Partner · Organisational development
Yong Yan
More than twenty years of senior management inside European pharmaceutical and Chinese medical companies — with a rotation across almost every function there is, from commercial operations to HR, legal, IT, manufacturing and R&D.
Yong spent the bulk of her executive career inside one French pharmaceutical group in China. She describes it as “simple but rich”: simple because it was one company, rich because she moved across nearly every function it had.
The move that shaped her practice was from sales management to head of HR — “a brave attempt based on full trust in me from my boss, a French gentleman who really knows China and Chinese.” She became the company’s youngest executive. Her conclusion has stayed with her: good leadership is not constrained by functions.
She moved to consulting after a Chinese startup CEO told her she should share what she knew. She works on annual engagements rather than reports — standing advisory to a CEO and an HR lead, available when the decision actually arrives. Her clients are mainly biotech and biopharma.
I always advise foreign company directors coming to China to have the mindset that they are going to set up a Chinese X company — not X Company’s Chinese branch.
Why a client renews
“She always understands the business strategy before talking about organisational development, and provides solutions that truly serve the business — rather than focusing on developing tools, as many HR experts do.”
A chief executive explaining why his company has renewed with Yong Yan for several years and widened her scope each time.
What Yong leads
Leads the organisation and operating model practice.
Beyond the firm
- Advisor to CEOs and HR directors of biotech and biopharma companies entering or scaling in China
- Recognised for a sharp, pragmatic working style across European and Chinese management cultures
Publications & appearances
Talk to Yong
Thirty minutes, with a partner — not a salesperson.
Tell us the market, the product and the decision you are facing. If we are not the right firm for it, we will say so.
The other partners
Benoît Raoult
Leads market entry engagements and the firm’s digital and organisational work.
Executive Partner · Co-founderEric Bouteiller
Leads pharmaceutical market access, regulatory strategy and institutional relations.
Partner · Consumer HealthDelphine Yan
Leads the consumer health practice, distributor search and the China market mandates.