Global and International Studies Building, 1010
Research Summary
Hong Zhang is an Assistant Professor in the International Studies Department. With a PhD in Public Policy from George Mason University, her research focuses on China’s role in global development, particularly in infrastructure development and industrialization. Her fieldwork has taken her to various countries in Asia and Africa to examine China’s developmental impact. She co-edits the People’s Map of Global China and the Global China Pulse journal, initiatives that foster collective efforts to study China’s global presence. Prior to joining Indiana University, she was a China Public Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government (2022-2024), a Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and the Columbia-Harvard China and the World Program (2021-2022). She holds a Master's degree in Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor's degree in Economics from Renmin University of China.
Educational Background
Ph.D. Public Policy, George Mason University, 2021
MSc. Sociology, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2013
B.A. Economics, Renmin University of China, 2008
Research Topics
- Global development
- Infrastructure
- Industrial policy
- Global South
- Chinese political economy
Regions of Interest
- China
- Africa
- Pakistan
- Southeast Asia
Representative Publications
- Wang, Yuan and Hong Zhang, “Individual Agency in South-South Policy Transfer: China and Ethiopia’s Industrial Park Development”, Review of International Political Economy (2024):1-25.
- Zhang, Hong. “From Contractors to Investors? Evolving Engagement of Chinese State Capital in Global Infrastructure Development and the Case of Lekki Port in Nigeria.” Working Paper No. 2023/53. China Africa Research Initiative, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC.
- Zhang, Hong. “Chinese International Contractors in Africa: Structure and Agency.” Working Paper No. 2021/47. China Africa Research Initiative, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC.
- Zhang, Hong. “The aid-contracting nexus: The role of the international contracting industry in China’s overseas development engagements.” China Perspectives (4): 17.
- Wan, Ming and Hong Zhang. “China’s Investment Relations with Japan,” in Ka Zeng (ed.), The Handbook of the IPE of China, Edward Elgar Publishing: Chapter 7.