The Directorate of Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Industrial Development oversees the Organization’s normative contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, in addition to supporting and advancing the application of strategies and interventions for sustainable industrial development in the environment, energy, and SME areas. Advancing competitiveness and job creation are also key impact dimensions for the Directorate, in addition to the advancement of digitalization and artificial intelligence. Mr Zou is also the Director General’s Special Representative for the G77 and China. 

At UNIDO since 2013, Zou is the architect of UNIDO’s Programme for Country Partnership and has guided the Organization’s field and strategic engagements.

Before joining UNIDO, he performed multiple roles, including as Deputy Director General of International Department at the Chinese Ministry of Finance, Alternate to the Chinese Executive Director at the World Bank, and Global Environmental Facility Operational Focal Point for China.

Zou holds a Ph.D. in Economics from China’s Ministry of Finance Graduate School, Research Institute for Fiscal Science. 

Mr. Zou holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the Graduate School of Research Institute for Fiscal Science of the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Beijing, China and a master’s degrees in public policy and management from Manchester University in the UK, and in Political Science from the Graduate School of Peking University, Beijing, China.