James X. Zhan is Chairman of the WIC Executive Board of World Investment Promotion Organization (WAIPA), Chief Advisor to the Chairman of the World Free Zones Organization, Senior Fellow associated with Chatham House, and a member of the fDi Editorial Advisory Board of the Financial Times. He is a leading global expert on trade, investment, business strategy, industrial policy, and sustainable development. With over 30 years of experience, he has advised government and business leaders in more than 130 countries and shaped major international initiatives on investment policy and development strategy. He held senior leadership positions at UNCTAD and founded the UNCTAD World Investment Forum. He was the Founding Chairman of both the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative and the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones. He served as Lead Author of the UN World Investment Report for 15 years. He has published extensively in academic journals and UN publications. He was a research fellow at Oxford University. He has been advisory board member for research centres at the universities of Oxford, Columbia, and Fribourg.