Zhang Hongwu, a native of Zhoukou, Henan Province, was born in February 1958. He is an expert on water conservancy and ecological protection, with no party affiliation. He is Director of the Research Center on the Yellow River at Tsinghua University, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources and Chairman of the “Sons of the Yellow River” Beijing Charity Foundation. He was engaged as a counsellor of the State Council in February 2015.