Deputy Directors-General
The current Deputy Directors-General are Johanna Hill of El Salvador, Jennifer DJ Nordquist of the United States, Jean-Marie Paugam of France and Xiangchen Zhang of China.
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Ms Johanna Hill
Ms Johanna Hill began her role as Deputy Director-General in November 2023. With over 30 years of experience in international trade, Ms Hill, a native of El Salvador, has collaborated with governments and businesses to foster economic development through international policy and trade negotiations.
Before joining the WTO, Ms Hill advised firms and SMEs on trade regulations, foreign direct investment strategies, and market access. She has also held senior roles in financial institutions and has leadership experience in telecommunications regulation. Additionally, she served as Vice Minister of Economy for El Salvador, where she oversaw trade policy formulation and negotiated both bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.
She holds a bachelor's degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from Columbia University and serves on the board of TradeExperettes.
Areas of responsibility
- Economic Research and Statistics
- Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition
- Languages, Documentation and Information Management
- Trade in Services and Investment
The Honorable Jennifer DJ Nordquist
The Honorable Jennifer DJ Nordquist became Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization in October 2025. She brings to the WTO more than 30 years of experience in economics and public policy.
Before joining the WTO, Ms Nordquist was Counsellor at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Prior to that, she was Executive Vice President of the Economic Innovation Group, served on corporate and non-profit boards, and was a senior fellow or adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Special Competitive Studies Project, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and several other think tanks. Her previous senior leadership positions include serving as Executive Director for the United States at the World Bank Group, for which she was unanimously confirmed by the US Senate; Chief of Staff for the Economic Studies program at the Brookings Institution; Assistant Secretary (delegated authority) at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Senior Advisor in the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Gulf Coast Rebuilding; Deputy Chief of Staff at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education. She also worked in the private sector in France, Sweden, and Thailand, and began her career on Capitol Hill.
Ms Nordquist holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.S. from Northwestern University.
Areas of responsibility
Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam
Ambassador Jean-Marie Paugam has held senior management positions in the French Government on trade, most recently as Permanent Representative of France to the WTO. He has also held a number of senior positions in the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, including as a member of the Executive Committee of the French Treasury. He has also served as Deputy Executive Director of the International Trade Centre in Geneva. He has accumulated a deep and practical knowledge of government practices on trade as well as being familiar with high-level dialogues on trade and international economic operations. He has published a number of articles on trade-related issues, in particular when serving as Senior Research Fellow on International Trade at the French Institute for International Relations (IFPRI). Ambassador Paugam graduated from ENA in Paris and obtained degrees in Political Science from the Institute of Political Science in Aix-en-Provence and in Law from the Faculty of Law Aix-Marseille III.
Areas of responsibility
Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang
Ambassador Xiangchen Zhang formerly served as Vice Minister in the Ministry of Commerce of China. He has long and extensive experience on WTO issues, international negotiations, and policy research. Ambassador Zhang served until recently as China's Permanent Representative to the WTO and previously as Deputy Permanent Representative. He has had an extensive career of more than 30 years in international trade, serving as Director of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation; as Director-General of the Department of WTO Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce; and as Director General of the Department of Policy Research of the Ministry of Commerce. Ambassador Zhang holds a bachelor's degree in Law, a Master's degree in International Relations and a PhD in International Politics from Peking University.
Areas of responsibility
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