Director of Enterprise Development, Ant Financial & CEO, Tianjin Climate Change | Alumna of the University of Cambridge and Cardiff University
Weiwei Kou works for Ant Financial Services Group, as Director of Enterprise Development in the Department of Investment and Enterprise Development. She is responsible for managing the enterprises invested in by Ant Financial. In January 2018, Ant Financial completed a strategic investment in Tianjin Climate Exchange (TCX). In April of the same year, Weiwei was appointed CEO to TCX. Environmental protection has always been an area of interest for Weiwei. She started her career in the sector in 2007 when she joined the European Climate Exchange. Since then, she has devoted herself to improving people’s lives by engaging with issues caused by climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Weiwei is one of the pioneers of China’s green finance sector. She served as Director of Trading and Vice President in several well-known carbon asset management companies. During her time in the carbon trading industry, Weiwei assisted clients, including British Petroleum (BP), Gazprom, BNP Paribas, JP Morgan and Citibank in their carbon trading between China and Europe, helping them to reduce millions of carbon dioxide emissions. In addition to carbon finance, she has professional experience in areas such as natural resource assessment and impact investment. Weiwei works to promote the application of digital technology and the use of new solutions empowered by blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and the Internet of Things in the field of sustainable development. She is committed to bringing change to the areas of green finance, industrial energy saving, transportation, agriculture and poverty alleviation.
Her experience in the UK considerably improved Weiwei’s knowledge in the global sustainable development sector and helped her to become a leader in this field. Upon returning to China, she became an active volunteer. She served as a Chinese ambassador of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a charity officer of the Oxbridge Alumni Association in Beijing. She also works as a mentor at Lean In China for Chinese female undergraduates. Weiwei wants to bring about positive change in the areas of environmental protection, poverty alleviation and gender equality to society.