Senior Counsel, Covington & Burling LLP
Senior Fellow, International Center for Law & Religion Studies
General Counsel, G20 Interfaith Forum

Tim Stratford serves as senior counsel at Covington & Burling LLP and was managing partner in the firm’s Beijing office from 2010-2022. He also serves as General Counsel for the G20 Interfaith Forum Association. Mr. Stratford’s law practice has focused on advising international clients operating in China and assisting Chinese companies seeking to expand globally. In his former position as Assistant United States Trade Representative, Mr. Stratford was responsible for the U.S. government’s trade negotiations with China.

Except for the five years he spent in Washington at USTR (2005-2010), Mr. Stratford lived and worked continuously in the greater China region from 1982-2023, including as minister-counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and as general counsel for General Motors China operations. Mr. Stratford has served three terms as chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China — in 2000, 2001, and 2019. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Harvard Law School and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.