Adrian is an energy, innovation policy and trade professional, former EU diplomat and consultant on international sanctions. He spent many years in Asia, he is speaking Mandarin and is author of the book China’s Innovation System: Industrial Policy, Funding Mechanisms and Foreign Investment.

He currently serves as the foreign affairs adviser to the Minister of Energy and Board Member at Electrica Furnizare, one of the largest energy company in the region. He has designed and completed the National Energy Strategy of Romania, the first in the last 17 years. The strategic document aims to consolidate Romania’s  position as a regional provider of energy security.

Previously he served in a similar capacity at the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization. He had also been a European Union diplomat in China and worked several years on trade sanctions regimes for Iran and EU commercial agreement negotiations in S-E Asia.

Since early teens, Adrian has volunteered in and led youth-led NGOs such as the National Students’ Council, the Romanian League of Students Abroad and the C.A.E.S.A.R Foundation. In 2022, Adrian co-founded “Cred în România” (I Believe in Romania) – an NGO dedicated to boosting the confidence in its people, economy and opportunities.

He finalised his B.A. in political science at the NSPSPA Bucharest as Valedictorian, graduated the first M.A. in public policies and European integration at NSPSPA and the second M.A. in international relations and Chinese politics at the Yenching Academy of Peking University. Recently, Adrian obtained his Ph.D. in economics at ASE Bucharest, with a thesis on China’s industrial policy.