James Chau is the National UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador for China, the first person to be named to this position on the Chinese Mainland. He has lived in Beijing for six years, in Hong Kong for three years and for his first 22 years in London where he was born in December 1977 to parents from Hong Kong and Indonesia.

His news and business programmes are watched in more than 80 countries on China Central Television’s English channel, CCTV-9. He also fronts ‘World Insight’, his own show that brings an in-depth look at the main headline stories.

On and off screen, James partners with the United Nations in fighting stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV and he has travelled through India, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Norway and the United States. He has visited anonymous testing centres, counselling services, local communities and methadone clinics to listen, learn and to help bring a new awareness.

He was amongst 40 health activists named to the inaugural Young Leaders Summit at Google, California and took part in the follow-up Oslo meeting hosted by HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway. He continues his involvement as a working group member of the aids2031 initiative for which he co-authoured the report ‘Asian Economies in Rapid Transition: HIV Now and through 2031’ that was launched at the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific in Bali, Indonesia. He is a Media Leader of the World Economic Forum.

James first appeared on television on a British daytime children’s show ‘Splash’ after auditioning for Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘The Last Emperor’. In 2004, the ‘Beijing Times’ featured him as its front cover special on the Asian Cup football final.

He graduated from Cambridge University and is a Freeman of the City of London.