Francesca Ridout 薛雅轩

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT FRANCESCA RIDOUT 薛雅轩

Francesca is a Chinese law specialist with expertise in sanctions, corporate intelligence, pre-transactional due diligence, and cross-border direct investment, particularly in the renewables space.Francesca has spent much of her career focusing on large-scale infrastructure projects undertaken in the Asia Pacific region and the UK, working within OEM project management teams, as well as investigating sanctions and broader regulatory compliance issues as a third-party consultant. Francesca spent four years living and working in mainland China (including a year in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region), where she worked for a German automotive company’s EV battery localization project and completed her LL.M. Chinese Law.Francesca has led multi-jurisdictional human and open-source intelligence investigations into significant energy and infrastructure projects worldwide, particularly pre-transactional due diligence into Chinese partners on Belt and Road Initiative mega projects. She has also led substantial investigations into infrastructure projects to mitigate national security risk under the UK’s National Security and Investment Act 2021.More recently, Francesca has been working directly with c-suites across the renewable energy sector – particularly in offshore wind – to identify and support on FDI opportunities in the UK on behalf of His Majesty’s Government (‘HMG’). With the Department for International Trade (‘DIT’), Francesca has project managed inward direct investment into UK offshore wind farms (fixed and floating) and associated supply chain facilities. She also supported HMG, and Welsh and Scottish Governments in the design and articulation of their respective floating offshore wind offers. Francesca has been directly involved in the design and implementation of the UK Contracts for Difference Scheme, as well as various funding schemes to support the expansion of renewables projects worldwide.Francesca is currently supporting multinational enterprises in the energy and technology sectors as they navigate the complex sanctions landscape worldwide, with a particular focus on US and UK sanctions on China.