The share of female CEOs in the Fortune Global 500 jumped 20% last year, but their numbers are still tiny: 29 CEOs or less than 6% of all chief executives. Still, that total represents a record, proof of progress but still far short of equal representation. A conversation with top female executives will identify the factors keeping women from the C-Suite and share best practices for building a deep bench of female talent.

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  陈翊庭 Bonnie Y Chan

  Chief Executive Officer at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
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  Kathryn McLay

  President and CEO of Walmart International
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  孙洁 Jane Sun

  Chief Executive Officer at Trip.com Group Limited
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  屈翠容 JOEY WAT

  Chief Executive Officer at Yum China
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  齐悦蔓 CLAIRE ZILLMAN

  SENIOR EDITOR at FORTUNE; Co-chair, Innovation Forum

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  钱科雷 Clay Chandler

  EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ASIA at FORTUNE; Chair, Innovation Forum

How the world's largest retailer is working to tap into customer preferences and concerns across a far-flung portfolio of different markets.

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  Diane Brady

  Editorial Director, CEO Initiative of FORTUNE
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  Kathryn McLay

  President and CEO of Walmart International

Asia is full of AI potential: the region is home to over half the world’s internet users, and investments in the technology in Asia-Pacific are expected to reach $78.4 billion by 2027. The challenge for business leaders now is to capitalize on that interest and demand—and turn it into opportunity and growth for their companies. Top executives reveal how they’re integrating AI into their businesses and ensuring all the AI buzz generates real results—not just hype.

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  石博盟 Scott Beaumont

  President at Google Asia Pacific
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  Curtis Kim

  CEO of Kakao Brain
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  Jo Ling Kent

  Senior Business and Tech Correspondent at CBS News
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  温书豪 Wen Shuhao

  Co-founder and Chairman of XtalPi
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  朱晋郦 Jennifer Zhu Scott

  Founding Partner at IN. Capital

● THE FUTURE OF FINANCE: ARE WE MOVING BEYOND BANKS?
The world of finance is in tumult. Advances in digital technologies have transformed the way people in rich and developing countries alike pay for even the most basic purchases. Are currency and coins on their way out—taking with them the rationale for banks as physical structures? And if so, what comes next? Will the future of finance be dominated by decentralized cryptocurrencies? Central bank digital currencies? Or something else? Will financial innovation bring financial stability—or its opposite?

● SPOTLIGHT ON INNOVATION: REDEFINING BUSINESS IN A DIGITAL AGE
The business world is in the midst of an era of transformation. Global markets are undergoing a radical overhaul, science and cutting-edge technologies are tackling monumental challenges, and companies face a stark choice: innovate or fall behind. How are business leaders embracing game-changing innovations, from AI to Web 3.0, to maintain a competitive edge?

● ACCELERATING THE GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSITION
The head of the International Energy Agency has argued that military conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine will accelerate the global shift away from planet-warming fuels and toward renewable energy. But other experts warn that the pace of that transition has slowed amid geopolitical uncertainties, energy supply shocks, and rising interest rates. What must be done to speed the global energy transition and meet the worldwide goal of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius? What are the technologies that will make that transition possible? And how will the world find the capital necessary to implement that tech at scale?

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  欧阳杞浚 Evan Auyang

  Group President at Animoca Brands
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  Neil Beveridge

  Managing Director of AB Bernstein
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  陈芳 Nicole Chen

  Managing Director, Data & Analytics, Greater China & North Asia of London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)
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  储瑞松 Rob Chu

  Corporate Vice President, Amazon; President, AWS Greater China at Amazon
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  Leo Grepin

  Regional Chief Executive and Group Chief Strategy Officer at AIA
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  何征宇 Zhengyu He

  Chief Technology Officer at Ant Group
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  梁瀚璟 King Leung

  Head of Financial Services and Fintech at InvestHK
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  刘月婷 Lucy Liu

  Co-founder and President of Airwallex
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  陆恭蕙 Christine Loh

  Chief Development Strategist at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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  阮芳 Fang Ruan

  BCG Managing Director & Senior Partner
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  骆杰峰 Jeff John Roberts

  Finance & Crypto Editor at Fortune
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  柴田诚 Makoto Shibata

  Head & Chief Community Officer at FINOLAB; Audit & Supervisory Board Member at UI Bank
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  王昉 Wang Fang

  EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SHANGHAI at FORTUNE CHINA
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  谢菁炜 YVONNE XIE

  NEW MEDIA EXECUTIVE EDITOR at FORTUNE CHINA
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  Edith Yeung

  General Partner at Race Capital
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  朱成怡 Cherry Zhu

  President at Dow Greater China

Venture capitalists have become more selective with their dollars, but that hasn’t moderated their hunt for the next game-changing company. Panelists share how they’re evaluating opportunities in a more conservative investment environment and identify the industries and technologies that are ripe for the biggest payoffs.

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  Vishal Harnal

  Managing Partner at 500 Global
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  Weisheng Neo

  General Partner at Qualgro Partners
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  Kathy Matsui

  General Partner at MPower Partners Fund L.P.
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  骆杰峰 Jeff John Roberts

  Finance & Crypto Editor at Fortune
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  周炜 Wei Zhou

  Founding Partner at CCV

The Chinese government’s bold plan to link the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau to nine other cities in Guangdong’s Pearl River Delta would create a single integrated economic hub with more than 70 million people and a GDP almost as large as South Korea’s. China’s blueprint for a “Greater Bay Area” is often compared to America’s “Silicon Valley,” but it has the potential to outshine rival international “bays”—not just San Francisco but also New York or Tokyo—by using world-class infrastructure to connect a diverse combination of innovative companies across sectors. But the challenges to meaningful integration are daunting. Can the grand vision for connecting the region be achieved?

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  景广军 Guangjun Jing

  Chairman at Guangzhou Industrial Investment Holdings
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  刘立斌 Liu Libin

  Vice General Manager at Guangdong Guangxin Holdings Group Co., Ltd.
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  彭富强 Wilson Pang

  Head of KPMG China GBA Strategy & Development Office
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  沈明高 Minggao Shen

  Global Chief Economist and Head of Global Institute for Supply Chains at GF Securities
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  王昉 Wang Fang

  EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SHANGHAI at FORTUNE CHINA

The world’s third-largest economy is emerging from three decades of stagnation and deflation. Investors are cheering; the benchmarked Nikkei stock index is nearing its pre-bubble high. But Japan faces daunting challenges, including a shrinking and aging workforce and massive government debt, to keep its recovery on track.

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  钱科雷 Clay Chandler

  EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ASIA at FORTUNE; Chair, Innovation Forum
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  Jesper Koll

  Board Director of Okinawa Institute for Science and Technology
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  清水季子 Tokiko Shimizu

  Assistant Governor at Bank of Japan

The lunar new year got off to an auspicious start for China as consumer spending and travel during the holiday period surged to pre-pandemic levels. But the world’s second-largest economy faces many headwinds: mounting public debt, a troubled property sector, a shrinking labor force, and daunting levels of youth unemployment. Aggravating those challenges: continued trade tensions with the West—which could intensify depending on the outcome of the US presidential election. There are a few bright spots, including a booming electric vehicle sector, and surprising resilience to Western in key areas like chip manufacturing. What’s in store for 2024? A panel of distinguished global analysts share their predictions.

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  Ben Harburg

  Managing Partner at MSA Capital
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  Alicia García Herrero

  Chief Economist, Asia Pacific at Natixis
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  胡祖六 Fred Hu

  Founder of Primavera Capital Group
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  李小加 Charles Li

  Founder and Chairman of Micro Connect Group
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  王昉 Wang Fang

  EXECUTIVE EDITOR, SHANGHAI at FORTUNE CHINA

In recent years, we’ve seen a sliver of what can be achieved when we embrace collaboration in biotechnology. Invisible cochlear implants, genome-edited crops, and vaccines for once-incurable diseases are all examples of the leaps and bounds that have been made in biotech. What more could be possible when the world comes together to develop mutually beneficial technology?

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  谢菁炜 YVONNE XIE

  NEW MEDIA EXECUTIVE EDITOR at FORTUNE CHINA
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  尹烨 Yin Ye

  CEO of BGI Group
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  Alex Zhavoronkov

  Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine

In recognition of Asia's Innovative Companies Set For Long-Term Growth

Medtronics, one of the world’s largest medical device makers, has enormous economies of scale. The chairman and CEO, shares how the $100 billion company is embracing AI, embedding the technology into many of its devices, from insulin pumps to heart monitors, and using AI as a tool to train surgeons.

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  Jo Ling Kent

  Senior Business and Tech Correspondent at CBS News
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  Geoff Martha

  Chief Executive Officer at Medtronic

The CEO of one of Asia's largest carriers explains how his airline thinks about innovation and describes how new technologies will transform the way we fly.

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  林绍波 Ronald Lam

  Chief Executive Officer at The Cathay Group
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  尚艾俪 Alyson Shontell

  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF at FORTUNE

The textile industry is a big emitter; it consumes large quantities of water and energy, and textile waste is enormous—92 million tonnes annually. Industry leaders explain how they’re innovating to shrink the sector’s environmental footprint and rethinking globe-spanning supply chains.

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  Rajiv Sharma

  Group Chief Executive at Coats
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  杨敏德 Marjorie Yang

  Chairwoman at Esquel Group
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  齐悦蔓 CLAIRE ZILLMAN

  SENIOR EDITOR at FORTUNE; Co-chair, Innovation Forum

China’s young consumers are more discerning than ever. Pragmatism—not impulse—is driving their purchasing decisions in a challenged economic environment; they favor quality, sustainability, and the chance for social interactions in their retail experiences. How can brands keep up? Leaders at the forefront of this revolution share how they’re leveraging technology and data to meet the evolving demands of today’s consumers.

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  董炜 Angela Dong

  Global Vice President and General Manager at Nike, Greater China
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  Pontus Erntell

  President and Chief Sustainability Officer at IKEA China
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  高名历 Nicholas Gordon

  EDITOR, ASIA at FORTUNE; Co-chair, Innovation Forum
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  沈建光 Jianguang Shen

  Chief Economist at JD.com
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  王幸 Doreen Wang

  Kantar Greater China CEO & Global Chair of Kantar BrandZ