Middle Kingdom Business Consultants
Middle Kingdom Business Consultants
Our Team
Chairman and CEO
Joan McEntee
Ms. McEntee, former International Group Chair at Baker Donelson in Washington, D.C., helps multinational corporations navigate international trade, especially in China. With extensive U.S. government experience, she has built strong relationships with Chinese leadership and established a Representative Office in Beijing in 2001. Designated as an economic partner by China's National Development and Reform Commission in 2006, she has successfully aided companies in enhancing visibility and resolving issues. Her prior roles include Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade and Deputy to the Chief of Staff for Vice President George H. W. Bush. Ms. McEntee received her B.A. from Marymount College in New York, her M.A. in Government and Public Administration from The American University, and her J.D. from the Washington College of Law at The American University. She is on the Board of the Forum for International Policy, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American and District of Columbia Bar Associations. Among her Chinese Advisory roles have been the Provinces of Yunnan and Jiangsu, as well as cities such as Kunming and Xian.
President
Rick Johnston
Mr. Johnston was a Senior International Business & Strategy Advisor at Baker Donelson in Washington, D.C. He is multilingual, fluent in Chinese and conversant in Japanese and German. Rick's prior experience included projects in the Asia-Pacific region, primarily China, where he, through his own company EEI, Inc., served as consultant and investment advisor to companies in various industries, primarily telecom, automotive and medical/pharmaceutical. Before joining EEI, Rick worked for seven years at the US Department of Commerce, serving as the Commercial Minister at the US Embassy in Beijing and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Economic Policy. In these roles, he developed trade promotion programs for US exporters and investors, managed commercial staff in China, and collaborated with various government agencies to support US business initiatives and engage with senior Chinese officials on project issues. Before his government role, Rick spent 12 years at Chase Manhattan Bank across multiple cities and holds a B.A. and M.A. from Princeton University.
Chief Representative, Beijing Office
Huo Enquan
Huo came to us from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) where he had served since 1994 at its International Cooperation Center in various supervisory positions, rising to Deputy Director General, then the Center's Inspector General. His primary responsibilities at the NDRC involved coordinating Commission activities and involvement with foreign companies and commercial associations having business interests with China. As such, he served as both policy advisor and meeting/event facilitator/arranger. Prior to the NDRC, Huo served in the foreign affairs office of NDRC predecessor State Commission for Reforming the Economic System, after eight years working at a number of foreign Embassies in Beijing, where his work included market consulting, document/newspaper translation, interpretation during official meetings, arranging seminars, interviews, overseas travel as well as foreign missions to China. He is a 1975 graduate of the Beijing Foreign Languages University, did advance study work and teaching in the Economics Department at Beijing University, was a visiting scholar at Canada's University of British Columbia, and has authored numerous of papers on various aspects of China's economic development.