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US-China Forum 2021: Addressing Inequality and Promoting Social Welfare

WANG Zhenyao

Photo of Wang Zhenyao

WANG Zhenyao

Dean

China Philanthropy Research Institute

Beijing Normal University

WANG Zhenyao is Dean of the Beijing Normal University China Philanthropy Research Institute. He holds a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard University and a doctorate from Peking University. He was awarded the 14th "Compassion Award" in 2019.

WANG helms the Beijing Normal University China Philanthropy Research Institute (CPRI), which he helped found in June 2010. Under his leadership, CPRI has become a leading philanthropy think-tank, which drives national discourse on China’s social services and charitable sector. In addition to its research, CPRI also provides professional philanthropy consulting services and has completed a number of influential projects related to charity law and policy reform, child welfare, and senior citizen service systems reform.

WANG previously worked for over 22 years at China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs (MOCA) where he was instrumental in launching several renowned national policies including direct village elections and the country’s urban/rural minimum welfare social safety net system. Following the devastating Wenchuan earthquake, he established the National Natural Disaster Response System, a four-tiered mechanism for coordinated emergency response. While at MOCA, he also focused on expanding social security benefits to the country’s most vulnerable, reforming the national welfare system to provide allowances and greater support to groups such as orphans and senior citizens.