Zhang Weiwei

Zhang Weiwei was born in Shanghai in December 1957, with his ancestral home in Nantong, Jiangsu. He is a distinguished professor at Fudan University, dean of the China Institute, and a doctoral supervisor. He once served as an English interpreter for leaders such as Deng Xiaoping and Li Peng and as a simultaneous interpreter at the United Nations Office at Geneva, and received his doctorate in international relations from the University of Geneva in 1994. His long-term research focuses on the Chinese path, the Chinese model, and Chinese discourse. His writing consists mainly of political commentary and cultural criticism, developed around the core concept of the "civilizational state." His representative works include China Shock, China Touch, China Beyond, and the "Chinese Discourse Series." Drawing on a perspective spanning many countries and on comparisons between China and other nations, his works explain China's development experience to general readers and have exerted considerable influence in public debate.