The United Nations aviation body's governing council elected Fang Liu, a veteran of China's aviation authority, as its new secretary general. She succeeds Raymond Benjamin of France, who
has held the position for two consecutive terms since 2009. Liu will start her three-year term on August 1, 2015.
She becomes the first woman to hold the position in the agency's 70-year history of the United Nations specialized agency for civil aviation, and only the second ICAO secretary general from an
Asia Pacific country.
As the director of ICAO’s Bureau of Administration and Services since 2007, Liu has led many improvement initiatives in ICAO in recent years and served as the chairperson of some of its most
important internal committees.
First female chief in ICAO history
She has also served as chairperson of the Security Advisory Group and vice-chairperson of the Security Management Team for all UN Organizations in Canada.
From 1987 to 2007, Liu held a series of senior positions at the Civil Aviation Administration of China's international affairs department, which works with ICAO, including legal counsel, deputy
director, director and deputy director general in the Department of International Affairs and Cooperation of the CAAC. She also served for four years as chair of the Aviation Group for the
region’s premier forum on Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
Liu holds a PhD in international law from Wuhan University, and has an extensive educational background in the areas of both international air and space law.
Nol van Fenema
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