Biography
James Zhan chairs the executive board of the World Investment Conference of WAIPA and co-chairs the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones. He is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, a global programme in partnership with all major stock exchanges worldwide. He also established the World Investment Forum in 2008, now a prominent global platform.
James serves on the editorial advisory board of the Financial Times’ fDi magazine, and the Advisory Council of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
He is a senior research associate at Oxford University. He also holds several advisory positions at leading academic institutions, including Oxford University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Fribourg University.
James has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters on investment, trade, technology, and sustainable finance. Additionally, he has led the preparation of over 350 publications and substantive reports of the United Nations.
Past experience
| 2023-24 | Chief Advisor to the Secretary-General at the United Nations Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) |
| 2016-24 | Chairman, Governing Board of UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative |
| 2009-23 | Senior Director of Investment and Enterprise UNCTAD, and the Chief Editor of the UN World Investment Report and the Transnational Corporations journal |
| 2006-08 | Director, Investment Polic and Capacity Building Branch at UNCTAD |
| 2003-06 | Chief, International Investment and Technology Treaties Program, UNCTAD |