CHINA CHANNEL LIMITED

BONNIE GIRARD

Partner / President

Bonnie Girard is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, taking her B.A. degree in Political Science in 1988. In 1987, as part of her UNC program, she accepted a fellowship and grant which took her to China to study language at the prestigious Foreign Affairs College in Beijing. This college, which is run by the Chinese Foreign Ministry as their diplomatic training institute, was the springboard for developing many of the influential contacts which she still uses today in her business and personal dealings. Bonnie subsequently lived in China for the next 14 years, until 2001, when she and partner Roland Evans brought China Channel to the United States.  Since 2001, Bonnie has spent another six years in China; in all, she has spent twenty years in China since 1987. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Bonnie Girard has been responsible for the negotiation and implementation of over US$1 billion worth of telecommunications and other contracts in China. She began her professional career working in China in 1988, initially for an American joint venture, and then for the Australian Embassy in Beijing. In 1990, Bonnie was hired by Alcatel to run their domestic operations in support of the implementation of digital telephone systems throughout China. In 1994, she moved into commercial and business development in China for the company. By 1996, after nine years in China and having developed deep professional and personal ties in political, business, and government circles in China, she created China Channel Consultants, later to become China Channel Limited, a US company. The firm was founded in the belief, since confirmed, that foreign companies and organizations need reliable, intelligent, and ethical advice and approaches to the Chinese market, at a realistic and affordable price.

Bonnie grew up in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, in a family long active in government, foreign service, and academics.  She is Executive Vice-President of the Washington-China Chamber of Commerce, based in Fairfax, Virginia.  Bonnie is frequently asked to speak to business and other groups on matters related to China.

ROLAND EVANS

Partner

Roland Evans holds a B.Sc. in Marine Technology from Plymouth University in the United Kingdom; prior to that he studied Electronics and Communications at South Glamorgan Institute in Cardiff.

Roland Evans began working with the British firm Racal Survey in 1991, and subsequently traveled throughout the world on oil survey and communications projects for the company. Roland worked on projects throughout China and Asia, including Singapore and India, before taking up an engineering management position with Racal's joint venture in Tianjin, China in 1997.

In 1999, Roland became a partner of China Channel. His vision and insight have led the company from success to success. Among other accomplishments, he initiated and implemented a large consulting project for the British firm, Lloyd's Register. He also took China Channel into the environmental field by securing the company's first client in that industry.

Under Roland Evans' leadership, China Channel became a founding member of the European Chamber of Commerce of China. Roland was active within the Chamber as a member of the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights, and helped to formulate their White Paper, which was presented to European Union President Romano Prodi during his 2000 visit to Beijing.

Roland grew up in the Rhondda Valley of South Wales in the United Kingdom, and is a proud supporter of Welsh Rugby. He was captain of the Beijing Devils Rugby Football Team, which won a Plate victory at the Hong Kong Tens in 1998.