Geoffrey William "Geoff" Raby (born September 1953 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

) is an Australian economist and diplomat. He served as the Australian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China from February 2007 until August 2011. He is now the chairman and CEO of Geoff Raby and Associates, a Beijing-based business advisory firm. Raby currently sits on the board of an Australian subsidiary of Chinese state-run Yanzhou Coal Mining Company. Raby was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) in the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to Australia-China relations through senior diplomatic roles, and to multilateral trade policy development".

Biography

Education and public career

Raby attended

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

and graduated with bachelor's degree (Honours), a master's degree and a PhD in economics. He worked for the

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...

in several positions as head of the Chinese Embassy's economics division (1986–1991), head of the Northeast Asia Analytical Unit (1991–1993), First Assistant Secretary, Trade Negotiations Division (1995–1998), Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

(1998–2001) and First Assistant Secretary, International Organisations and Legal Division (2001–2002), Ambassador to the

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy , economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the success of Association of Southeast Asia ...

forum (2002–2004), and a Deputy Secretary of the Department (2002–2006). While based in Beijing from 1986 to 1991, he worked with

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

, who served as Australia's Prime Minister and later Minister for Foreign Affairs while Raby was Ambassador to China. He published a book concerning Australian economic history in 1996 entitled ''Making rural Australia: an economic history of technical and institutional creativity, 1788–1860''.

Career in the private sector

Since retiring as Ambassador to China, Raby has founded the consulting firm Geoff Raby & Associates, a business advisory firm promoting successful business operations that span national borders, and working to influence both public and private policy makers. His client list includes

Queensland Investment Corporation QIC (Queensland Investment Corporation) is a Government owned investment company owned by the Queensland Government. It was founded on 1 July 1991 pursuant to the ''Queensland Investment Corporation Act 1991'' to serve the long-term investment ...

., Raby was appointed as the Beijing-based Executive Director of Riverstone Advisory Pty Ltd,Riverstone Advisory (2011)
Dr. Geoff Raby Appointment
. Retrieved 26 August 2011. an adviser to law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth and co-chair of the firm's China practice,Corrs Chambers Westgarth (2011)
Outgoing Ambassador to China, Dr Geoff Raby appointed as Co-Chair of Corrs’ China practice
Retrieved 26 August 2011. and a Vice-Chancellor's Professorial Fellow at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

.Monash University (2011)
Former Australian Ambassador appointed
. Retrieved 26 August 2011. OceanaGold, and SmartTrans Holdings Ltd. He is also a senior advisor to strategic communications firm Kreab Gavin Anderson.Business Spectator (2011)
SmartTrans board changes
Retrieved 26 August 2011.

References

External links

Geoff Raby & Associates homepageCorrs Chambers Westgarth profile

"No Chinese walls in Raby's new world"
''Australian Financial Review'', 15 September 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Raby, Geoff 1953 births Living people Ambassadors of Australia to China Ambassadors of Australia to Mongolia Australian economists La Trobe University alumni Academic staff of Monash University Ambassadors of Australia for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Permanent representatives of Australia to the World Trade Organization Public servants from Melbourne Australian expatriates in China Officers of the Order of Australia