Zukang SHA graduated from the English Department of Nanjing University in 1970 and later joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the P.R.C. In February 2007, he was appointed as the UN Deputy Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

During his 43-year diplomatic career, SHA has engaged in politics, economy, security, society, human rights, humanitarian and other fields. As advisor to the Chinese Government and the Chinese military, he has been involved in the decision-making process of many major diplomatic issues and is a designer of a series of major arms control and disarmament initiatives in China. He is also a participant and witness of China's diplomacy since the reform and opening-up.

As the Chinese Government's representative, SHA negotiated with the U.S. in cooperation of Saudi Arabia in 1993, and properly resolved the "Milky Way" incident. He was involved in the handling of the first North Korean Nuclear Crisis from 1993 to 1994. He set up the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997 and served as the first Director. During implementation of the International Treaty on Arms Control and Human Rights in China, he repeatedly undertook the coordination work among various departments of the Chinese Government, armies and civil society, submitted compliance reports, coordinated in the compliance inspection and the investigation visits of the UN working group and rapporteurs, and advocated the establishment of Chinese non-governmental organizations and representative offices of international organizations in China. As the main advisor to Foreign Minister Jiaxuan TANG, he was involved in the nuclear crisis in South Asia in 1998, participated in the drafting and consultation of the five foreign ministers on the joint declaration on the South Asian nuclear issue and contributed to the adoption of Resolution 1172 by the UN Security Council. As Chinese Ambassador, he participated in the handling of the SARS issue by the Chinese Government and the WHO in 2003.

As an outstanding negotiator, he also participated in the negotiation and deliberation of major international treaties on arms control and disarmament including Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. He also participated in the drafting of some important resolutions on arms control and international security adopted by the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council. He has always actively promoted international security cooperation and safeguarded international peace and regional security with his global vision and strategic insight.