The People Behind JCG’s China Strategic Team

Jennifer C. Gardner

3 days ago

4 min read

Over the past five years, my journey in commodity trading has taught me something very important: You cannot build meaningful opportunities alone.

Commodity trading is already a relationship-driven business. But when opportunities become larger, more complex and more strategic, I believe the importance of having the right people around the table becomes even greater.

This is how my China Strategic Team came together.

Today, I work with Michael Leung and Hary Mak as my strategic partners in China.

We come from different professional backgrounds, and that is exactly what makes the team interesting.

Michael brings extensive experience across international business, corporate leadership, finance, technology and strategic advisory. Hary brings more than 30 years of experience across international mineral commodity trading, offshore oil and gas supply chains, petrochemicals, engineering, investment and financing.

Together, we are building something that goes beyond individual commodity transactions.

We are building a China Strategic team focused on connecting Chinese opportunities, resources, investment and industrial capabilities with international markets.

Michael — Strategic Leadership and Capital Markets

I have known Michael for years, and our relationship has developed through business, family and professional connections.

Michael has held senior leadership positions across trading, industrial and high-tech sectors, including serving as General Manager at Sime Darby Hong Kong and Regional Director, Asia Pacific at Oracle. His experience also extends into corporate finance and capital markets, with involvement in transactions involving more than US$10 billion in aggregate value.

He has also served as a board director, strategic advisor and executive coach, giving him a perspective that goes beyond individual transactions.

What I particularly value is his ability to look at an opportunity from a strategic and investment perspective.

A commodity transaction may begin with a product.

But a larger project can involve capital, corporate structure, investment partners, governance, technology and long-term strategy.

That is where Michael's experience becomes particularly relevant.

Hary — Commodities, Energy and China/ International Connections

Hary brings a very different but highly complementary background.

He has more than three decades of experience spanning international mineral commodity trading, offshore oil and gas supply chains, overseas engineering services, and industrial investment and financing.

His career has included leadership positions in companies involved in petroleum trading, refinery and petrochemical resources, nickel and manganese supply chains, marine engineering and international commodity trading.

He has also worked with state-owned petrochemical foreign trade enterprises and has maintained long-term relationships across China and international markets. His profile includes connections with Chinese investment promotion authorities, state-owned enterprises, overseas refineries, mining companies and energy operators.

This experience gives our team something very important: A deep understanding of how resources, industry, supply chains and China connect.

Hary can look at an opportunity not only from the perspective of the commodity itself, but also through the lens of supply sources, industrial users, logistics, investment relationships and cross-border cooperation.

Different Backgrounds, Complementary Strengths

What I like about our team is that we are not trying to do the same thing.

We bring different perspectives to the same table.

I come from the perspective of commodity transactions, international relationships and strategic sourcing, together with my growing focus on sustainability and future economies.

Michael brings corporate leadership, capital markets, investment and strategic advisory experience.

Hary brings deep commodity, energy, mineral, petrochemical and China–international industry experience.

Together, these perspectives allow us to ask different questions when we look at an opportunity.

Simply a transaction, it could become something strategically larger.

China Strategic Sourcing

This is the thinking behind our China Strategic Sourcing work.

China is not simply a market where commodities are bought and sold.

It is also a major centre of manufacturing, industrial capacity, technology, infrastructure, capital and supply-chain networks.

For JCG, China Strategic Sourcing is about exploring opportunities across these areas and identifying where genuine connections can be made between Chinese capabilities and international markets.

That could involve commodities.

It could involve industrial projects.

It could involve investment opportunities.

Or it could involve bringing together people and organisations that would otherwise never have found each other.

This is where I see our team creating value.

The China Refinery Investment Project

One of the opportunities that emerged from this developing relationship is the China Refinery Investment Project.

The idea grew from conversations around energy, refining, investment and the wider ecosystem that we are building.

It is still an opportunity that requires careful evaluation, due diligence, commercial structuring and the right investment partners.

But for me, the important part of the story is not only the refinery itself.

It is how the opportunity came about.

One conversation led to another.

One relationship created another introduction.

And gradually, individual commodity discussions began to connect with a much bigger strategic picture.

That is exactly why I believe relationships matter so much in this business.

Building Something Beyond the Transaction

When I first entered commodity trading, I was focused mainly on understanding transactions — buyers, sellers, products, prices, procedures and logistics.

Five years later, my perspective has changed.

I still care about the transaction.

But I am increasingly interested in what can happen around and beyond the transaction.

Can a commodity relationship lead to a strategic partnership?

Can a supply relationship create an investment opportunity?

Can Chinese industrial capabilities connect with international resources?

Can the right people come together to build something that has a longer-term purpose?

These are the questions that are shaping the next stage of my journey.

And that is why Michael and Hary are important to me.

We are not simply three people working on individual deals.

We are building a team around a shared strategic direction.

The Journey Continues

Our China Strategic Team is still evolving.

There will be opportunities that work, and opportunities that do not.

There will be projects that require more time, more due diligence and more conversations before they become executable.

That is part of building something real.

For me, the most exciting part is not knowing exactly where this journey will end.

It is seeing what can happen when relationships, experience, resources and ideas come together at the right time.

My commodities journey began with a need to find capital for a sustainability business.

Five years later, it has taken me into international commodity trading, strategic sourcing, China, investment opportunities and a team of people with very different experiences.