Dominic Barton

Speaker at the St. Gallen Symposium

Dominic Barton is the Chair of the Board at Rio Tinto, a role he assumed in 2022, bringing with him over three decades of experience in global business, public policy, and diplomacy. From 2019 to 2021, he served as Canada’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, where he advanced Canadian interests and engagement with one of the country’s largest trading partners. Prior to this, he spent over 30 years at McKinsey & Company, including nine years as Global Managing Partner. Earlier in his career at McKinsey, he served as Chairman in Asia and oversaw the firm’s Korea office. In addition to his corporate and diplomatic service, Mr Barton has held a range of public sector leadership roles, including Chair of Canada’s Advisory Council for Economic Growth and Chair of the International Advisory Committee to the President of South Korea on National Future and Vision. He is an Adjunct Professor at Tsinghua University in China and, since 2019, has served as one of three Conference Chairpersons of the St. Gallen Symposium. Mr Barton holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar.