Weijian Shan Keynote Speaker

Chairman and CEO of Hong Kong private equity firm, PAG
Author of "Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America"
Former Lecturer at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Weijian Shan's Biography

Weijian Shan is an economist, businessman, and author based in Hong Kong. He is the Chairman and CEO of the investment firm PAG and the author of Out of the Gobi: My Story of China and America, Money Games: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea’s Most Iconic Bank, and Money Machine: A Trailblazing American Venture in China.

Weijian Shan grew up in mainland China during Mao’s revolution. He was raised in a one-room home in Beijing. He was pulled out of school as a young boy and put to hard labour in the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia. Six year later he returned to Beijing and his life changed dramatically as one of the first students to study in the USA amid an easing of US-China tensions. Weijian Shan completed a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, studying under future Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen. She later wrote a foreword in his 2019 book, “Out of the Gobi”.

After leaving Berkeley, Weijian Shan landed jobs at JP Morgan, the World Bank and TPG Capital. He joined PAG in 2010 to set up their private equity business. Since then, the company has become one of Asia’s largest investors with assets of over US$50bn.

Reviewing his book, “Out of the Gobi”, the Financial Times’ Global China Editor Editor James Kynge said, “This is no ordinary memoir. It is the engrossing, vivid personal story of someone buffeted by the tides of China’s tumultuous emergence from poverty to power in the space of a few decades. Weijian Shan’s journey from rural exile in the Gobi Desert to the heights of international finance is a metaphor for China itself.”

Weijian Shan also sits as a board member for Alibaba.

China's Economy and Global Markets

Private Equity and Investing in Asia

US-China Relations and Global Geopolitics

Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Business Transformation

The Future of Asian Business and Investment

Global Finance and Cross-Border Investment

He helps leaders and organisations understand China’s economic transformation and Asia’s investment landscape, equipping audiences with practical insights into global markets, private equity and cross-border business.
He translates decades of experience in international finance and investing into actionable strategies, helping businesses navigate geopolitical change, investment opportunities and long-term value creation across Asia.
He combines first-hand experience of China’s economic rise with world-class investment expertise, offering a unique perspective shaped by leadership roles at PAG, TPG Capital, JP Morgan and the World Bank.
As Chairman and CEO of PAG, one of Asia’s largest investment firms, and a board member of Alibaba, he has led landmark investments across the region while chronicling China’s extraordinary transformation in his bestselling books Out of the Gobi, Money Games and Money Machine.
His insightful keynotes equip audiences with practical frameworks to understand China’s evolving role in the global economy, navigate international investment and identify opportunities in an increasingly interconnected world.