HONG KONG — Ruder Finn Asia has elevated Charles Lankester to the newly-created role of Greater Bay Area (GBA) managing director, in addition to his existing roles of EVP, global reputation and Hong Kong MD.

While the role does not include P&L oversight of Ruder Finn's additional GBA offices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, it will see Lankester create a unified client capability and resource across the fast-growing Greater Bay Area Southern China sub-region.

“Establishing a combined talent and resource capability makes perfect sense given the current and future level of business activity in the GBA,” said Lankester in Hong Kong. “Ruder Finn’s mission is clear: help our Greater Bay Area clients win. Win in business. Win in reputation. Win in talent."

The GBA consists of nine cities in Southern China including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Macau and Hong Kong — where many of China's most innovative tech companies are headquartered, including Huawei, ZTE, DJI and Tencent. 

"[Lankester] is the ideal candidate to build a seamless resource amongst our strong local teams and ensure we deliver the best in client results and service," said Ruder Finn Asia CEO Elan Shou. "The GBA’s areas of growth are also Ruder Finn’s areas of strength: financial services, technology and innovation, green energy and health and tourism. Ruder Finn already represents leading Chinese and global clients and under Charles’ GBA leadership, we expect this portfolio to increase significantly."

Lankester joined Ruder Finn almost a decade ago, following a lengthy career with Edelman and Weber Shandwick.