International – Jinxiu Yan has been elected the new ITA President succeeding Professor Tarcisio Celestino from Brazil.Yan, the deputy general manager of the China Railway Academy, won by a narrow margin of 2 votes (32 to 30), beating Arcadis group technical director Eric Leca at the 45th ITA General Assembly held in Naples during WTC 2019.

Yan has worked as a consulting engineer for 30 years. Over the last three years she has delivered ten international keynotes or lectures in Asia, Europe, America and the Middle East. As a research team leader and expert appointed by the government or project owners, she has been involved in the construction of many major railway and highway tunnels and metro projects, as well as subsea tunnels in China.

Amongst her main commitments, Yan pointed out the need to find new solutions to contribute to the UN sustainable development goals by 2030.