Stephen A. Orlins (born 1950) has been president of the

National Committee on United States–China Relations The National Committee on United States China Relations (NCUSCR) is a nonprofit organization and advisory body founded in 1966 to encourage understanding and cooperation between the United States and China. Since 1966, the committee has conducte ...

since May 1, 2005. Prior to this, Orlins was the managing director of The Carlyle Group Asia, one of Asia’s largest (USD 750M) private equity funds. He was also chairman of Taiwan Broadband Communications (TBC) and senior advisor to AEA Investors Inc., a New York based

leveraged buyout A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...

firm, with responsibility for AEA’s business activities throughout Asia.

Education

Orlins graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1972 and Harvard Law School in 1976. He speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Career

From 1976 to 1979, Orlins served in the Office of the Legal Advisor of the United States Department of State, first in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Political-Military Affairs and then for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. While in that office, he was a member of the legal team that helped establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. From 1983 to 1991, Orlins was with the investment banking firm of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, a ...

where he was a Managing Director from 1985 to 1991. From 1987 to 1990, he served as President of Lehman Brothers Asia. Based in Hong Kong, he supervised over 150 professionals with offices in Hong Kong, Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Manila and Singapore. Earlier in his career, Orlins practiced law with

Coudert Brothers Coudert Brothers LLP was a New York City, New York-based law firm with a strong international outlook that practiced from 1853 until its dissolution in 2006. History The firm was established in 1853 in New York by three sons of Charles Coudert Sr ...

and

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world. ...

in New York, Hong Kong, and Beijing. In 1992 was the Democratic nominee for the United States Congress in

New York's 3rd congressional district New York's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in the State of New York. It is represented by Democrat Tom Suozzi, who has been in office since 2017. In the 2022 election, Rep ...

. Orlins is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In July 2022, Orlins helped found a group of U.S. business and policy leaders who share the goal of cohesively engaging with China in order to improve U.S.-China relations.

References

Fox Business: Stephen Orlins discusses President Trump’s tweet on creating a new trade deal with China, May 23, 2018.

"China now a 'central force'," China Daily, 2018 March 30.

Harvard College China Forum: Welcoming Ceremony, 2017.

New York Institute of Technology Graduation, 2012.

External links

National Committee on US-China Relations.

Schwarzman Scholars Academic Advisory Council.

Harvard College China Forum Advisors. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orlins, Stephen 1950 births Living people Harvard Law School alumni Harvard College alumni Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people