Yichen ZHANG is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of CITIC Capital Holdings Limited. Mr. Zhang began his career on Wall Street in 1987, having joined Greenwich Capital Markets, Bank of Tokyo as Head of Proprietary Trading, and Merrill Lynch as Managing Director of Debt Capital Market for Greater China. In 2000, he joined CITIC Group as the President of CITIC Pacific Communications and Executive Director for CITIC Pacific (now CITIC Limited). He founded CITIC Capital in 2002 and has been involved in all phases of the firm’s development since then. Under his leadership, CITIC Capital led a number of landmark deals, investing in some of China’s leading companies, Alibaba, Sina, Harbin Pharmaceutical, SF Express, AsiaInfo and Focus Media. He is the Chairman of the Board of McDonald's master franchised business in China & Hong Kong. He also sits on the boards of Sina Corporation, Shenhua Group Corporation Limited, Harbin Pharmaceutical, AsiaInfo and SF Express.

Mr. Zhang is a leader in the alternative investment industry. He is a board member of Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), Executive Committee Member and former Chairman of the China Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA). He is also a Vice Chairman in Beijing Private Equity Association (BPEA), Tianjin Private Equity Association, and a Vice Chairman of the PE and Buyout Funds Committee under the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC). 

Mr. Zhang is also a leader in political, economic and social communities. He is a member of the Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Senior Vice Chairman of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a member of the Board of Trustees at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a member of the Foundation Board at the Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum, and a member of the China Economic and Social Council (CESC).

He obtained his degree in Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A strong believer in education, Mr. Zhang has been supporting the Andover Asia Council as its Co-Chairman, Yale Asia Development Council as a Council Member, Dalton Foundation as a Board Member, and Duke Kunshan University as an Advisory Board Member.