SHANGHAI—Jessica Lee, who has been named chief communications and corporate affairs officer for McDonald's in China, will feature at the Holmes Report's ThinkTank Live conference in Shanghai later this month.

Lee takes on the critical McDonald's role after joining the fastfood giant in 2008 as director of strategic communications for Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. In January 2012, as senior director, her role broadened to media relations and issues management for the Greater China market. In the same year, she took on a dual role as chief to staff to the regional president. She relocates from Singapore to Shanghai.

At the Holmes Report's ThinkTank Live conference in Shanghai on 18 September, Lee will feature on a panel that looks at the importance of influencers versus intermediaries. The panel also features Weber Shandwick China chairman David Liu and AIA group head of corporate affairs Stephen Thomas.

Prior to joining McDonald's, Lee was director of branding and communications at Aviva Asia. Her career also includes senior roles at Standard Chartered, ESPN Star Sports and Burson Marsteller.

The ThinkTank Live conference, which is being co-hosted by The Holmes Report and the China International Public Relations Association, will examine some of the biggest issues facing professional communicators in Asia, and China in particular, with a heavy emphasis on the impact of digital and social media.

Keynote addresses are to be made by Oscar Zhao, founder and chief executive of the Blue Focus Communications Group, and Lord Peter Chadlington, founder and chief executive of international public relations holding company Huntsworth.

The conference precedes the 2013 Asia-Pacific SABRE Awards. For more details, and to register, please click here.  

Blue Focus is the Platinum level sponsor of the event. Other sponsors include multinational agencies Edelman, FleishmanHillard and Weber Shandwick.