William B. Abnett

William B. Abnett, Senior Advisor to The National Bureau of Asian Research, has over 20 years of public and private sector experience in the field of U.S.-China business, economic, and political relations. On April 1, 1992, he founded and continues to operate his own international business consulting company, William B. Abnett & Associates, which specializes in providing services to U.S. and foreign clients doing business with China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. His firm also develops and publishes three versions (simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, and English) of ChinaText, a Chinese-language word processor for the Apple Macintosh.

Before starting his own consulting company, Mr. Abnett served for nearly five years as Executive Director of the Washington State China Relations Council, a private trade association that represents some 125 businesses in America's Northwest. Prior to working at the Council, Mr. Abnett worked in the Reagan White House, where he served as Director for Chinese Affairs in the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Mr. Abnett was responsible for developing and coordinating the Administration's trade policy toward the PRC. As the President's chief China trade negotiator, Mr. Abnett participated in all bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations involving the United States and China. Before working in the White House, Mr. Abnett was a career Foreign Service Officer. He served during 1982-1985 with the American Embassy in Beijing, where he earned a Meritorious Honor Award for his outstanding service as Chief of the Economic Affairs Section. During his career in the U.S. Government, Mr. Abnett was posted to numerous assignments as a political officer and economic officer, in both Washington, D.C. and Asia.

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