Mr. Wu Hongbo was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs on 1 August 2012. A career diplomat, Mr. Wu had been serving, since 2009, as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Federal Republic of Germany. His prior diplomatic postings also included New Zealand, and the Philippines, where he served as China’s Ambassador.
Mr. Wu Hongbo brings to DESA his outstanding coordination and negotiation skills, as well as rich and extensive experience with multilateral organizations and international conferences. From 2006 to 2009, he served as Director-General and later Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. He worked with the Chinese inter-agency coordination mechanism for the Boao Forum for Asia in 2006, the Chinese working group for the implementation mechanism of the UN conventions on environment and development, and the Chinese inter-ministry coordination mechanism for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in 2007.
Years of engagement in issues related to Hong Kong, including as Director and Director-General of the Department of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, and Counselor and later Chief Representative of Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, deepened further Mr. Wu’s substantial experience in dealing with social and economic issues. In Hong Kong, one of the world’s leading international financial centers, Mr. Wu was extensively involved in multilateral consultations, negotiations and conferences on a range of economic and social issues. He was a leading official responsible for handling Hong Kong SAR’s ties with over 30 international organizations and the continued application of over 200 international conventions to Hong Kong SAR.
Mr. Wu graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University and pursued his postgraduate studies at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He was born in May 1952 in Shandong, China. Mr. Wu is married and has a daughter.