Under Marjorie Yang’s leadership, Esquel Group has transformed from one of the world’s largest textile and apparel manufacturers into a technology-driven innovation company.
As Chairman of Esquel Group, Yang has led the company through profound shifts in global trade, supply chains and geopolitics. At a time when manufacturers have found themselves caught between rising protectionism, technological disruption and growing scrutiny over environmental standards, she has consistently argued that resilience comes not from retreating from globalisation, but from investing in innovation. Esquel’s advances in waterless dyeing, circular production systems and research-led manufacturing reflect her belief that industries often dismissed as traditional can become laboratories for the technologies of the future.
In 2020, following sanctions and the loss of longstanding international customers over the company’s use of Xinjiang cotton, Yang chose transformation over concession. Esquel accelerated investment in R&D, expanded its own consumer brands, pioneered new production technologies and deepened its commitment to industrial innovation. Rather than allowing geopolitical headwinds to define the company’s future, she used them to rethink how a global manufacturer creates competitive advantage.
Today, Yang is among Asia’s most influential voices on regional economic integration, sustainable development and the future of international trade. As Hong Kong’s representative to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), she plays a leading role in shaping conversations around the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, digital trade, regulatory convergence and supply chain connectivity. As Co-Chair of ABAC’s Connectivity Working Group, she has championed practical reforms that help businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, participate more fully in an increasingly digital global economy.
Marjorie Yang serves on the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce, the High-Level Steering Committee of the UN Global Compact Action Platform on Sustainable Infrastructure for the Belt and Road Initiative, the Advisory Council of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, and the Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers on Economic Advancement and Sustainability in Hong Kong.
She advises leading institutions including Harvard University, Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, the University of Hong Kong and Guilin Tourism University, while previously serving for nine years as Chairperson of the Steering Committee of CoolThink@JC, an initiative that equips young students with computational thinking skills. She is also an Independent Non-executive Director of Budweiser Brewing Company APAC and Meituan, bringing decades of leadership experience to businesses operating across rapidly evolving consumer markets.
