Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin is Distinguished Professor and Charles de Gaulle Chair in Global Leadership at CEIBS. He served as Prime Minister of France (2002 to 2005) and Vice President of the French Senate (2011 to 2014). A long-time statesman, he has also held prominent positions as President of the Region Poitou-Charentes, Member of the European Parliament, and French Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Commerce and Craft. He led reforms in various areas such as pensions, decentralization and health insurance.

In 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy appointed him President of the Republic’s Personal Representative for Francophony. Active on the international stage he has made several visits to China. He is also Chairman of the annual French Chinese seminar of the Comité France Chine and of the Fondation pour la Prospective et l’Innovation. In early 2018 he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron as Special Representative of the French Government for China.

He is Grand Officier de la Légion d’honneur and Grand-Croix de l’ordre national du Mérite. He is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP).