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Bonnie Girard

Bonnie Girard

Bonnie Girard is President of China Channel Ltd. She has lived and worked in China for half of her adult life, beginning in 1987 when she studied at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing.

Bonnie Girard has lived and worked in China for half of her adult life, beginning in 1987 when she studied at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. In 1996, after nine years in China and having worked for European multinational telecommunications companies in their China sales and operations throughout the country, she founded China Channel, the first independent consultancy providing due diligence for foreign companies coming into the Chinese market. In the years since, Bonnie, British husband and partner Roland Evans, and her colleagues in China have handled China issues for clients as diverse as Lloyd’s of London, IBM, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and Brunswick Bowling.

Bonnie is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has been responsible for the negotiation and implementation of over $1 billion worth of contracts in China, and is a frequent speaker on Chinese business and political issues. Bonnie grew up in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, in a family long active in government, foreign service, academics, and journalism. She handles all of her personal and professional business in China in Mandarin Chinese. She can be reached by email here, and on Twitter at @BonnieGirard.

Posts by Bonnie Girard
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March 31, 2021

Despite Sanctions Tiff, It’s Business as Usual for European Firms in China

By Bonnie Girard
China’s dramatic response at the political level has not impacted its courtship of European businesses.
March 17, 2021

China Takes Aim at UK Ambassador Over Media Freedom Post

By Bonnie Girard
British Ambassador to China Caroline Wilson learns the hard way how prickly Beijing is, even to sympathetic criticisms.

February 26, 2021

The Politics Behind China’s COVID-19 Vaccine Choices

By Bonnie Girard
China is keeping its vaccination campaign homegrown -- despite some reservations from the public.

February 23, 2021

How Will China Avoid Consequences for Its Uyghur Policy?

By Bonnie Girard
The international toll is growing. But the domestic consequences are what Beijing should truly fear.

January 30, 2021

Rising Shipping Costs in China Add Weight to Decoupling Calls

By Bonnie Girard
The latest knock-on effect of the pandemic -- ballooning shipping costs for Chinese exports -- have laid bare the risks of current supply chain patterns.
January 22, 2021

China’s Hypocrisy on America’s Democracy

By Bonnie Girard
The Global Times' narrative on the events of January 6 and beyond conveniently avoids any need for Chinese introspection.

November 30, 2020

US Targets China’s Quest for ‘Military-Civil Fusion’

By Bonnie Girard
A report indicates the U.S. government will seek to deny sales to 89 major Chinese companies with military links.
November 20, 2020

How China Uses the People’s Armed Police as Agents of Diplomacy

By Bonnie Girard
An instrument of domestic repression now doubles as a diplomatic tool.

October 30, 2020

With New Offensive Weapons Package, Trump Administration Goes All-in for Taiwan

By Bonnie Girard
The sale of new missile systems stretches the concept of “defensive” weaponry to its limit.

October 20, 2020

The US Government Partners With Academia to Root out Chinese Talent Plans

By Bonnie Girard
U.S. universities and research institutions are waking up to the problem of U.S. grants going to Chinese government-funded scientists.

September 29, 2020

It’s Time to Offer Washington Innovative Solutions for Dealing with China

By Bonnie Girard
As recent testimony to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission demonstrates, there’s a need for specific, innovative policy suggestions regarding China. 
September 17, 2020

From the Deal to Decoupling: Trump’s Evolution on China

By Bonnie Girard
How far can the administration push without completely upending the foundations of the U.S.-China relationship? We might be about to find out.

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