Hitach Energy Feature.   James Zhao’s appointment as Executive Vice President and Region Head Greater China from July 1, 2024 will be a great addition to support the company in its expansion in China as the electricity demand from utilities and the industry, building and transport sectors is accelerating. Jinquan Zhang, the current Region Head Greater China, will be retiring after serving nearly 30 years in the company.

With the acceleration of its social and economic development under the “dual carbon” goal in China, the growth in electricity demand was 6.4% during the past year, compared to the global growth of 2.2% in 2023¹. James will lead China, in line with the Hitachi Energy 2030 growth plan that has a focus on three pillars: i) strengthening the core; ii) doubling efforts on digital and services, expanding at the edge of the energy system; iii) innovation, synergies and partnerships.

“Our focus on people and innovation is vital for our continued capacity expansion in China and globally, and James’ role as Region Head will be instrumental, as we continue supporting our customers and partners to advance the world’s energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure”, said Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy.

“I am very pleased that James Zhao will be joining our Hitachi Energy Executive Team with his strong electrification and industry expertise, but also deep knowledge of power grids in China”, said Alistair Dormer, Chair of Hitachi Energy and Executive Vice President, Executive Officer and General Manager of Green Energy & Mobility Strategy Planning Division, Hitachi, Ltd.

James is currently the Local Division Manager of ABB’s Electrification business. He has been in his current position for the last three years and prior to this he held various senior management roles in ABB’s Electrification business, and in ABB’s Power Grids business and worked with business operations, as well as marketing and sales. He has extensive experience in building go-to-market partnerships and working with utilities, industry, building, and transport sectors in China. When working with ABB’s Power Products portfolio, he also gained deep portfolio experience in transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, and high-voltage products. James is a Chinese citizen and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Railway Engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University in China.