Zhihong joined the GEF Secretariat in 2004 as Senior Climate Change Specialist. His current responsibilities include development and implementation of GEF strategies and management of the GEF portfolio in climate change mitigation.

Prior to joining the GEF Secretariat, Zhihong served as Chief Technical Advisor on behalf of UNIDO to oversee the implementation of GEF-funded energy efficiency projects in China. Before that, he had worked on energy, environment, and climate change projects with the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations, the European Commission, as well as national governments, non-governmental organizations, and academia. His country experience in advising governments and developing and implementing projects includes China, India, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Vietnam.

Zhihong started his professional career in the energy sector at the World Bank in the early 1990s. He had participated in various sector and policy work as well as operations in household energy, rural electrification, energy efficiency, energy demand analysis, and power sector reforms. He was a key member of the Bank teams to develop the first Bank rural energy policy and to conduct the first comprehensive study on issues and options on greenhouse gas emissions control in China.

He holds a Ph.D. in Energy Management and Policy from the University of Pennsylvania.