Law and Government Sub Committee

Prof. Marwyn Samuels
An expert on China's political economy, urban and regional development planning, Professor Marwyn Samuels has worked and lived in the People’s Republic of China for some 30 years as an advisor to a variety of China's central, provincial and municipal government agencies, a consultant to Fortune 500 corporations, and as an investor-manager of joint venture and privately-held enterprises in the telecommunications and entertainment media industries, in agribusiness, environmental management and in infrastructure development.

Professor Emeritus at the Maxwell School of Public Affairs of Syracuse University in New York, he is currently Visiting Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Prof. Samuels received his Ph.D. in Chinese and Geography from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is Founding Chairman of the US-China AIDS Foundation, Senior Vice President of Nanjing Pacific TV & Media Co. Ltd. And Chairman of XL Holdings, Ltd.

He is married to Ms. Li Man, a prominent China film and entertainment industry producer-director and, among other pursuits, they own and operate a contemporary arts gallery and a 34 hectare farm near Nanjing.

Dr. David C. Buxbaum
Dr. Buxbaum first came to Asia when he became an exchange faculty member sent from Harvard University, at the University of Singapore Law Faculty in 1963. He was the first American lawyer invited to China to represent American business interests in 1972, after President Nixon's historic visit. Dr. Buxbaum received his JD degree from University of Michigan and MA and PhD degrees from the University of Washington. Dr. Buxbaum is fluent in both oral and written Chinese.

For the past almost forty years, Dr. Buxbaum has been professionally active in transactional activities, litigation, particularly regarding international business disputes, as well as intellectual property and commodities and securities matters in China and Asia. Mr. Buxbaum formed the first joint-venture insurance company in China, and provided legal services for many international large companies, such as Microsoft, Citibank, Credit Lyonnais, MacMillian, General Motors, Coca Cola, World Bank, IFC, Campbell Soup, Procter & Gamble, Daewoo, AIG, Kardan N.V., UBS Investment Bank and ING Bank. He represented the successful respondents before the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case of Butz v Economou, 438 U.S. 478, (1978) and successfully handled many cases in China, including a leading IP case, namely Microsoft vs Juren et al, Zhong jing zhi chu zi No. 587 (1994), which was on national television in China during the proceedings.

Dr. Buxbaum has also published extensively in this field. He has been the initial and primary author and reviser of the China Law Digest, Macau Law Digest and the Mongolia Law Digest for the Martindale-Hubbell directory until this year. Mr. Buxbaum has written extensively on Chinese law, intellectual property law, contract law, arbitration and traditional Chinese law.

Dr. Buxbaum has been very active in all the Jewish communities in China and Hong Kong. He was partly responsible for the revival of Hong Kong Jewish community 20 years ago from its then moribund state, and partly responsible for establishment of Jewish community in Shanghai, as prime contact with Chinese government about these matters. He has slightly assisted Beijing community and substantially Guangzhou community in establishing themselves. Dr. Buxbaum has assisted in having Hebrew language books printed in China and translated Jewish treaties into Chinese. 

Israel-China Investment Sub Committee

Mr. Ilan Maor
Ilan Maor is Managing Director of SHENG-BDO Ziv Haft, a leading business development and investment company with presence and operations in China and Israel. Mr. Maor heads the company's operations in Israel and its technological sector.

Before joining SHENG-BDO Ziv Haft in 2009, Mr. Maor headed the Economic Department at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was responsible for Asia-Pacific, Russia and the CIS region, as well as for economic international organizations. Mr. Maor also headed the Israeli negotiating team with the OECD.

Between 2001-2005, Mr. Maor served as the Consul General of Israel in Shanghai. He was the first (and only) Israeli diplomat to be listed among the 100 Most Influential People in the Israel Economy list, published by Israel's leading business magazine, The Marker.

As of June 2009, Mr. Maor has been serving as the Vice President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce.

He holds an MBA from the Thames Valley University and a B.A. Hons from Tel Aviv University.

Ms. Ornit Avidar
Ornit Avidar is a partner at China-Israel Venture Capital Fund. She has thirteen years' experience in technological fields within the government and private sectors, with significant experience in company coaching and assessment for international strategic partnerships. She has extensive experience working with foreign and local government entities and agencies.

Prior to joining CIVC, Ms. Avidar served as Commercial Attach for the State of Israel in Hong Kong and Macau, initiating JVs and investments, facilitating and encouraging bilateral trade between Israeli, Hong Kong and Chinese companies. During this period, she established the China-HK-Israel Investment Council.

Between 1999 and 2001, she served as Economic Representative of the State of Israel to the Gulf States of Qatar and Oman.

In 1999, the government of Israel appointed Ms. Avidar as a board member of Israel's Coal Company. Prior to that, she was the Investment Manager for North America, Investment Promotion Center, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor.

In the private sector, Ms. Avidar was CEO of Delta Three Israel, the first Internet telephony operator, which was later listed on NASDAQ.

Ms. Avidar is a member of the International Women's Forum. She holds a B.A. Hons in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.B.A. from Temple University in Philadelphia.

Visit Ornit's Blog at: http://ornit-china-israel.blogspot.com/

Jewish Studies in China Sub Committee

Prof. Fu Youde
Director of the Centre for Judaic and Inter-Religious Studies and former dean of the School of Philosophy and Social Development at Shandong University in Jinan, China; Past positions include: Chairman of the Academic Committee of the Humanities at Shandong University, Chair of the Philosophy Society of Shandong and Vice Chair of the Society of Religion of Shandong. He is the author of many books, over 50 articles, and coordinator of national project to translate the great works of Jewish Civilization and Philosophy into Chinese.

Agriculture and Water Technology Sub Committee

Dr. Richard Hardiman
Dr. Richard Hardiman has worked in the field of water, environment, policy and rural development for 35 years in Asia - 20 years' of which was spent in China, 3 years in India and 12 years in Israel.

A fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace and a visiting scientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, he is currently researching China policy and the environment.

Prior to this, Dr. Hardiman worked for the European Commission in Beijing, where he was responsible for natural resource and water management, project design and management of the EU-China River Basin Management Programme linked to the World Bank Changjiang (Yangtze River) and the Pearl River Rehabilitation Project. He also served as a consultant to investors on water resource, water pollution and waste water treatment issues in China, and liaised with China's Environmental and Water Resource ministries and river commissions on water resource management.

In the past, Dr. Hardiman was the European Director to the EU funded Integrated Rural Development Project in Tibet and European Director of an Agricultural Technology Center in China. He coordinated the China EU Centre for Agriculture in Beijing, contributed to the establishment of 58 Water User Associations for renovated small scale irrigation systems under the EU funded Kerala Minor Irrigation Project, and was European Technical Director to the China EU Centre for Agricultural Technology. He has also worked with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNIDO, UNDP, FAO, IFAD, World Food Program and various NGOs.

Dr. Hardiman received his Ph.D. in environment and water sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He speaks Chinese, Hebrew, English and French.

Prof. Amram Olmert
Former Minister-Counsellor, Embassy of the State of Israel, Beijng, China; Professor at leading agricultural universities in China; Author of book "My China".

Commercial Relations and International Delegations Sub Committee

Mr. Paul Israel
Executive Director of the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce, reputed to be one of the most successful and productive facilitators of bi-national trade, investment and commerce in Israel.

Academic Relations Sub Committee

Prof. Gideon Shelach
Prof. Gideon Shelach is the Louis Freiberg Professor of East Asian Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the current director of The Louis Frieberg Center for East-Asian Studies at the Hebrew University, chair of the Department of East Asian Studies and vice Dean of the Hebrew University's Faculty of Humanities.

Prof. Shelach is an expert on the Archaeology and Early History of China. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh in 1996 and has been engaged, since 1994, in archaeological fieldwork projects in the Chifeng area of northeast China.

In 2008, he published Prehistoric Societies on the Northern Frontiers of China: Archaeological Perspectives on Identity Formation and Economic Change during the First Millennium BCE. His academic papers address the archaeology of northeast China from the Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age as well as other topics of Chinese archaeology and history such as the formation of the Qin state in Northwest China.

Prof. Yitzhak Shichor
Professor at the Department of Asian Studies at Haifa University and one of Israel’s leading China experts. Research interests include: Defence, Sino-Middle Eastern Relations, China's International Energy Policy, Ethnonationalism, and East-Asian Democratization Processes. Past positions include: Head of Dept of East Asian Studies at Hebrew University.