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![File photo of Zhao Houlin (extreme left) with Bharti Mittal (third from left), chairman of Bharti Airtel from India at the 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain [Xinhua]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/169664173_8.jpg)
File photo of Zhao Houlin (extreme left) with Bharti Mittal (third from left), chairman of Bharti Airtel from India at the 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain [Xinhua]
Zhao, who secured 152 out of 156 ballots, was elected as the first Chinese secretary-general in the 150-year history of ITU. He will take office in January 2015.
The announcement came during the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference held in South Korea’s port city Busan.
“As the newly elected secretary-general, I would like to assure you that I will do my best to fulfill ITU’s mission, and through our close cooperation, to make ITU in delivering services to the global telecommunication and information society at the level of excellence,” said Zhao.
His bid was aided by the rapid development of China’s information and communication technology, Zhao asserted.
China’s total number of internet users crept up 2.3 per cent to 632 million by the end of June, from 618 million at the end of 2013, according to official figures.
China is the largest smartphone market in the world, and by 2018 is likely to account for nearly one-third of the expected 1.8 billion smartphones shipped that year, according to data firm IDC.
Chinese e-commerce is dominated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, whose initial public offering (IPO) in September now ranks as the world’s biggest at $25 billion, netting underwriters of the sale a more than $300 million windfall after the e-commerce giant and some shareholders parted with additional shares.
ITU is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. ITU membership includes 193 Member States, ICT regulators, leading academic institutions and some 700 private companies.
Zhao is the third Chinese to be elected as the head of UN organizations, after Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Li Yong, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
TBP and Agencies
