Panmao ZHAI is a well-known Chinese climatologist. He is a research professor and PhD advisor at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, the largest multi-disciplinary and comprehensive research institution on atmospheric sciences in China. He has more than 30 years of experience in climate change and variability studies. He has published more than 100 papers in Chinese and English. He has developed the Global Climate Monitoring and Diagnostic System and established the ENSO Monitoring and Prediction System in China. Such contributions have effectively supported the China National Climate Centre's operational activities and services. Currently, as a chief scientist, he is leading a group of excellent meteorologists, studying the formation mechanism, and prediction method for persistent extreme events in China.

　　Besides doing research, he has also accumulated rich experience in coordinating scientific research and cooperation. He has taken many important positions in CMA, such as director-general of Department of Forecasting and Networking, deputy director-general of Department of Prediction Services and Disaster Mitigation, vice president of Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, etc. He is now the secretary general of the Chinese Meteorological Society. 

　　ZHAI has been actively involved in many activities in international collaboration on climate change studies. During 1993-1994, as a visiting scientist in National Climate Data Center in the US, he worked with American and Russian scientists to develop the Comprehensive Aerological Reference Data Set. In 2001, he visited the Hadley Centre and conducted climate change detection research with UK climatologists. In 2003, supported by the project Canada-China Cooperation on Climate Change, he conducted collaborative research on changes in extreme precipitation with scientists in the Meteorological Service of Canada. During 1997-2001, he worked with international climate experts to publish WMO Global Climate System Review. In 2005, he led an expert team in developing the Guidelines on Climate Watches (WMO/TD-No. 1378) for WMO. Since 1998, he has actively joined the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group I assessment activities. Currently, he is cooperating with Prof. Simon Tett of Edinburg University on climatic change studies and Dr. Pasha Groisman under Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI).