Chao has a PhD in law and joined Thomas Miller in 1994. Since 1996 she has been based at Thomas Miller Americas, New Jersey. She is now in London as Legal Director, where she is responsible for giving general legal advice, the legal aspects of P&I Club documentation and for the legal aspects of cover for Members' contractual arrangements. She continues to be responsible for environmental issues and the Environmental Encyclopaedia. Chao speaks Mandarin, Shanghainese and French.