Houlin Zhao

Houlin Zhao (; born 7 March 1950) is a Chinese engineer who served as the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) from 2015 to 2022. He was first elected at the 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference in Busan, and re-elected at the 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai. The ITU is the specialized United Nations Agency for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), working on promotion, collaboration, and standardization.

Background Zhao was born on 7 March 1950 in Gaoyou, Yangzhou in Jiangsu province. 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. He is married and has one son and two grandchildren. He is fluent in three of the official UN languages – English, French and Chinese.

Before joining ITU, Zhao served as an engineer in the Design Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of China, taking an active role in his country's expert meetings on telecommunication standards and national plans, as well as participating in ITU's technical Study Group meetings as a Chinese delegate. He 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.

During his term of office, he also spearheaded the introduction of new efficiency measures to improve ITU's standards-making environment and strengthen its promotion.

Addressing the conference after the vote, Zhao told some 2,000 conference participants from around the world that he would do his best to "fulfil ITU's mission, and, through our close cooperation, ensure ITU delivers services to the global telecommunication and information society at the highest level of excellence."

According to a pre-election interview with ITU News, Zhao's top priorities as ITU's Secretary-General are: Its membership, effectiveness and ICT promotion.