The executive meeting of ICOLD's 84th annual conference was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 20, with participation from more than 1,200 delegates from 70 countries and regions. As agreed upon by delegates of member states through a vote at an executive meeting, Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of POWERCHINA Limited, was elected as vice-president of the ICOLD with a mandate between 2016 and 2019.
Founded in 1928 with 90 national committees, the ICOLD is the most influential international organization in dam engineering. Its board of directors consists of one president, one secretary-general and six vice-presidents, with the five vice-presidents filled by Europe (two seats), Asia-Pacific, America and Africa; the sixth position is open for all. The term for the president and vice-president is three years with the secretary-general position holding an exception. Zhou was elected as the non-regional vice-president.
POWERCHINA boasts world-class planning, design and construction management, as well as technology in water and hydropower projects. The capability and achievement of its integrated water and hydropower building (planning, design and construction) both rank first in the world. POWERCHINA is not only a leading company in China's water and hydropower sector, but also an outstanding brand with popularity around the world.
As the chief engineer of POWERCHINA Limited and the deputy secretary-general of CHINCOLD, Zhou has been dedicated to consultancy on hydropower project design for 35 years. He holds qualifications and titles of registered investor (consultant) and registered civil engineer, and is a senior expert in hydropower planning and design. Zhou has made important contributions to such hydropower projects as Longtan and Dachaoshan. In addition, he has organized research on vital hydropower engineering subjects and key technologies, as well as has attained a number of national, provincial and ministerial awards, helping to push forward China's hydropower engineering technologies.
The election of Zhou as a vice-president of ICOLD will help China know and implement further international standards and rules in the water and hydropower sector; it will also promote the engineering technological standards of China going global and allow more and better sharing of Chinese technologies and experience in the water and hydropower industry with the world in an effort to obtain a greater right of speech on the international stage for Chinese enterprises and the Chinese water and hydropower industry.
