Managing Partner, Beijing office
Covington & Burling LLP.
Running for: Governor
Campaign Statement
I have been actively involved in AmCham China since the organization was first established informally in the early 1980s, and I am proud of the role the organization has played in serving and advocating on behalf of the American business community in China. I have served on the AmCham China board for many years, chaired and otherwise served on several AmCham China committees, and served as Vice Chairman in the late 1990s, and then as Chairman during 2000 and 2001, when AmCham China played an important role supporting China’s admission into the WTO. I also served as an ex officio member of the AmCham China Board during the period that I worked in the Commercial Section of the U.S. Embassy (1988-1992).
Drawing on my previous government and industry experience, I currently lead AmCham China’s Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) Task Force. I believe that the ongoing treaty negotiations between the U.S. and China present a once-in-a-generation opportunity for American companies to address some of their longstanding concerns about the business environment in China, and I am committed to help members understand how they can take full advantage of this opportunity. I hope you will give me the opportunity to serve once again as a member of the AmCham China Board.
Biography
Tim Stratford is managing partner in the Beijing office of Covington & Burling LLP. He advises international clients doing business in China and Chinese companies seeking to expand their businesses globally.
As a former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Tim is the most senior former U.S. government official resident in China as a member of the foreign business community. Apart from his time in Washington, D.C. at the USTR from 2005 to 2010, Tim has lived and worked in China continuously since 1982, including as General Counsel for General Motors’ China operations, Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and as Chairman of the AmCham China. He was a 2015 recipient of the AmCham China Legal Pioneer Award.
Tim is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School (’81). He is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.