James L. McGregor is an American author, journalist and businessman who has lived in China for more than 20 years. He is a senior counselor for APCO Worldwide and a member of the firm’s international advisory council. A professional speaker and CNBC contributor who specializes in China's business, politics and society, he regularly appears in the media to discuss China-related topics. He is the author of the book "One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China" (Simon & Schuster, 2005).[4] He also covered China's indigenous innovation policies in the report "China's Drive for Indigenous Innovation: A Web of Industrial Policies" in 2010. He is the former CEO of Dow Jones & Company in China and Wall Street Journal bureau chief in China and Taiwan.
James McGregor was born September 18, 1953 in Duluth,Minnesota. He is one of nine children. After he graduated from high school in 1971, McGregor enlisted in the US Army and was sent to Vietnam as an infantry soldier. That experience sparked his interest in Asia and led to him becoming a journalist.
After returning from Vietnam, McGregor graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism, and began his career as a police reporter in Los Angeles for Copley Newspapers. In 1985, while he was covering Capitol Hill for Knight Ridder Newspapers, he took a 6-week backpacking trip through China to explore whether to focus his journalism career on China. Following his trip, he began taking Mandarin lessons, and he and his wife Catherine Grady McGregor sold most of their possessions and moved to Taiwan with two suitcases each in 1987.
From 1987 to 1990 McGregor served as The Wall Street Journal's bureau chief in Taiwan, and from 1990 to 1994 as the paper’s bureau chief in Mainland China. From 1994 to 2000, McGregor was chief executive of Dow Jones & Company in China, and he also became a vice-president in the Dow Jones International Group. After leaving Dow Jones, McGregor was China managing partner for GIV Venture Partners, a $140 million venture capital fund specializing in the Chinese Internet and technology outsourcing.
In 1996, McGregor was elected as chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He also served for a decade as a governor of that organization.
In 2005, McGregor published the book “One Billion Customers: Lessons from the Front Lines of Doing Business in China.” The book has been published in seven languages. McGregor is a member of the Atlantic Council; Council on Foreign Relations; National Committee on US-China Relations; International Council of the Asia Society; and serves on a variety of China-related advisory boards, including the US-China Education Trust.
He and his family live in Beijing.