JIANYU ZHANG is Vice President and China Chief Representative of Environmental Defense Fund. He helped found the China program of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading US environmental NGO. Since 1999, he has been responsible for the establishment and overall management of EDF China program, including but not limited to setting up goals, executing programs, establishing operation systems, hiring key personals, developing partnerships, overseeing communication strategy, as well as fund raising. EDF China program’s success led to EDF becoming the first officially registered foreign Environmental NGO in China under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, following the promulgation of China’s foreign NGO law effective on January 1st, 2017.

Zhang got his advanced degrees from Tsinghua University (Bachelor), Stanford University (Master), and Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D.). He recently completed his Ph.D. studies in Finance from Chinese Academy of Social Science.