Dr. Leizhen Zang is Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Policy at the School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of State Governance Studies, Peking University. He was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Invitational Fellow at the Graduate School of Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo, and a Japan Foundation Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, the University of Tokyo.

His research covers digital governance performance, comparative politics and policy analysis, as well as computational social science research methods. His articles have been published in numerous international, peer-reviewed journals, including Research Policy, Governance, and Social Science Computer Review, among many others. He has published books in English with Springer and Taylor Francis Routledge, as well as Chinese-language books with Social Sciences Academic Press and Social Sciences Press. He is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) of several major and key research projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China and the Ministry of Education of China.

Education and work Experience

Dec. 2024- now, Professor, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China

Mar. 2019- Dec. 2024, Professor, Department Head, The College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University

Jan. 2018- Mar. 2019, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Mar. 2016- Now, Research Fellow, Institute of State Governance, Peking University

Jul. 2017- Jul. 2018, JF Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia in the University of Tokyo

Oct., 2015- Jul. 2017, JSPS International Research Fellow, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, University of Tokyo

Mar. 2015-Jul. 2015, Honorary Fellow, Asia Institute, the University of Melbourne

Nov. 2014-Feb. 2015, Research Associate, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong

Aug. 2012-Oct. 2013, Rajawali Fellow, Kennedy Government School, Harvard University.

Jul. 2014-Jul., 2017, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of of Government, Peking University

Sept. 2010-July 2014, Ph. D (Politics), School of Government, Peking University

Languages: Chinese (mandarin), English, Japanese

English Books

Zang Leizhen, Yanyan Gao, Public Administration and Governance in China: Chinese Insights with Global Perspectives, Taylor & Francis, 2023

Zang Leizhen, The Resurgence of Ideological Differences and Its Social Political Consequences: Case Studies of 36 Industrialized Countries, World Scientific, Feb 2019

Zang Leizhen, Re-understanding of Contemporary Chinese Political Development: Qualitative-Quantitative Analysis, Springer Nature, 2018

English Peer-reviewed Paper（* Indicates the corresponding author.）

Cheng, D., Liu, J., Zang, L. *, & Zhao, Y. (2026). Driving digital village development for rural modernization: The evidence of China. Journal of Rural Studies, 126, 104242.

Zang, L. *, Zhu, Y., & Cheng, D. (2025). Inequality through digitalization: investigation of mediating and moderating mechanisms. Information Technology for Development, 31(4), 821-836.

Zang, L. *, & Xiong, F. (2025). Harnessing Machine Learning to Address High Levels of Missing Data in Cross-National Studies: From Bias to Precision in Public Service Research. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 27(3), 339-359.

Zang, L. *, & Gai, J. (2025). Governing appropriate technology: policy strategies for smallholder empowerment and poverty alleviation. Global Public Policy and Governance, 5(1), 46-62.

Cheng, D., Zhao, Y., Zang, L. *, & Yu, W. (2025). How central policy signals promote the implementation of public–private partnership policies: an empirical analysis of 257 prefecture-level cities in China. Journal of Chinese Governance, 10(2), 254-280.

Zang, L. *, Xiong, F., & Zhang, Q. (2025). The factors that shape Chinese officials’ political attitudes: An experimental intergenerational approach. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 30(1), 59-83.

Zang, L. *, (2024). Trustworthy artificial intelligence for social governance. Social Sciences in China, 45(2), 135-151.

Zang, L. *, Zhang, B., & Xiong, F. (2023). Multimodal assessment of political corruption worsening national poverty: Evidence of mediating and moderating effects from global panel data. Chinese Public Administration Review, 14(3), 137-147.

Gao, Y., & Zang, L. * (2022). Is democracy pro‐poor? An empirical test of the Sen Hypothesis based on global evidence. Governance, 35(3), 847-868.

Xiong, F., Zang, L. *, Feng, D., & Chen, J. (2023). The influencing mechanism of financial development on CO2 emissions in China: double moderating effect of technological innovation and fossil energy dependence. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 25(6), 4911-4933.

Xiong, F., Zang, L. *, & Gao, Y. (2022). Internet penetration as national innovation capacity: worldwide evidence on the impact of ICTs on innovation development. Information Technology for Development, 28(1), 39-55.

Xiong, F., Zang, L. *, Zhou, L., & Liu, F. (2020). The effect of number of siblings and birth order on educational attainment: Empirical Evidence from Chinese General Social Survey. International Journal of Educational Development, 78, 102270.

Gao, Y., Song, S., Sun, J., & Zang, L. * (2020). Does high‐speed rail connection really promote local economy? Evidence from China’s Yangtze River Delta. Review of Development Economics, 24(1), 316-338.

Zang, L. *, & Xiong, F. (2020). How (when) does technological innovation improve government effectiveness? An empirical investigation with cross-national evidence. Science and Public Policy, 47(1), 103-113.

Zang, L. *, Xiong, F., Lao, X., & Gao, Y. (2019). Does governance efficiency matter for national innovative capacity? One tale from different countries. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 31(2), 239-252.

Zang, L. *, Xiong, F., & Gao, Y. (2019). Reversing the U: new evidence on the internet and democracy relationship. Social Science Computer Review, 37(3), 295-314.

Gao, Y., Zang, L. *, & Sun, J. (2018). Does computer penetration increase farmers’ income? An empirical study from China. Telecommunications Policy, 42(5), 345-360.

Zang, L. *,, Weimin, J., & Bastin, M. (2018). The Economic Impact of Anti-corruption Campaigns: New Materials for New Research Agendas in China. China: An International Journal, 16(4), 124-142.

Gao, Y., Zang, L. *, Roth, A., & Wang, P. (2017). Does democracy cause innovation? An empirical test of the popper hypothesis. Research Policy, 46(7), 1272-1283.

Chinese Books

Zang, Leizhen, et al. (Trans.). The Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2024.

Zang, Leizhen, et al. (Trans.). The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology (Revised Edition). Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2023.

Zang, Leizhen, Understanding State Governance, Social Science Publisher, 2016

Zang, Leizhen, Political Methodology: Introduction, Interpretation and Innovation. China Social Sciences Press, 2016

Zang, Leizhen, The Changing Structure of Political Opportunity and Political Participation: Understanding Chinese Profile in New Media Age, China Social Sciences Press, 2015

Chinese Journal Articles

Professor Leizhen Zang has long been engaged in research on state governance modernization, political methodology, public policy, and digital governance. In recent years, he has developed a sustained body of scholarship on the theorization of China’s governance experience, the construction of an autonomous Chinese political science knowledge system, causal mechanism explanation and methodological innovation in social science research, as well as the governance implications of artificial intelligence.

His research has been published in leading Chinese academic journals, including Chinese Political Science Review (《政治学研究》), Chinese Public Administration (《中国行政管理》), Journal of Public Administration (《公共行政评论》), Society (《社会》), Social Sciences in China-related leading journals such as Social Sciences (《社会科学》), Academic Monthly (《学术月刊》), Journal of Renmin University of China (《中国人民大学学报》), Tsinghua Journal of Philosophy and Social Sciences (《清华大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》), Journal of Journalism and Communication (《新闻与传播研究》), China Soft Science (《中国软科学》), Comparative Economic & Social Systems (《经济社会体制比较》), and Journal of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National Academy of Governance) (《中共中央党校〈国家行政学院〉学报》), among other prestigious journals.

Research Projects

Principal Investigator (PI), Major Program of the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 22&ZD028)

Principal Investigator (PI), Key Program of the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 20AZZ002)

Principal Investigator (PI), Major Post-funded Program of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 19JHQ009)

Principal Investigator (PI), Key Program of the Beijing Social Science Fund (Grant No. 21GLA013)

Principal Investigator (PI), Key Program of the Beijing Social Science Fund (Grant No. 16ZGA001)

Principal Investigator (PI), Sub-project of the Major Program of Philosophy and Social Sciences Research, Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 2025JZDZ020)

Principal Investigator (PI), Sub-project of the Major Program of the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 18VXK003)