By Meng Fanhong
Published: 2007-12-05

From News, page 6, issue no. 344, December 3rd, 2007
Translated by Zuo Maohong
Original article: [Chinese]

During what little leisure time she has at home, Zhang Yuejiao enjoys cooking; whenever she is out on a hectic business trip, she brings along a piece of swimwear; when it comes to music, she favors the richly expressive symphonies of Peter Ilyich Tcaikovsky.

A woman full of zest, 63-year-old Zhang's motto in life is to give her best in doing whatever she finds worthy, be it personal fancies or her long and illustrious legal career.

And on November 27th, she became the first Chinese national admitted into the World Trade Organization's appellate body.

A New Beginning

On that afternoon, Zhang was formally appointed by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) as a member of the seven-person Appellate Body, thus becoming the first Chinese judge in the WTO's top court.

She took the news calmly. "I'll serve the DSB by using all of my knowledge, experience, and ability. I've worked in many international institutions, and I like to work with experts from different cultures; they have greatly inspired me," Zhang says gently.

One and a half years ago, she lost the race for the same post, but her vast knowledge and candid conversations had left a deep impression on the DSB selection committee. Amazed by the various quotes and facts she presented, one member had jokingly asked, "What do you not know?"
Having once already worked as a legal counsel for China during its WTO accession talks, the international body is no stranger to Zhang.

"Zhang has worked for many international institutions for a long time; both her level of professionalism and foreign language skills are impressive. She's respected as an attorney all over the world," says Dr. Wu Changhai at the Center for Law and Economics of China University of Politics and Law.

In the past few years, Zhang has worked as legal counsel for the World Bank as well as assistant legal counsel for Asian Development Bank and chairman of its appellate committee.

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