at the EU Delegation to China in Beijing since September 2019.

Prior to joining the European Commission, Damien Plan worked for fifteen years in the private sector, more specifically in the agri-food sector (animal feed industry, starch industry, seeds industry), where he held various manager positions in regulatory affairs, public affairs and business development, both in Europe (Brussels) and in South East Asia (Singapore).

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.

Dr. Juhui Huang is Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Greater China for BRF since Jan 2017. In this role, he serves as BRF’s principal liaison with the Chinese government, industry associations and state-owned companies. He is based in Beijing.

Dr. Huang began his career in China’s Ministry of Agriculture in 1994 before accepting senior government affairs and business development positions in the private sector. Prior to joining BRF, he served as senior director and chief representative of ADM Beijing Representative Office. He also served as vice president of government affairs for the Pharmaceutical Industry Association Committee, and director of government affairs and business development for Cargill.
Dr. Huang is a business leader and government relations veteran with over 20 years’ experience in agriculture, food and life science industries. He is a frequent speaker in high profile conferences including the JCCT US-China Agriculture and Food Conference, the China Food Security & Safety Strategy Summit, and the Government Relations Summit of Conference Board.

He is a co-chair of the Agricultural Forum of AmCham China and a founder of US-China Agriculture and Food Partnership (AFP). He served as a non-executive director of the board of COFCO Meat Holding Limited (HK.01610) from Dec 2017 to Aug. 2020. He holds a doctorate in agronomy from China Agricultural University.