Geng Jun (John Geng)

After his graduation from the Capital Medical University in 1991, John Geng furthered his studies at the University of Texas Medical School, where he earned his Ph.D. and completed two years of post-doctoral research. After successfully selling his American company, Geng returned to China in 1998 to start his career as Chief Executive Officer in several prestigious companies from 2001 to 2007 in a broad range of industries, from medicine, internet and retailing to trade and exhibition. He finally found his passion in the performing arts and established the Shenzhen A.C. Orange Co., Ltd. He is a member of The Broadway League and Independent Presenter’s Network, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Shenzhen and an executive member of the council of the China Association of Performing Arts.

Shenzhen A.C. Orange

Founded in 2007, A.C. Orange has been rapidly growing in the performing arts industry with its strategic planning encompassing the whole industrial chain. With its capability of hosting performances in almost 90 cities, A.C. Orange is now China’s largest privately-owned performing arts enterprise.

Subsidiary companies and brands of A.C. Orange have also played leading roles in different segments of the performing arts market. With more than 25 percent market share, Little Orange Castle has won the first place in China’s child and family market for three consecutive years. WantU Music, a prestigious brand of theatre-level live music in China, has won first place in Theatre-class pop music for three years in a row. ACO Musicals, as the first Chinese musical company founded on Broadway, has invested in 28 musicals, including 20 Tony Award winners.

Guo Wenpeng

Guo Wenpeng currently serves as the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee at Poly Culture Group Corporation Limited, Board Director and Company General Manager. Also Board Chair of both Beijing Poly Theatre Management Co., Ltd. and Beijing Poly International Auction Co., Ltd, he holds the posts of Vice President of the China Association of Performing Arts (CAPA), Council Member of the China Association for Quality, and Guest Professor at the Central Academy of Drama.

Guo’s contributions include internationalising the theatre-based performing arts group by encompassing four pillars: venue management, content production, marketing, and arts education and outreach. He has continuously fortified while also deepening international collaborations and actively engaging in overseas production investments. Under his management, Poly Theatre has become one of the top theatre management and performance companies in China.

Guo Wenpeng spearheaded the efforts to formulate “National Standards for Theatre Services”, mapped out China’s “Poly Model” in theatre management, formulated China’s “Theatre Operation and Management Standards”, put forth the first “Government-Supported Standards for Theatres” and published the “Practices in Theatre Operation and Management” manual. His initiatives also include the first national theatre conference and the first “Theatre Service Convention”, moving China’s theatre industry forward.

Poly Culture Group Corporation Limited

Established in 2000, Poly Culture is a state-owned enterprise under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), primarily engaged in cultural and artistic operations. Originally named as a “National Cultural Industry Demonstration Base” by the former Ministry of Culture, it has been shortlisted multiple times as one of the “Top 30 Cultural Enterprises in the Country.”

Poly Culture Group Corporation Limited has more than 150 wholly owned and holding enterprises, including such well-known brands as Poly Theatre, Poly Auction, Poly Film, Poly Education, Poly WeDo, and Poly Art Museum. In recent years, Poly Culture has also actively expanded into cultural communication, cultural tourism, cultural finance, cultural asset management and cultural digitisation.

Li Jinsheng

Currently President of the China Arts and Entertainment Group Limited, Li Jinsheng was a graduate of the English Department at the University of International Relations in 1987, he then furthered his studies at the Department of International Politics at Peking University. Li has worked at the Bureau for External Cultural Relations, Personnel Department and General Office of the Ministry of Culture. He has also served as cultural officer, cultural consul and cultural counselor at the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, General Consulate in Sydney and Chinese Embassy in Denmark. He joined China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. in 2015 and assumed the position of General Manager in March 2018 before being appointed President of China Arts and Entertainment Group Limited in December of the same year.

China Arts and Entertainment Group Limited (CAEG)

The China Arts and Entertainment Group Limited (CAEG) was founded in April 2004, and its two major subsidiaries China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) and China International Exhibition Agency (CIEA) were established in 1957 and 1950 respectively. As China’s only central state-owned cultural enterprise that has performance and exhibition business worldwide, CAEG has developed a nationwide market network of international performing arts, art exhibitions, and culture & tourism and theatre operation.

Dr. Joanna C. Lee (Moderator)

Dr. Joanna C. Lee has served as consultant and translator for such institutions as the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and the New York Asian Film Festival. Since 2004, she is the regular host and interpreter at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum. She was a publicity consultant for the “Big Five” American orchestras on their Asian tours as well as consulting producer for San Francisco Opera’s Dream of the Red Chamber. She is currently serving as outreach consultant for multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in New York. She has served as an on-stage interpreter for former US President Jimmy Carter, Chinese director Jia Zhangke and artist Xu Bing, as well as provided opera surtitles for the China National Centre for the Performing Arts and the Beijing Music Festival. She is the English surtitle author for the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre since 2007.

Photo Credit: Lia Chang

• Simultaneous interpretation is available in English, Cantonese and Putonghua.
• Holders of the HKPAX Full Pass, Day Pass and Student Pass can access all sessions of Conversations. Spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Online pre-registration is required.