Zha Daojiong is a professor in the School of International Studies and Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development at Peking University. His areas of expertise include international political economy and China’s international economic relations, particularly the fields of energy and natural resources, development aid, and the economics-political nexus in the Asia Pacific region. His research has extended to political and social risk-management for Chinese corporations engaged in non-financial investments abroad, including the publication of the edited volumes Chinese Investment Overseas: Case Studies on Environmental and Social Risks (Peking University Press, 2014) and Risk Management under the Belt and Road Initiative: Economic and Societal Dimensions (Oceanic Press, 2017).

He was invited to serve as non-resident fellow in a number of public policy think tanks and advisory member on several international exchange associations, including the China chapter of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSPAC) and the China Association for International Exchange.

He joined the faculty of Peking University in 2007 and held prior positions at the Renmin University of China, the International University of Japan, and the University of Macau. He studied at the East-West Center and the University of Hawaii, where he earned a Doctoral degree in Political Science.

Last Updated: May 8, 2020

Conversation

03.24.15

What Went Wrong With U.S. Strategy on China’s New Bank and What Should Washington Do Now?

Patrick Chovanec, Zha Daojiong & more
Now that much of Europe has announced its intentions to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), was Washington’s initial opposition a mistake? Assuming the AIIB does get off the ground, what might it mean for future...

Conversation

01.16.15

Why Did The West Weep for Paris But Not for Kunming?

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Taisu Zhang & more
In the days since the attacks that killed 12 people at the offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Chinese netizens have watched the outpouring of solidarity. As our colleagues at Foreign Policy reported earlier this week, the...

Conversation

12.16.14

What Must China and Japan Do to Get Along in 2015?

Allen Carlson & Zha Daojiong
Last week, Akio Takahara, a professor at the University of Tokyo currently visiting Peking University, wrote a New York Times Op-Ed praising recent diplomatic efforts by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and Chinese President Xi Jinping to deflect...

Conversation

10.14.14

Will Asia Bank on China?

Zha Daojiong, Damien Ma & more
Last week The New York Times reported U.S. opposition to China's plans to launch a regional development bank to rival the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. If, as some say, the the launch is a fait accompli, should Washington focus...

Conversation

07.31.14

Zhou Yongkang’s Downfall

Sebastian Veg, Roderick MacFarquhar & more
On July 29, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communisty Party announced it was investigating ex-security czar Zhou Yongkang “on suspicion of grave violations of discipline.” Zhou, who retired from the Politburo...

Conversation

07.09.14

The U.S. and China Are At the Table: What’s At Stake?

William Adams & Zha Daojiong
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew are in Beijing this week for the sixth session of the high level bilateral diplomatic exchange known as the Strategic and Economic Dialogue. We asked contributors what's likely...

Conversation

07.01.14

The Debate Over Confucius Institutes PART II

Gregory B. Lee, Michael Hill & more
Last week, ChinaFile published a discussion on the debate over Confucius Institutes–Chinese language and culture programs affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education—and their role on university campuses. The topic, and several of the...

Conversation

06.11.14

Is a Declining U.S. Good for China?

Zha Daojiong, Gordon G. Chang & more
Zha Daojiong:Talk of a U.S. decline is back in vogue. This time, China features more (if not most) prominently in a natural follow-up question: Which country is going to benefit? My answer: certainly not China.Arguably, the first round of “U.S.-in-...

Conversation

04.30.14

Will China’s Economy Be #1 by Dec. 31? (And Does it Matter?)

William Adams, Damien Ma & more
On April 30, data released by the United Nations International Comparison Program showed China’s estimated 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) exchange rate was twenty percent higher than was estimated in 2005. What does this mean? China's...

Excerpts

01.02.14

Global Development and Investment

Elizabeth Economy & Zha Daojiong
Framing questions: In what ways do the U.S. and Chinese approaches to development and foreign investment differ? Are they evolving, and how? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each approach both to the investing country and the recipient? In...