Dr. Yongping Zhai has been working on energy development in Asia and Africa for more than 25 years. He is currently Chief of Energy Sector Group of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), in charge of overall energy policy coordination and technical support to ADB energy sector operations. He is also in charge of developing energy sector knowledge work for ADB and interacts with worldwide energy sector partners.
From 1993 to 2000, Dr. Zhai was a Principal Program Coordinator/Public Utilities Economist at the African Development Bank (AfDB) in charge of energy projects in Southern African Development Community (SADC). Between 1990 and 1993, he served as an Assistant Professor at the Energy Technology Division (Energy Policy and Planning), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand.
He graduated from the Thermal Energy Engineering Department, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China (1983) and received a PhD in Energy Economics from Institute of Energy Economics and Policy, affiliated with the University of Pierre-Mendès France in Grenoble, France (1989).