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Whatever the size of your operation, there's never been a better time to develop a China strategy. Doing business with one of the world’s largest markets and richest economies is an exciting and attractive prospect. But it also presents significant challenges and can be fraught with issues.
Crayfish.io is a full service provider for better engagement with China, powered by technology. Crayfish.io provides the expertise to assist you through all your multi-lingual business needs, the connections to facilitate cross-border collaborations, and funding opportunities to bring your business to China. You choose online or offline, we deliver on your needs. Our marketplace can help you accelerate your business at your own pace, and our range of fixed price and tailored services bring speed to market as well as bettering the collaboration between Western and Chinese organisations.
Based in the UK and China, our network of bilingual Chinese experts have three distinct ways in which we can assist you:
- All
- The Team
- Advisors
- Investors
Ting Zhang
MBA, Founder & CEO
Known as one of leading China business experts in the UK, Ting Zhang has 25+ years experience of UK – China international business, trade and investment.
After a successful career in international trade and JV in China, Ting first came to Cambridge to study. Then in 2001, foreseeing the increasing trade with China, Ting left her career as a banker in the City of London to set up China Business Solutions which then became a highly reputable China specialist consultancies in the UK. Her clients have included hi-tech SMEs, FTSE100 corporates, top UK universities as well as UK / European government agencies and financial institutions in the US.
In recent years, with Chinese businesses going global to follow the “Chinese Dream”, Ting had been engaged by some of China’s emerging technology companies to help expand into the European market through M&A and technology partnership. She was also a China Venture Partner for Prime Ventures, a leading European VC, focusing on opportunities presented by the rapid economic growth of China.
In her continuous pursuit for a more efficient and affordable way to facilitate global trade, Ting launched Crayfish.io in 2017, the go-to platform dedicated to enabling better engagement with China powered by technology.
Ting is an experienced public speaker on China and regularly writes on various aspects of doing business with China as well as Chinese investment into UK.
Jiao Li
Co-Founder
Jiao Li is Co-Founder of Crayfish.io, the leading multi-platform service provider offering expertise, connections and capital to enable businesses to achieve better engagement with China.
Jiao joined Crayfish.io as the co-founder in 2018 and has led the marketing, sales, platform and product development for the company. She also assists clients with their China-related research, strategy development and marketing initiatives.
Having studied for a Finance degree at Nankai University, Jiao completed her MA (Operational Research) at London School of Economics before joining Unilever, where she spent six years working as E-Commerce and Digital Manager, leading cross-functional teams in the UK and China. She is a highly experienced ecommerce and digital marketing specialist, passionate about helping brands reach out and interact with Chinese audiences in a smarter and more engaging way.
Jiao is a captivating and informed speaker in both Chinese and English, and has featured on BBC World Service and has presented at events run by CBBC, Cambridge Network, and UKIE.
Expertise: Chinese business communication, business/marketing strategy, customer insights, ecommerce, digital marketing, branding, financial reporting, product development, culture understanding.
Yinan Zhu
General Counsel & Head of Strategy
Yinan is one of the rare breeds of Chinese and English law dual-qualified lawyers working in London. Having spent nearly 20 years advising large international players, Yinan is now focusing on helping “companies of the future” grow and succeed.
In recent years, with Chinese businesses going global to follow the “Chinese Dream”, Ting had been engaged by some of China’s emerging technology companies to help expand into the European market through M&A and technology partnership. She was also a China Venture Partner for Prime Ventures, a leading European VC, focusing on opportunities presented by the rapid economic growth of China.
Educated in China and the UK, Yinan started her career at King & Wood Mallesons in Shanghai helping multinationals enter the Chinese market. She then spent 10 years with Clifford Chance (8 in London and 2 in Tokyo) where she advised the growing Chinese business community on their endeavour to grow in the European market along with the big banks and corporates. Yinan was then invited to join SAFE’s European investment arm (Gingko Tree Investment Ltd) as co-general counsel responsible for acquisitions and joint ventures across Europe. Most recently, she served as the CLO and partner at DealGlobe, a fintech company providing tech enabled solution on China cross-border M&A. She is also an angel investor, strategic adviser and mentor for a portfolio of startups.
Yinan feels passionate about technology and innovation and she very much enjoy being the strategic, legal and “whatever the board needs me to be” adviser to growth companies to help them get to the next level, fast!
Jane Ru
Director of Growth Operations
Jane has 18 years of experience in strategy, business development and international trade. Working closely with clients, she manages the growth operations including marketing, BD, product development at Crayfish.io to cater for client’s full cycle of doing business in China, delivering successful services through efficient use of resources available at Crayfish.io ecosystem.
Prior to joining Crayfish.io in 2019, Jane had worked in international companies, SMEs and start-ups in both China and the UK, which gave her hands-on knowledge of both the East and the Western markets. Having worked in some of the most rapidly changing industries such as education, publishing and international trade, Jane embraces technologies and she enjoys exploring their underlying strengths and applying emerging industrial trends into actionable plans.
Connie Luk
Commercial Director
Connie, a fellow of Chartered Accountant, has 15+ years’ experience in key finance management roles, mainly from FTSE 250 listed companies and large corporates.
After joining Anderson and qualified with Deloitte Audit Division., she spent 6 years in Internal audit and financial reporting with MedImmune Ltd (subsidiary of AstraZeneca) where she played a key role in swiftly transiting the Antibody Technology Plc into MedImmune Ltd. Connie later took on the role of Financial Controller with Cambridge University Press in Journals and Education divisions respectively, managing the day to day running of the finance function and set up many key business processes, policies and reporting modules, successfully acquired a group of Australia based publishing journals. The most recent corporate role she took on was with the Inca Digital Printers where she was a financial controller as well as a business partner, played a key role in the management team, engaging and providing solutions in shaping company-wide projects and operational modules.
Juho Rissanen
Business Development, Europe
Juho is our China expert currently based in Finland. He works for our Nordic & European market development, as well as other markets beyond UK.
He has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of technological innovation and international business. Having spent many years in China, he divided time between Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other major cities. He has collected multidisciplinary business insights (and languages, including Chinese) also from other countries in Asia and Europe, plus USA.
Having worked in a variety of roles in government, startup company, university and entrepreneurship, he possesses a rich understanding of different business perspectives and needs.
His education includes two graduate degrees – in business and cultural studies - and a stint in engineering.
Terry Ho
FCA(ICEAW), FHKICPA, MIoD, HKIoD
Terry has over 30 years of experience in finance and capital market specialising in IPO, fund raising, investor relations, corporate restructuring and strategy advisory. He also possessed world class professional experience through his managerial role with Ernst & Young Hong Kong after he gained his qualification as a Chartered Accountant in England and Wales in London. In particular, Terry was the director and CFO of a listed company* in the Main Board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange for over 10 years. During that period, Terry has won over 100 awards for the listed company and personal awards which includes: Best Listed Company Executive Director, Best CFO, Best Investor Relations, Best Corporate Governance Listed Company, Best Value for Shareholders and Best Listed Company Annual Report. Terry has extensive network resources in the PRC and Hong Kong SAR and now acting as Corporate Strategy Advisor for various companies.
*Xtep International Holdings Limited - one of the top sportswear brands in the PRC. IPO market capitalisation in 2008 exceed US$1 billion.
Lord Wei of Shoreditch
Nat Wei is the first British-born person of Chinese origin to have become a member of the House of Lords.
Lord Wei is the founding and former partner of the Shaftesbury Partnership, a member of the founding team of Teach First and a former adviser at Absolute Return For Kids. He is a former fellow of the Young Foundation and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.
With insight and deep experience in technology, innovation, management consulting, venture capital and social enterprises, he is passionate about building enterprises with China and brings a shared vision for helping more UK SMEs to trade with China.
Qin Li
Qin is the founder of the QED Education Group, promoting mutually beneficial business relationships and economic growth in the UK and China.
The first and only British Diplomat born in China, Qin worked as a UK government trade and investment professional and diplomat for 16 years in China and London. Her most recent role was leading the UK Education supply chain interest for China and Hong Kong at the Department for International Trade. Building on her long experience in government, she continues to develop close cultural relationships and facilitate successful UK-China trade agreements and is passionate about finding new ways to facilitate business opportunities to China.
Qin began her civil service career in 2000 in the Home Office’s Commercial and Procurement Unit. She joined the Department for International Trade HQ (formerly UKTI) in 2003 as China Market Unit Manager, responsible for developing UK-China trade through UK government initiatives, in collaboration with other government departments, industry associations and businesses. From 2004 to 2008 Qin led on all business programmes for UK Prime Ministers’ China visits. From 2008 to 2015, when she was posted in China as a diplomat, she developed and implemented UKTI China technology strategies.
With her extensive knowledge and understanding of Chinese culture, business environment and etiquette, Qin has advised hundreds of British businesses on their China strategies and market opportunities, providing invaluable expertise and insight on governmental policies affecting education trade with China, and guidance on operating in a highly unique context.
Linda Jiang
Linda Jiang is a strategy, business development and product management expert. She has a proven track record in building developer ecosystems and data driven products to international market. Linda co-founded UMENG, the largest mobile big data and advertising platform in China (acquired by Alibaba). She previously worked for Samsung Mobile UK and CGI Europe. She is bilingual in English and Chinese and is a specialist in China business expansion.
Dr Jonathan Milner
Dr Jonathan Milner, co-founder and currently Deputy Chairman of Abcam plc, is an experienced entrepreneur and investor and is passionate about supporting UK healthcare and high-tech start-ups. He has provided considerable investment and support to over 30 companies and has assisted three technology companies to IPO on AIM. In 1998, he identified the market opportunity for supplying high-quality antibodies to support protein interaction studies and founded Abcam with David Cleevely and Professor Tony Kouzarides.
Jonathan is currently Chairman of Axol Bioscience, Cambridge Allergy Therapy Limited and PhoreMost Limited and a non-executive director of Horizon Discovery, Frontier Developments, Syndicate Room Limited and GeoSpock Limited. He also sits on the advisory boards of Desktop Genetics Ltd, Repositive Ltd, HealX Limited and Definigen Ltd. In addition, he co-founded the Milner Institute for Evolution at the University of Bath.
Dr David Cleevely CBE
Dr David Cleevely is the Chair of Advisory Council, Centre for Science & Policy at the University of Cambridge. As a serial entrepreneur, he has invested in over 35 companies and is co-founder and Chairman of five of them, including the award-winning restaurant “Bocca di Lupo”. He is the Chairman of CRFS, which he co-founded in July 2007, and Chairman of the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the Cambridge Science Centre, as well as being an Ambassador of the Cambridge Humanitarian Centre.
He was the founder and former Chairman of telecoms consultancy Analysys (acquired by Datatec International in 2004). In1998, he co-founded the web based antibody company Abcam (ABC.L) with Jonathan Milner and was its Chairman until 2009.
He has been a prime mover behind Cambridge Network, co-founder of Cambridge Wireless, co-founder and Chairman of Cambridge Angels and is a member of the IET Communications Policy Panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the IET.
Peng Zhi
Peng Zhi has over 15 years’ experience in Chinese technology market investment, from start-up businesses to early stage grown. She worked for Microsoft R&D and gained investment experience with London based VCs and Angel technology funds.
She holds an MPhil Industrial Systems, Manufacture and Management (ISMM) from the University of Cambridge.
Laura Chen
Arriving in the UK almost 30 year ago, Laura has built her own successful business in the EFL industry and now runs the Cambridge Centre for Languages. She has also considerable experience and connections in China, Turkey, Spain and Italy through her work. Laura is keen to see Crayfish providing more real life work opportunities and educational benefits for young Chinese talent who have overcome many challenges to come study in the UK.
Maximum benefits, minimum risk
Our approach is based on four commitments – commercial confidence, connections, cultural guidance, and cost certainty.
COMMERCIAL CONFIDENCE
Market relevance, reduced risk
Crayfish®’s market research and analysis service will help you to establish your opportunity and proposition, reducing your market risk.
CONNECTIONS
Vetted resources, extended network
Crayfish® services are delivered by experienced inhouse consultants and a network of vetted experts, leaving you to focus on your core business.
CULTURAL GUIDANCE
Greater understanding, smoother market entry
Crayfish® provides a multi lingual project team who will help you navigate the cultural complexities of doing business with China
COST CERTAINTY
Financial commitments, maximise ROI
Crayfish®’s team of experts will help you to scale your business, according to your needs and budget, at each stage of your expansion.
EXPLORE ALL OF OUR SERVICES
Fixed Price
Tailored Services
