Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 2007, Ambassador Zukang Sha is a distinguished Chinese diplomat and scholar of international politics, security, arms control, and international affairs. Born on 24 September 1947 in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, he graduated from Nanjing University in 1970 and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the same year. From 1971 to 1992, he held diplomatic and professional positions at the Chinese Embassies in the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, and India, as well as in the Department of International Organizations and Law of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations. Between 1992 and 2007, he held a series of senior positions, including Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Organizations and Law, Ambassador for Disarmament Affairs at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Director-General of the Department of Arms Control and Disarmament, and Ambassador and Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. In July 1993, while serving as Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Organizations and Law, he was appointed as the Chinese Government Representative and Head of the Chinese Inspection Team in connection with the Yinhe Incident. From 2007 to 2012, he served as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Economic and Social Affairs, and from 2010 to 2012 as Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). He currently serves as Honorary President of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and as a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.