Dan Wang keynote speaker

Dan Wang, research fellow at the Hoover History Lab at Stanford University, is a top-cited expert on China and its technology strategies. A technology and geopolitics researcher, he sheds light on the US-China trade war, tech innovation races including China’s artificial intelligence strategies, regulatory actions – policies on everything from semiconductors to TikTok – and how artificial intelligence and clean technology cannot be grasped without understanding China.

Wang’s highly anticipated forthcoming book, “Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future” (W. W. Norton and Penguin UK, August 2025), explores the contrast between America’s “lawyerly society” and China’s “engineering state,” and demonstrates how these opposite approaches have led both countries down different paths. Calming, focused and relatable, Wang dives deep into Xi Jinping’s leadership, the pace of supply chains moving out of China as well as US policy towards China under President Trump, to equip organizations with the strategic foresight needed to stay ahead in complex international markets.

Formerly the chief technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, a Shanghai-based economic research firm, and a fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center, Wang lived in China during all three years of the country’s zero-Covid strategy. Being one of the few foreigners on the ground in China helped him to see the state’s logic while the rest of the world looked on in bafflement.

“The Chinese state media gave us a fair warning about regulatory changes in areas like online education, if we only chose to engage it,” Wang explains, detailing one recent example where he foresaw upcoming policy upheaval before it happened. “There are a lot of signals out there, and it’s worth keeping in mind what’s going on, what the party is saying, and even what the party is saying to itself and the broader world when planning ahead.”

Wang’s extensive research on China gives him deep insights into the heart of the state’s ambitious tech strategy and its simultaneous widespread crackdown on its own tech giants. Drawing from his firsthand experience, Wang sheds light on China’s tactical maneuvers within the tech industry and the resulting regulations imposed on its biggest companies.

Wang brings leaders actionable strategies for maneuvering within both China and US economies, understanding the implications for international trade and technological competition, and how to leverage these insights for strategic advantage. He explores the broader impacts of these policies on technology innovation and geopolitical dynamics to deliver insights into how to best prepare for the ripple effects of China’s tech policies and how to seize the coming opportunities amid the challenges they present.

Wang serves as an indispensable guide for anyone looking to comprehend the motivations behind China’s quest to reshape the world order and how it affects international business and geopolitical dynamics.