Directory

ZhongXiang Zhang

Senior Fellow

PhD, Economics, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

Email: ZhangZ@EastWestCenter.org
Phone: 808-944-7265
Fax: 808-944-7298
Research Interests: Climate economics and policy; energy and environmental economics; energy and environmental policy in China; trade and the environment

Dr. Zhang joined the Center in October 2001 after working at the two Dutch universities over the past decade. He also is a part-time professor of economics at both Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Peking University, Beijing, China; a part-time professor of management science and engineering at Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; and an affiliate professor in Department of Economics at University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is a co-editor of International Journal of Ecological Economics & Statistics, and is and was serving on the editorial boards of eight international journals (Climate Policy; Energy Policy; Energy and Environment; Environmental Science and Policy; International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics; International Journal of Energy, Environment and Economics; Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change; ScientificWorldJOURNAL ) and one Chinese journal.

He is also serving as Director, Chinese Society of Optimization, Overall Planning and Economic Mathematics, and Executive Director, Chinese Society for Environmental Economics. He has been included in Marquis Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World and Who's Who in Finance and Business. Based on citations for the period 1994-98 by Social Science Citation Index, he was ranked as Top-5 Economists at Faculty of Economics (including the five Departments of Economics, International Economics and Business, Econometrics and Operations Research, Marketing, and Finance), University of Groningen, The Netherlands. Several of his publications are reprinted and are used as teaching materials in several American, Chinese and European universities. Eleven of his publications are cited by Climate Change 2001: Mitigation and Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Third and Fourth Assessment Reports respectively, which makes him one of the most cited authors in that two extremely comprehensive and authoritative publications on up-to-date scientific, technical, and economic assessments of options to mitigate climate change and their costs.

Dr. Zhang's research focuses on energy and environmental economics, climate economics and policy, trade and the environment, public finance and macroeconomic modelling. He has published numerous articles in Brown Journal of World Affairs; Far Eastern Economic Review; Ecological Economics; Economic Systems Research; Energy Economics; Energy and Environment; Energy Policy; Energy Sources; Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy; Environmental Science & Policy; Intereconomics (Review of International Trade and Development); International Environmental Agreements; International Journal of Environment and Pollution; International Journal of Global Energy Issues; Issues in Science and Technology; Journal of Energy and Development; Journal of Policy Modeling; Journal of World Trade; Maandschrift Economie; Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change; Penn State Environmental Law Review; Quantitative and Technical Economics; Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv - Review of World Economics; World Development; World Economy; and other journals. He is known for his work on Kyoto flexibility mechanisms (emissions trading and clean development mechanism), greenhouse gas market prospects, interactions between climate policies with trade policy, the involvement of developing countries, economic and political dimentions of international climate agreements, and energy and climate issues in China.

Some of his activities were endorsed by Environment Ministers of Canada, China, Germany, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and United Kingdom as well as EU Commissioner for the Environment. He was involved in a variety of activities with chief climate negotiators from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Mexico, Pakistan, the Netherlands, and the United States. He served on many high level panels, including one with Maurice Strong and Elizabeth Dowdeswell (Executive Director, UNEP), served as an expert/consultant to many national and international organizations, including UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, OECD, ADB, IPCC, CEC, the World Bank, and WRI, and presented research findings in more than 25 countries over the past six years. His recent professional services include:

joining 23 colleagues from the "Circle of Climate Gurus" to assess the adequacy of the world's efforts on climate change as part of the Global Governance Initiative launched by the World Economic Forum;
with five leading economists (including Wallace Oates and David Pearce) examining ways to improve the design of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
being requested by Dr. Stéphane Dion, Canada's Minister of the Environment, to provide inputs to the United Nations COP11 and COP/MOP1 Conference in Montreal.
delivered a keynote presentation on "Sustainable Energy Development in China: Challenges Ahead to 2020" at the International Conference on "Staying Ahead of the Energy Scenarios". Organised by the Nation Group (Thai largest media conglomerate) in partnership with CNBC, this one-day Conference brought together over 600 invited government ministers, senior policymakers and international executives.
delivered a keynote presentation (media coverage; a letter of appreciation from the conference program chairman) on Cutting Carbon Emissions While Making Money: A Wishful Thinking or A Win-Win Opportunity? at the 29^th International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) International Conference, Potsdam/Berlin, June 8, 2006.

He organized/co-organized the high-profile, international conferences on economic, climate, energy and environmental issues, which took place in Asia, Europe and the United States. He is regularly invited to serve on the conference program committees of the professional associations (e.g., the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE), the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), and the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE).

Previous affiliations include Visiting Fellow, Pennsylvania State University at University Park and Stanford University; Senior Fellow, Faculty of Economics and Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, The Netherlands; Research Fellow, Department of General Economics, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; Research Fellow, Policy Studies Department, Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN); and Researcher, Energy Research Institute, National Development Planning Commission, Beijing. BS and MS in energy engineering and systems analysis, Tianjin University (Oldest Chinese university), China.

He has been interviewed and/or cited in, e.g., Africa Time, Agence France-Presse, Asian Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bangkok Post, BBC News, Chinese News Net, Daily India, Economic Times, ekosTV, El Watan (Nigeria), ETTV, Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland), Honolulu Advertiser, Nei Bu Can Kao (restricted to the senior Chinese officials), Le Monde (France), New Scientist, OECD Highlights, People Net (China), Radio Taiwan International, Reuters, San Francisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, The News International (Pakistan), Time Magazine, USA Today, VOA News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Xinhua News Agency (China).

Some of his recent papers (download here) are posted at Social Science Research Network. As measured by the number of downloads, his papers are among ALL TIME (since Jan 1997) Top-10 most downloaded papers in the fields of International Trade, Environmental Economics, and Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics at Economics Research Network; Environmental Law and Policy at Legal Scholarship Network; and FEEM Climate Change Modelling & Policy.

Books (Click here to view Zhang's CV)

Zhang, Z.X. (forthcoming), Chinese Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development in Asia, Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.

Bleischwitz, R., Welfens, P. and Z.X. Zhang (Eds., 2010), International Economics of Sustainable Growth and Resource Policy, Springer.

Bleischwitz, R., Welfens, P. and Z.X. Zhang (Guest Editors, 2010), International Economics of Resources and Resource Policy, Special Issue of International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer.

Zhang, Z.X. (Guest Editor, forthcoming), Services, the Environment and the NAFTA, Special Issue of International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer.

Zhang, Z.X. and Y. Bor (Co-guest Editors, forthcoming), Asian Energy in the Context of Growing Concern about Security and the Environment, Special Issue of the journal Energy Economics, Elsevier.

Bleischwitz, R., Welfens, P. and Z.X. Zhang (Eds., 2009), Sustainable Growth and Resource Productivity: Economic and Global Policy Issues, Greenleaf Publishing, United Kingdom, vi + 360 pp.

Zhang, Z.X. (Guest Editor, 2009), Climate Change and Energy Policy,Special Issue of Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier (This special issue features the selected contributions from the Past President of the American Economic Association and seventeen other eminent analysts at Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Syracuse, Northeastern, University of Paris 10, Free University Amsterdam, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, University of Venice, Australian National University, etc), Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 359-477.

Zhang, Z.X. (Guest Editor, 2007), Trade and the Environment in North America, Special Issue of the journal International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer (This special issue features the contributions from economists and law professors at Universities of Houston, Michigan and Oxford), Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 105-207.

Zhang, Z.X. and Y. Bor (Eds., 2006), Energy Economics and Policy in Mainland China and Taiwan, China Environmental Science Press, Beijing, (in Chinese).This edited volume features 20 chapters from over 30 senior officials, leading experts and chief executives from 21 institutes in Mainland China and Taiwan on challenging energy issues (coal and clean coal technologies, oil, natural gas, power generation, nuclear energy, energy conservation, renewable energy, energy security, and energy-related environmental issues) across the Straits. This is the first book of this kind that comprehensively addresses these energy issues facing Mainland China and Taiwan. (Press Release: First 'Cross Straits' Energy Book Released ).

Zhang, Z.X. (Guest editor, 2004), An Economic Analysis of Climate Policy: Essays in Honour of Andries Nentjes, Special Issue of the journal Energy Policy , Elsevier, Vol. 32, No. 4 (This special issue features the contributions from the twenty three eminent analysts at MIT, Stanford, Brookings Institution, Resources for the Future, the President's Council of Economic Advisers, and others from Asia and the Pacific, Europe and the U.S.), pp. 443-581.

Zhang, Z.X., 2002, National and International Emissions Trading for Greenhouse Gases (with Andries Nentjes and others), The Netherlands National Research Programme on Global Air Pollution and Climate Change (NOP), 378 pp.

Zhang, Z.X., 1999, International Rules for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading, United Nations, New York and Geneva, (with Tom Tietenberg and others). (Press Release Emissions Trading 101 at the Resources for the Future).

Zhang, Z.X., 1998, The Economics of Energy Policy in China: Implications for Global Climate Change, New Horizons in Environmental Economics Series, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, England and Northampton, USA, 279 pp, (Click here for Editorial Review at Amazon.com and the Publisher web sites).

Zhang, Z.X., 1998, Market Performance and Environmental Policy: A Scenario Study for a Market Oriented Environmental Policy (with Andries Nentjes and others), Foundation for Economic Research (SEO), University of Amsterdam, 131 pp.

Zhang, Z.X., 1995, Integrated Economy-Energy-Environment Policy Analysis: A Case Study for the People's Republic of China , The Netherlands National Research Programme on Global Air Pollution and Climate Change (NOP), October, 308 pp.

Selected Articles

Zhang, Z.X., forthcoming, Services, the Environment and the NAFTA, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics.

Zhang, Z.X., forthcoming, The U.S. Proposed Carbon Tariffs, WTO Scrutiny and China's Responses, International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer.

Zhang, Z.X., forthcoming, In What Format and under What Timeframe Would China Take on Climate Commitments? A Roadmap to 2050, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics.

Tang, W., Wu, L. and Z.X. Zhang, forthcoming, Oil Price Shocks and Their Short- and Long-Term Effects on the Chinese Economy, Energy Economics.

Zhang, Z.X., forthcoming, The U.S. Proposed Carbon Tariffs and China's Responses, Energy Policy.

Zhang, Z.X., forthcoming, Is It Fair to Treat China as a Christmas Tree to Hang Everybody's Complaints? Putting its Own Energy Saving into Perspective, Energy Economics.

Zhang, Z.X., 2009, Liberalizing Climate-Friendly Goods and Technologies in the WTO: Product Coverage, Modalities, Challenges and the Way Forward, Trade and Environment Review 2009, A Flagship Publication of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland.

Zhang, Z.X., 2009, Multilateral Trade Measures in a Post-2012 Climate Change Regime?: What Can Be Taken from the Montreal Protocol and the WTO?,Energy Policy, Vol. 37, pp. 5105-5112.

Zhang, Z.X., 2009, How Should China Respond to the U.S. Proposed Carbon Tariffs?, International Petroleum Economics, Vol. 17, No. 8, pp. 13-16.

Zhang, Z.X., 2009, An Economic Model-based Analysis of Climate and Energy Policy, Journal of Policy Modeling, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 359-361.

Zhang, Z.X., 2009, Encouraging Developing Country Involvement in a Post-2012 Climate Change Regime: Carrots, Sticks or Both?, in Climate and Trade Policies in a Post-2012 World, United Nations Environment Programme, Geneva, Switzerland.

Zhang, Z.X. (2009), How Far Can Developing Country Commitments Go in an Immediate Post-2012 Climate Regime?, Energy Policy, Vol. 37, pp. 1753-1757

Zhang, Z.X., 2008, Asian Energy and Environmental Policy: Promoting Growth While Preserving the Environment, Energy Policy, Vol. 36, No. 10, pp. 3905-3924.

Zhang, Z.X., 2007, China's Hunt for Oil in Africa in Perspective, Energy and Environment, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 87-92. Cited in Agence France-Presse, Asian Wall Street Journal, BBC News, USA Today, Wall Street Journal.

Zhang, Z.X., 2007, China Is Moving away the Pattern of "Develop first and then Treat the Pollution", Energy Policy, Vol. 35, pp. 3547-3549.

Zhang, Z.X., 2007, China's Reds Embrace Green, Far Eastern Economic Review, Vol. 170, No. 5, pp. 33-37.

Zhang, Z.X. and C.L. Carpentier, 2007, Trade and the Environment in North America, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics,Vol. 7, No. 2.

Zhang, Z.X., 2007, China, the United States and Technology Cooperation on Climate Control, Environmental Science & Policy, Vol. 10, Nos. 7&8, pp. 622-628.

Zhang, Z.X., 2007, Why Has China not Embraced a Global Cap-and-Trade Regime?, Climate Policy, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 166-170.

Zhang, Z.X., 2007, A Report on the International Conference on Climate Policy After Marrakech: Towards Global Participation, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 203-217.

Zhang, Z.X., 2006, Energy, Environmental and Climate Issues in Asia: Interview with Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations -- "a series of interviews with world leaders, renowned scholars and leading business professionals on their personal experiences in studying and helping to shape the future of Asia", in: Redefining Asia: Visions and Realities, Harvard University, pp. 21-26.

Rose, A., Peterson, T. and Z.X. Zhang, 2006, Regional Carbon Dioxide Permit Trading in the United States: Coalition Choices for Pennsylvania, Penn State Environmental Law Review, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 203-229.

Zhang, Z.X., 2006, Towards an Effective Implementation of Clean Development Mechanism Projects in China, Energy Policy , Vol. 34, pp. 3691-3701.

Zhang, Z.X., 2006, The World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund and China, Journal of Energy and Development , Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 157-171 .

Yun, W.C. and Z.X. Zhang, 2006, Electric Power Grid Interconnection in Northeast Asia, Energy Policy , Vol. 34, pp. 2298-2309.

Zhang, Z.X., 2004, Open Trade with the U.S. without Compromising Canada's Ability to Comply with its Kyoto Target, Journal of World Trade, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 155-182.

Zhang, Z.X., 2004, Meeting the Kyoto Targets: The Importance of Developing Country Participation, Journal of Policy Modeling, Vol. 26, No. 1, pp. 3-19.

Zhang, Z.X. and L. Assunção, 2004, Domestic Climate Policy and the WTO, The World Economy, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 359-386.

Rose, A. and Z.X. Zhang, 2004, Interregional Burden-Sharing of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in the United States, Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change , Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 477-500.

Zhang, Z.X., 2004, Climate Change Policy, Issues in Science and Technology, A Publication of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Spring).

Zhang, Z.X. and A. Baranzini, 2004, What Do We Know About Carbon Taxes? An Inquiry into their Impacts on Competitiveness and Distribution of Income, Energy Policy, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 507-518.

Zhang, Z.X., 2003, Why Did the Energy Intensity Fall in China's Industrial Sector in the 1990s?: The Relative Importance of Structural Change and Intensity Change (Press Release at Edie), Energy Economics, Vol. 25, No. 6, pp. 625-638.

Zhang, Z.X., 2003, An Assessment of the Economic Effects of Progressively Broadening the Scope of the Market of Tradable Permits from No Emissions Trading to Full Global Trading, Quantitative and Technical Economics, Vol. 20, No. 9, pp. 95-99.

Zhang, Z.X., 2002, The Economic Effects of An Alternative EU Emissions Policy, Journal of Policy Modeling, Vol. 24, Nos. 7-8, pp. 667-677.

Löschel, A. and Z.X. Zhang, 2002, The Economic and Environmental Implications of the US Repudiation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Subsequent Deals in Bonn and Marrakech, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv - Review of World Economics, Vol. 138, No. 4, pp. 711-746.

Zhang, Z.X., 2001, An Assessment of the EU Proposal for Ceilings on the Use of Kyoto Flexibility Mechanisms, Ecological Economics, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 53-69.

Zhang, Z.X., 2001, The Liability Rules under International GHG Emissions Trading, Energy Policy , Vol. 29, No. 7, pp. 501-508; Reprinted in Tim Jackson (editor), Mitigating Climate Change: Flexibility Mechanisms, Elsevier, pp. 89-96.

Zhang, Z.X., 2001, Thinking Deeply beyond Kyoto: China's Accomplishments and Challenges in Limiting Greenhouse Gas Emissions, in Hu Angang and Lu Yonglong (editors), Energy and Development: Energy and Environmental Policy in the Global Context, China Planning Press, Beijing, 2001, pp. 275-314.

Zhang, Z.X., 2000, Estimating the Size of the Potential Market for the Kyoto Flexibility Mechanisms, Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv - Review of World Economics, Vol. 136, No. 3, pp. 491-521.

Zhang, Z.X., 2000, Can China Afford to Commit itself an Emissions Cap? An Economic and Political Analysis, Energy Economics, Vol. 22, No. 6, pp. 587-614.

Zhang, Z.X., 2000, The Design and Implementation of an International Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme, Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 321-337.

Zhang, Z.X., 2000, Decoupling China's Carbon Emissions Increases from Economic Growth: An Economic Analysis and Policy Implications, World Development, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 739-752.

Zhang, Z.X., 1999, Should the Rules of Allocating Emissions Permits be Harmonised?, Ecological Economics, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 11-18.

Zhang, Z.X., 1999, Is China Taking Actions to Limit its Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Past Evidence and Future Prospects (Press Release at the Resources for the Future), in J. Goldemberg and W. Reid (editors), Promoting Development while Slowing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Growth, United Nations Development Programme, New York, pp. 45-57.

Zhang, Z.X., 1998, Macroeconomic Effects of CO2 Emission Limits: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis for China, Journal of Policy Modeling, Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 213-250.

Zhang, Z.X., 1998, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading and the World Trading System, Journal of World Trade, Vol. 32, No. 5, pp. 219-239; Reprinted in W. Bradnee Chambers (editor), Inter-linkages: The Kyoto Protocol and the International Trade and Investment Regimes , United Nations University Press, Tokyo, 2001, pp. 119-151.

Zhang, Z.X., 1998, Cost-Effective Analysis of Carbon Abatement Options in China's Electricity Sector, Energy Sources, Vol. 20, Nos. 4/5, pp. 385-405.

Zhang, Z.X., 1998, Macro-economic and Sectoral Effects of Carbon Taxes: A General Equilibrium Assessment for China, Economic Systems Research, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 135-159.

Zhang, Z.X. and H. Folmer, 1998, Economic Modelling Approaches to Cost Estimates for the Control of Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Energy Economics, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp. 101-120.

Related Publications

A Report on the International Conference on Climate Policy After Marrakech: Towards Global Participation
An Economic Analysis of Climate Policy: Essays in Honour of Andries Nentjes
ASEAN-Japan Cooperation: A Foundation for East Asian Community
Asian Energy and Environmental Policy: Promoting Growth While Preserving the Environment
Climate Change and Energy Policy
Climate Change Meets Trade in Promoting Green Growth: Potential Conflicts and Synergies
Climate Commitments to 2050: A Roadmap for China
Domestic Climate Policies and the WTO
Domestic Climate Policies and the WTO (wp)
Electric Power Grid Interconnection in Northeast Asia
Energy Economics and Policy in Mainland China and Taiwan
In What Format and Under What Timeframe Would China Take on Climate Commitments? A Roadmap to 2050
International Conference on Climate Policy After Marrakech: Toward Global Participation - A Conference Summary
International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics
International Rules for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading: Defining the Principles, Modalities, Rules and Guidelines for Verification, Reporting and Accountability
Interregional Burden-Sharing of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in the United States
Meeting the Kyoto Targets: The Importance of Developing Country Participation
Oil Price Shocks and Their Short- and Long-Term Effects on the Chinese Economy
Open Trade With the U.S. Without Compromising Canada's Ability to Comply With It's Kyoto Target
Open Trade With the US Without Compromising Canada
Regional Carbon Dioxide Permit Trading in the United States: Coalition Choices for Pennsylvania
Sustainable Growth and Resource Productivity: Economic and Global Policy Issues
The Economic and Environmental Implications of the U.S. Repudiation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Subsequent Deals in Bonn and Marrakech (wp)
The Economic and Environmental Implications of the US Repudiation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Subsequent Deals in Bonn and Marrakech
The Economics of Energy Policy in China: Implications for Global Climate Change
The U.S. Proposed Carbon Tariffs, WTO Scrutiny and China's Responses
The World Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund and China
Towards an Effective Implementation of CDM Projects in China
What Do We Know About Carbon Taxes? An Inquiry into Their Impacts on Competitiveness and Distribution of Income
Why Did the Energy Intensity Fall in China's Industrial Sector in the 1990s? The Relative Importance of Structural Change and Intensity Change
Why Did the Energy Intensity Fall in China's Industrial Sector in the 1990s? The Relative Importance of Structural Change and Intensity Change (wp)

Related Research Projects

Economic and Environmental Implications of the US Withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol
Energy Economics and Policy in Mainland China and Taiwan
Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy in China, the EU, Japan and the US
Meeting the Kyoto Targets: The Importance of Developing Country Participation
Open Trade with the U.S. without Compromising Canada's Ability to Comply with its Kyoto Target
Reconciling International Trade and the Environment
Regional Carbon Dioxide Permit Trading in the United States
The Geopolitics of China’s Global Hunt for Oil