AUSTRALIA / AGILITYPR.NEWS / February 23, 2021 / International engineering, design and advisory company, Aurecon has announced the appointment of Catherine Luo as Principal, Advisory, China effective 22 February 2021. Catherine will be based in Shanghai.

As Aurecon continues to invest in its Advisory business in Asia, Catherine will lead operations in Mainland China, working closely with the company’s Hong Kong and Singapore teams, as well as its other offices across Asia. Catherine reports to Stéphanie Groen, Director, Coastal & Climate Change Asia and Advisory Lead Asia, at Aurecon.

Infrastructure investment and development has long been the cornerstone of economic growth in China. As the country transforms to a digital economy driven by high technology – one that is accelerated with the post-COVID-19 recovery – the government has announced its plan to develop ‘New Infrastructure’. 

This coupled with the country’s vision to be carbon neutral by 2060 gives future infrastructure development a strong emphasis on ‘sustainability’ and ‘digitalisation’. The government will continue to invest further in areas such as 5G, UHV, intercity high-speed railway and urban rail transit, new energy vehicle charging piles, data centres, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, energy reduction, the use of environmentally friendly materials, nature-based engineering solutions, and biodiversity preservation.

Alongside this, the government is promoting public-private partnership (PPP) initiatives with 400 new projects added in the first seven months of 2020 and over 7,000 current projects registered on the national monitoring platform.

“At Aurecon, we are committed to delivering innovative solutions that will help our clients develop sustainable and resilient cities. Catherine’s international experience and in-market knowledge in integrated urban planning, project management and business advisory will be invaluable as she works closely with our Advisory teams based in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand as well as our business leaders across Greater China and South East Asia to grow our Advisory portfolio,” said Stephane Asselin, Aurecon’s Chief Executive for Asia. “I am looking forward to Catherine partnering with our clients in Mainland China to drive maximum value on their existing projects as well as identify and progress new development opportunities locally and internationally.”

About Catherine Luo, Principal, Advisory, Shanghai

Catherine is a highly experienced leader in the fields of urban planning and project management. She combines an ability for unconventional thinking with a sharp commercial mind to help clients give life to even the most complex and innovative development ideas. In her role as Principal for Advisory in Mainland China, she will drive client engagement strategies, directly manage key client relationships, and contribute to building a diverse team at the fast-growing Aurecon office in Shanghai.

“I am excited to join a company like Aurecon, which takes an innovative and future-focused approach to building the towns and cities of tomorrow. I am looking forward to collaborating with clients to identify, assess and develop investment opportunities locally and internationally,” she said. “With Aurecon’s design-led thinking approach and innovative technology and engineering solutions, I am confident that local Chinese clients will be able to optimise their investments and deliver resilient infrastructure projects that will drive sustainability, innovation, efficiencies and business returns.”

Catherine joins Aurecon from PwC China, where she worked on infrastructure-led integrated planning, with a focus on developing project opportunities for clients. These projects include a high-speed railway district positioning study and developing an infrastructure plan for a Tier 1 and Tier 2 city in Mainland China respectively.

Prior to this, she worked at Atkins where she played a leading role in a number of the company’s large infrastructure-led urban development projects, including Colombo Port City Master Plan Review, Colombo Port City Marina Market and Technical Feasibility Studies, Hambantota Special Economic Zone Study and the Market Study for New City District Development in Cambodia. During the span of her career, she also led the development of strategic project plans for a range of developments across Asia, Africa, and the globe.

Catherine graduated with a MA in Architecture from the Dalian University of Technology in Mainland China before completing an MPhil in Town Planning at University College London in the UK. She has worked in the United Kingdom, Middle East, Sri Lanka, Africa and Mainland China over her 16-year career and speaks both Chinese and English.