Zhang Weiying
Professor and Associate Dean, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, China

Professor Weiying Zhang is Professor of Economics, the Executive Associate Dean of Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, and Director of the Institute of Business Research of Peking University. He is also an adjunct professor of several prestigious Chinese universities, and a research associate of Oxford Centre for Modern Chinese Studies.

Professor Weiying Zhang graduated with a bachelor degree in 1982, and a master degree in 1984, from Northwestern University at Xia’an. He received his M. Phil. in economics in 1992 and D. Phil. in economics from Oxford University. His D. Phil. supervisors were James Mirrlees (1996 Nobel Laureate) and Donald Hay. Between 1984 and 1990, he was a research fellow of the Economic System Reform Institute of China under the State Commission of Restructuring Economic System. During this period, he was heavily involved in economic reform policy making in China. He was the first Chinese economist who proposed the “dual-track price system reform” (in 1984). He was also known for his contributions to macro-control policy debating, ownership reform debating, and entrepreneurship studies. After he graduated from Oxford, he co-founded China Center for Economic Research, Peking University in 1994, and worked with the Center first as an associate professor and then as a professor until August, 1997. He then moved to Guanghua School of Management in September, 1997.

Professor Weiying Zhang’s research interests include the industrial organization, corporate governance, and information economics. He is a widely recognized authority of the theory of the firm and ownership reform in China. He is best known for his theory of “capital-hiring-labour” and management selection. He has published dozens of academic articles and five books. His papers have appeared in the top international journals such as Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, and Journal of Comparative Economics, as well as the top Chinese journals such Economic Research Journal and Journal of Reform. He has been the most cited economist in Chinese academic journals since 1995. His works have generated significant impacts on the ongoing enterprise reform policy formulation and the development of economics in China.

Professor Weiying Zhang has extensive consulting experiences with both governmental departments and business enterprises. He has been a member of the Advisory Board on Enterprise Reform to the State Commission for Restructuring Economic system, a consultant to the Department of Enterprises of the State Economic and Trade Commission, and a local consultant to the World Bank Project on Chinese State-owned Enterprises Reform. He has served a dozen of companies as a senior advisor. He has been frequently invited to deliver keynote speeches at high level international and domestic symposiums and forums. His insightful opinions of the Chinese economy have been frequently reported in media.