By Li Fei (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-07 06:58

The first Chinese judge in WTO's highest court has vowed to serve the world trade body impartially and faithfully.

Zhang Yuejiao was appointed by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) as a member of Appellate Body last month, and termed her new posting as a major turning point in her legal career.

"I will do my best with unwavering impartiality," Zhang said yesterday. She will take her seat in June in the seven-member Appellate Body, which issues final rulings in trade disputes.

"You can rest assured that I will do justice to the post," she said.

Zhang Yuejiao (center) displays a work of calligraphy - a goodwill scroll - presented to her by the Western Returned Scholars Association at a press conference in Beijing yesterday. Zhang has been appointed to the WTO's seven-member Appellate Body that issues final rulings in trade disputes. Wu Zhiyi

The 63-year-old lawyer is at present senior counsel for Jun He Law Offices, one of China's top law firms, and teaches at Shantou University in Guangdong Province.

Zhang once served as director of the treaty and law department of the erstwhile Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (now the Ministry of Commerce) and in different capacities in the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Her present colleagues describe her as "easy-going but hard-working".

"She looks petite, soft and easy-going, but she has a very determined will. Once she sets a goal, she will go after it with full force," said Zheng Shujun, Partner and Lawyer with Jun He Law Offices.

"She gets up as early as 5 am and works late into night almost everyday, and has been doing that for the past 19 months to prepare for the post (in the WTO Appellate Body)," said Zheng, who has known Zhang for more than 10 years.

Zhang was "assiduously studying everything needed for the post (in WTO). She was like a fresh student, though she was already an authority on the subject", Zheng said.

Zhang is a veteran negotiator and has taken part in China's talks with its trade partners to settle disputes and for accession into the WTO.

Zhang, who pursued law studies in France and the US, is fluent in English and French.

"I was moved and encouraged by the overwhelming support of the Chinese people both at home and abroad during my application for the post," she said.

"Hence, I cannot afford not to do a good job. I will strive to bring cheers to Chinese lawyers and Chinese people."