Houlin Zhao was elected Deputy Secretary-General at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2006 and took office on 1 January 2007.

Born on 7 March 1950 in Jiangsu (China), Houlin Zhao graduated from Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications in 1975. Between 1979 and 1980, he studied as a visiting scholar in Switzerland. He joined the University of Essex (United Kingdom) in 1984, where he obtained a Master of Science degree in Telematics in 1985.

From 1999 to 2006, Houlin Zhao served as Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB). In his two terms as Director of TSB, he introduced effective and efficient measures to improve ITU's standards environment and strengthened its promotion. He also enhanced the strategic partnership between Member States and Sector Members, while initiating and maintaining good relationships with industry members. Under his leadership, ITU-T facilitated international cooperation with other standards development organizations and forums and helped bridge the standardization gap between the developing and developed countries.

From 1975 to 1986, Houlin Zhao worked as an engineer in the Designing Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications of China. He took an active part in his country's experts meetings on national telecommunication standards as well as in various national projects. He received a prize in 1985 for his science and technology achievements in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. Between 1982 and 1983, he participated in CCITT Study Group meetings as a Chinese delegate. He published a number of technical articles in several Chinese magazines.

Houlin Zhao joined the CCITT Secretariat (now TSB) in 1986. He was Engineer/Counsellor between 1986 and 1998. He was designated as CCITT Coordinator for the cooperation with ISO, IEC and ISO/IEC JTC 1 in 1989.

Currently, he is a “visiting Professor” at a number of well-known universities in China.