14 Facts About Houlin Zhao

Houlin Zhao is a Chinese engineer who served as the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union from 2015 to 2022.

Houlin Zhao was first elected at the 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, and re-elected at the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai.

Houlin Zhao graduated from the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and holds a Master of Science degree in Telematics from the University of Essex, UK.

Houlin Zhao is married and has one son and two grandchildren.

From 1986 to 1992, Houlin Zhao was a senior staff member in what was then the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee, and from 1993 to 1998 in ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, TSB.

Houlin Zhao contributed seminal articles to a number of prestigious Chinese technical publications, and in 1985 was awarded a prize for his achievements in science and technology with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

Houlin Zhao was elected Director of ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau in Minneapolis, USA in 1998 and re-elected for a second term in Marrakech, Morocco in 2002.

Houlin Zhao enhanced the strategic partnership between Member States and Sector Members, while initiating and maintaining good relationships with industry members.

Houlin Zhao was elected ITU Deputy Secretary-General at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, in 2006, and was re-elected for a second four-year term at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2010.

Houlin Zhao oversaw the intersectoral coordination of projects and programmes on areas such as the World Summit on the Information Society process, climate change and emergency telecommunications, and accessibility for persons with disabilities.

Houlin Zhao supervised membership reform with the introduction of academic institutions to ITU's membership, implemented 'market price' and 'membership priorities'.

Houlin Zhao led an ITU delegation to participate in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Brazil, in June 2012.

Mr Houlin Zhao was elected ITU Secretary-General on 23 October 2014.

At the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai, Houlin Zhao was reelected for a second term at Secretary-General.