Prof. ZENG Michael Jinghan (曾敬涵)

Professor Jinghan Zeng recently joined the Department of Public and International Affairs at City University of Hong Kong. His current research focuses on geopolitics of AI, the Belt and Road Initiative and Confucius Instititutes. He is the author of Artificial Intelligence with Chinese Characteristics: National Strategy, Security and Authoritarian Governance (2022), Slogan Politics: Understanding Chinese Foreign Policy Concepts (2020) and The Chinese Communist Party's Capacity to Rule: Ideology, Legitimacy and Party Cohesion (2015), available in Chinese translation (City University of Hong Kong Press, 2016). He is also the co-editor of One Belt, One Road, One Story? Towards an EU-China Strategic Narrative (2021). He has published over thirty refereed articles in leading journals of politics, international relations and area studies including The Pacific Review, International Affairs, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies and Third World Quarterly. 

Professor Zeng currently serves as the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Cambridge Forum on Technology and Global Affairs (published by Cambridge University Press) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK). He has been named in the World's Top 2% Scientists list by Stanford University and Elsevier for four consecutive years since 2021. He has secured funding from a variety of international sources, including the European Commission, Schmidt Futures (US) and Social Science Foundation of China. Professor Zeng's research has been covered by the journal Science and major media outlets including Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes and South China Morning Post. He draws on his research to connect with audiences beyond academia. Professor Zeng has testified before the UK Parliament and advised United Nations, Cabinet Office (UK) and Foreign & Commonwealth Office (UK). He frequently appears in TV and radio broadcasts including the BBC, ABC Australia, Al Jazeera, China Global Television Network (CGTN) and Voice of America. He has written op-ed articles for The Diplomat, BBC (Chinese), The Conversation, Nikkei Asia, Policy Forum among others. 

Prior to joining City University of Hong Kong, Professor Zeng established his academic career in the UK. At 31, he was appointed Professor of China and International Studies at Lancaster University (a top 7 UK University at the time), becoming one of the youngest full professors in Britain. Simultaneously, he served as Director of its Confucius Institute, leading a team of nearly 30 staff in the university. Under his guidance, the Institute flourished into an award-winning institution, receiving the prestigious Confucius Institute of the Year award from the Confucius Institute Headquarters, as well as Lancaster University’s Outstanding Contribution Award. During this time, the Institute also overcame unprecedented challenges, including the global pandemic, the sudden dissolution of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, and a political campaign by the then-ruling UK government to close Confucius Institutes. These remarkable experiences are chronicled in his forthcoming three-volume memoir, Memoirs of a Confucius Institute Director, the first installment of which is scheduled for release in late 2025.

A native of mainland China, Professor Zeng pursued his education across three continents, earning degrees from the University of Warwick (PhD, completed within two years), the University of Pittsburgh (MPA) and the University of Macau (BA). Professor Zeng also lectured at University of Cambridge, London School of Economics and Political Science, Royal College of Defence Studies (UK), LUISS (Italy), Tsinghua University (China) and Zhejiang University (China). He has also hold visiting professor/fellow positions at numerous universities worldwide including Tsinghua University, University of Navarra (Spain) and University of Warwick. Before embarking on his academic career, he worked for the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York City.