Weishen Zeng

Weishen is an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). He holds a DPhil in International Development from the University of Oxford. 

His research is centred on the politics of development, the politics of climate change, and the political economy of contemporary China. More broadly, his interests lie at the intersection of international development, international relations, and the politics of Central Asia. 

Weishen’s doctoral research project critically examines how the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) engages with and extends beyond existing multilateral development banks (MDBs) by advancing a ‘green’ agenda. Drawing on year-long fieldwork in southern Kazakhstan, he traced how the bank promotes renewable energy projects alongside the interests of the Chinese state. The DPhil work is being transformed into a monograph. 

During his ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship, Weishen will disseminate his doctoral research through academic publications and engagement with wider policy audiences.

His work has appeared in The Journal of Development Studies, Development and Change, and Climate Policy. His research has been funded by the ESRC, the Sino-British Fellowship Trust, and the Yenching Scholarship.

Background

Before joining LSE, Weishen taught politics at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, and was an Associate DPhil at the University of Oxford China Centre.