Pascal Coppens is a leading China expert, trend watcher, and authority on innovation, technology, and emerging business trends. Since 1996, he has spent two decades in China and Silicon Valley, building high-tech ventures and working alongside hundreds of Chinese engineers and innovators. Combining the perspective of a sinologist with hands-on entrepreneurial experience, he is today a sought-after keynote speaker and the author of three books on China’s innovation and global impact. He delivers close to 100 keynote speeches per year, many to Fortune 500 companies, reaching thousands of Western executives annually.
Pascal holds a master’s degree in Eastern Languages and Cultures from the University of Ghent and a bachelor’s in business engineering from the Free University of Brussels. His China journey began in 1996 as a student of Chinese at the Capital University of Economics in Beijing. In 1999, he was selected by the European Commission for the EU-China Junior Managers Training Program. He then worked for Alcatel Shanghai-Bell in China and later on Wind River Systems, co-founded Polycore Software in Silicon Valley, returned to Shanghai to help European high-tech SMEs enter Asian markets, and in 2010 founded the startup Letsface, pioneering the first offline digital community platform for premium global brands in China.
After two decades abroad, Pascal returned to Belgium in 2017. Today he is a partner at the inspiration platform nexxworks and an international keynote speaker specialising in Chinese innovation, leadership, and international business. He still visits China multiple times per year and regularly leads executive tours to China, giving business leaders firsthand exposure to Chinese innovation ecosystems.
Pascal is the author of China’s New Normal (2019), Can We Trust China? (2022), and China’s Next Miracle (2026). His books are bestsellers in the Benelux, and China’s Next Miracle has been featured by China News Service and China Daily. Pascal is also a recognised voice on YouTube and LinkedIn and frequently appears as a guest on news media platforms. He hosts two popular podcasts on China and technology and publishes a well-read monthly newsletter on Chinese innovation.
Key Takeaways
1) Audiences leave Pascal’s keynotes with a fundamentally different lens on China, not the geopolitical threat narrative, but a strategic and actionable understanding of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystem. Specifically, they gain:
2) A wake-up call grounded in reality. China is no longer copying the West; it is setting the standards. Audiences understand exactly which sectors are being disrupted next and why the window to respond is narrowing.
3) The inverted innovation model explained. A clear, memorable framework for why Chinese companies like BYD, DeepSeek, and Huawei move faster than Western competitors, and the specific mindset shift leaders need to match them.
4) Strategic clarity to replace fear and noise. A new perspective that cuts through the geopolitical headlines and gives audiences the confidence to engage with China as an opportunity, not just a risk.
5) Concrete lessons they can apply immediately. Practical strategies drawn from 20 years of firsthand experience on the ground, offering leaders a view on China’s bottom-up startup ecosystem that they can translate into their own organisations, teams, and business models.
