Our speaker today is not your average grit-and-near-death-experience adventurer.

He’s a Danish explorer, sinologist, and business strategist on a mission to improve Sino-Western collaboration – a mission he sees as essential for managing the climate crisis and unlocking global potential. 

To prove that China and the West can achieve anything together, Christian Havrehed did something extraordinary: he rowed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean with a Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldier he barely knew. Neither had ever rowed before. Yet they became the first people from their countries to row an ocean—and their unlikely friendship has endured for decades. Most recently, the now middleaged pair headed into the East China Sea in search of the legendary Elixir of Immortality.

Christian’s expeditions are deeply aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and he is a strong advocate for citizen science.

He deliberately pushes the boundaries of what the Chinese system can accept, creating precedents that help China open up, while shifting Western perception of China in the process.

He’s worked 20 years in senior management roles in China, survived tank fire during his first visit to China in 1989, and is one of very few foreigners invited to join the China Adventure Association. He is also a member of the America Explorers Club.

His book on Sino-Western cross-cultural collaboration has sold 20,000 copies, and China has produced several documentaries about him and his rowing partner, Sun Haibin. A recent podcast had 1.3 million listeners. 

He is here today to talk to us about [insert keynote topic].

Please give a warm welcome to Christian Havrehed – The Viking Ocean Rower Stirring the Chinese Dragon!