China IIT: What Schools Need to Know

Mathias is the CFO/COO of the International School of Beijing. ISB was the first international school in Beijing and today is recognized as a leading learning community with over 1,800 students. In its earliest stages, our school was made up of eight students and two certified teachers in the hallway of a diplomatic apartment compound. In 1980, amid the growth of other diplomatic communities, the U.S. Embassy joined with the British, Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand embassies and formally founded ISB.

Having arrived in China in 1986, traveling extensively to almost all provinces and being Board member in 16 Sino-Foreign Joint Venture companies along the way, Mathias is one of few foreigners having a first hand account of China’s entire opening up period. Mathias has spent a combined 30 years in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou,

Besides his day to day job, Mathias is a National Chair of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China. Mathias is married to Lin and has two young boys.

Mathias has previously been the Head of Danske Bank’s activities in Asia, been lead Senior Investment Manager for the Danish Sovereign Wealth Fund IFU in China and was a founding manager of CSR Capital A/S - a Social Responsible Investment Fund started by the Holch Povlsen Family.

Immediately before joining ISB, Mathias was the General Manager for Europe for TuSimple AI, a U.S. NASDAQ listed company leading the drive for fully-autonomous driving solutions for the logistic industry. TuSimple has the first and only commercial ready “driver out” level 4 (SAE) trucks, capable of self-driving from depot-depot and already have operations doing so every day for its customers.

Prior to TuSimple, Mathias was Country Manager for Danske Bank China - the largest bank in Denmark and second largest in the Nordic region. As Chief Representative, Mathias’ responsibilities included managing the bank’s relationships in China across financial institutions and the regulators, as well as the bank’s clients in the region. Mathias was also responsible for leading and executing Danske Bank’s strategy in Greater China.

Prior to Danske Bank, Mathias was a Senior Investment Manager for IFU (Investment Fund for Developing Countries), the Danish sovereign investment fund, based in Shanghai working out of the organization’s Greater China Regional Office. Mathias was responsible for IFU’s investments in Greater China and Mongolia.

Before joining IFU, Mathias was the Chief Representative of CSR Capital, of which he was one of the founding members. The fund was focused on SRI investments in China, Africa, India, and Denmark and backed by the founder of Bestseller Group, a family-owned clothing company based in Denmark with 100,000 employees worldwide.

Mathias graduated from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) with a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Politics (QS Ranking #16) and has previously studied at Peking University, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen University, and AVT Business School in Copenhagen for various certificates and executive training.

Over his career, Mathias has sat on the boards of 16 companies, four of which were Sino-Foreign Joint-Ventures where he also acted as Vice Chairman. He is currently the National Chair of the Danish Chamber of Commerce China (DCCC).