James Chau is President of the China-United States Exchange Foundation. Appointed in 2023, he leads its work in dialogue, education, and culture to strengthen understanding between the two countries. The Foundation was established in 2008 by the Honorable Tung Chee Hwa, Hong Kong’s first Chief Executive.

A longtime advocate for public health and development, Mr. Chau became the inaugural UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador in China in 2009 and was appointed World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Sustainable Development Goals in 2016. He has spoken at United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meetings on HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, and antimicrobial resistance.

Mr. Chau’s career in international broadcasting includes anchoring the main English-language news at China Central Television in Beijing and guest presenting for BBC World News. He has interviewed leading public fi gures, including Nobel laureates Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Muhammad Yunus, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi. He wrote and directed End of the Earth: The Journey of the Shanghai Jews, a documentary about 18,000 refugees who found sanctuary in China during the Holocaust.

Mr. Chau is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council, focusing on how trade and investment can support a more stable and connected world. He previously served as Special Advisor to Dr. Margaret Chan, Dean of the Vanke School of Public Health at Tsinghua University, and as Advisor to Professor Zhang Xiang, President of the University of Hong Kong.

He was born in London to Chinese parents from Hong Kong and Indonesia. He lives in Hong Kong.