Dr. James Zhan is the Chairman of the WIC Executive Board, World Investment Promotion Organisation (WAIPA, Geneva). He is also the Co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, a global partnership with all major stock exchanges worldwide as members. He is a founding Chair of the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones (GASEZ), representing special zones and parks in over 150 countries.
Concurrently, Dr. Zhan serves as Chief Advisor to the Chairman of the World Free Zones Organization. He is also a senior Fellow associated with the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), and a member of the fDi Editorial Advisory Board of the Financial Times.
Dr. Zhan holds advisory positions at leading academic institutions, including Oxford University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Fribourg University. Previously, he served as academic advisor to centres at Cambridge University and Geneva University, and a Senior Research Associate at Oxford University.
From 2023 to 2024, Dr. Zhan served as the Chief Advisor to the Secretary-General at the United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD). Prior to this, he spent 15 years (2008 to 2023) as Senior Director of Investment and Enterprise at UNCTAD, also serving as Chief Editor of the UN World Investment Report and Transnational Corporation journal.
During his tenure at the United Nations, Dr. Zhan provided strategic policy advice to heads of state, ministers, and parliaments across more than 100 developing and developed countries. He advised and facilitated cabinet strategic meetings of a number of governments. At international level, he facilitated consensus-building processes of many global summits and ministerial conferences, including the G20, BRICS, ACP, APEC, and ASEAN. For example, he drafted and facilitated the negotiations of the G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking in 2016.
He led the formulation of the Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD), a new generation of investment strategies used in over 150 countries and major regional groupings. He also spearheaded the UN efforts to reform the international investment system, including the Reform Package for the International Investment Regime. Additionally, he founded the World Investment Forum in 2008, leading it to become a premier global platform for investment stakeholders.
Dr. Zhan was the Founding Chair of the World Investment for Development Alliance, a coordination mechanism for major international organizations dealing with investment issues – including the World Bank, World Economic Forum, UNCTAD, OECD, UNIDO, ILO, UNWTO, AIB, ITC, and WAIPA. He also co-chaired the Executive Board of the UN Family Business for Sustainable Development Initiative, in collaboration with the Family Business Network International.
His extensive contributions in advisory roles include serving as Chief Strategic Advisor to the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies, and as a member of the Advisory Council of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). He was also a member of the Global Agenda Councils on Advanced Manufacturing (2012-2013) and for Trade & Investment (2014-2018) at the World Economic Forum.
Dr. Zhan has published over 150 journal articles and book chapters on investment, trade, technology, sustainable finance, and industrial strategies. He also led the preparation of more than 300 publications and reports for the United Nations. His expertise is frequently featured in leading global business and economic media, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times, and Bloomberg.