Newsmakers
China legal expert to head ICAO
April 1st 2015
A veteran Chinese air-safety official has been confirmed as the next secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the first woman and only the second Asian to hold the position. Read More » Fang Liu, who will succeed Raymond Benjamin in August, has been director of ICAO’s Bureau of Administration and Services since 2007. Industry insiders said the appointment marks a significant shift in ICAO’s culture and a recognition of the growing influence the Asia-Pacific will have on the aviation world. Before joining ICAO Liu held various posts within the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). She joined the CAAC in 1987, working as a counsel of its Legal Affairs Division for two years before becoming director of the International Affairs Division, where she played a key role in many bilateral air consultations between China and foreign countries, developed the draft model of China’s bilateral air services agreement, formulated international air transport policy and regulations of China, and dealt with Hong Kong and Macao’s aviation affairs related to international organizations and third countries. She was also in charge of China’s multilateral relations with international or regional organizations, such as ICAO, the WTO, APEC, the EU and ASEAN. She has a Ph.D in law from Wuhan University of China and a degree from Leiden University of the Netherlands, majoring in air and space law.
ICAO said she has led many improvement initiatives in ICAO in recent years and served as the chairperson of some of its most important internal committees. “She has also represented ICAO at the High-Level Committee on Management under the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination, and separately served as Chairperson of the Security Advisory Group and vice-chairperson of the Security Management Team for all UN Organizations in Canada,” the association said.
Underscoring the rapid growth of commercial aviation in China and other Asian countries, Liu will take the reins of an agency in which the top position historically has been held by men from Europe, North America or the Middle East. The only previous secretary general from the Asia-Pacific was India’s Shivinder Sing Sidhu, who served in the post from 1988 to 1991.
