Prof. Zihao Li | Digital Economy | Best Researcher Award
Profile
Education
He obtained his PhD in Applied Economics from Hunan University, where he studied from September 2010 to June 2014. Prior to that, he completed his master’s degree in International Trade at Jiangnan University between September 2006 and July 2008. His academic journey began at Henan Normal University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from September 2002 to July 2006.
Work experience
Since September 2022, he has been serving as an Associate Professor, Professor, and Master Supervisor at the Business School of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology. Prior to this, from June 2014 to August 2022, he worked at the International Business School of Henan University of Economics and Law as a Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Master Supervisor.
He has authored several influential books, including Research on the Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on China’s Carbon Emissions (Economic Science Press, 2016), Foreign Direct Investment, Economic and Social Transformation and Environmental Pollution (China Financial and Economic Publishing House, 2017), and Economic and Social Transformation and Improvement of Local Government’s Environmental Governance (China Economic Publishing House, 2020).
His academic contributions have been recognized with multiple awards. He received the Third Prize of the Henan Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award (Provincial and Ministerial Level) in 2020 for his research on Environmental Governance of Local Governments with Spatial Relevance and Threshold Effect from the perspective of integrity. In 2019, he was awarded another Third Prize for his study on Local Government Tax Competition, Industrial Restructuring, and China’s Regional Green Development. Additionally, in 2016, his work on China’s Opening Up, Economic Transformation, and Low Carbon Economic Development earned him the Third Prize of the Hunan Provincial Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award.
Scientific Research Project
He has led several research projects funded by national and provincial institutions. Currently, he is hosting a General Program of the National Philosophy and Social Science Foundation (21BJY114), focusing on the Mechanism, Effect, and Policy of Digital Economy Promoting China’s Collaborative Governance of Carbon Smog (2021/9ā2024/9).
Previously, he successfully completed a Youth Program of the National Philosophy and Social Science Foundation (15CGL042), which examined Anti-Corruption and Environmental Governance Improvement of Local Governments (2015/6ā2019/12). He also led two provincial-level Soft Science Projects funded by the Henan Provincial Department of Science and Technology: one on Industrial Transfer and Green Development of Henan’s Industry (162400410201, 2016/6ā2017/9) and another on Enterprise Green Technology Innovation and Haze Pollution Control in Henan (202400410061, 2020/1ā2021/6).
Publication
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(1) Zihao Li, Yue Wang, Tingting Bai. International digital trade and synergetic control of pollution and carbon emissions: Theory and evidence based on a nonlinear framework[J]. Journal of Environmental Management,2025, 376(3):124450.ļ¼SCI, JCR Q1ļ¼
(2) Zihao Li, Bingbing Yuan, Yue Wang, Jingwen Qian, Haitao Wu. The role of digital finance on the synergistic governance of pollution & carbon: Evidence from Chinese cities[J]. Sustainable Cities and Society,2024, 115(1):105812.ļ¼SCI, JCR Q1ļ¼
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Zihao Li, Yue Wang. The impact of digital trade on the coordinated development of urban pollution reduction and carbon reduction: based on the perspective of industrial agglomeration and factor allocation[J] Economic longitude and latitude, 2025, (1):67-79. (CSSCI)
(4) Zihao Li, Bai Tingting, Wang Yue, Wu Haitao. The Impact of Digital Government on Corporate Green Innovation: Evidence from China[J]. Technological Forecasting and Social Changeļ¼SSCI, JCR Q1ļ¼
(5) Tingting Bai, Yong Qi, Zihao Li, Dong Xu. Digital economy, industrial transformation and upgrading, and spatial transfer of carbon emissions: The paths for low-carbon transformation of Chinese cities[J]. Journal of Environmental Management, 2023, 344: 118528. (SCI, JCR Q1ļ¼ESI );
(6) Bai Tingting, Qi Yong, Li Zihao*, Xu Dong. Will carbon emission trading policy improve the synergistic reduction efficiency of pollution and carbon? Evidence from216 Chinese cities[J]. Managerial and Decision Economics,2023,(8):1-24. (SSCI, JCR Q1, corresponding author)ļ¼
(7) Zihao Li, Bingbing Yuan, Tingting Bai, Dong Xu, Haitao Wu. Shooting two hawks with one arrow: The role of digitization on the coordinated development of resources and environment [J].āÆ Resources Policy, 2024, 90(3):104827. (SSCI, JCR Q1)
(8) Zihao Li, Xihang Xie, Xinyue Yan, Tingting Bai, Dong Xu*. Impact of Chinaās Rural Land Marketization on Ecological Environment Quality Based on Remote Sensing[J]. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 12619
(SSCI, JCR Q1)
(9) Zihao Li, Bai Tingting*, Tang Chang. How does the low-carbon city pilot policy affect the synergistic governance efficiency of carbon and smog? Quasi-experimental evidence from China[J]. Journal of Cleaner Production,2022(8): 133809 (SCI, JCR Q1)
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Zihao Li, Yuan Zhao, Ziqian Xia. Performance improvement of coordinated governance of environmental protection supervision and local government carbon haze: quasi natural experimental estimation based on environmental interviews[J]. China Soft Science, 2023, (12): 192-201. (CSSCI)
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Zihao Li, Qianqian Wang. Can the development of digital economy improve regional banking risks- Based on the Investigation of Urban Commercial Banks [J]. Collected Essays on Finance and Economics, 2023,(12):47-57.ļ¼CSSCIļ¼
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Zihao Li, Bai Tingting. Government environmental protection expenditure, green technology innovation and smog pollution[J]. Science Research Management, 2021, (2):52-63. (CSSCI)
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Zihao Li, Bingbing Yuan. Local government’s policy mechanism for haze control: policy tools, spatial correlation and threshold effect [J]. Resource science, 2021,(1):40-56. (CSSCI);
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Zihao Li, Bingbing Yuan. A Study on Environmental Governance of Local Government Based on Spatial Correlation and Threshold Effect: An Investigation from the Perspective of Integrity. [J]. China Soft Science, 2019, (10):61-69. (CSSCI)
(15) Zihao Li, Mao Jun. Local Governmentsā Tax Competition, Industrial Structure Adjustment and Regional Green Development in China[J]. China Finance and Economic Review,2019(1): 93-111. (ESCI)ļ¼