Edward Qiang Zeng

Edward Qiang Zeng is a global affiliate visiting scholar at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) for 2024-25. A serial entrepreneur, venture investor, and private equity fund manager, Zeng has over 25 years of experience with a strong track record in identifying and investing in early-stage tech unicorns. He has been at the forefront of technological innovation, focusing on transforming intellectual property (IP) into initial public offerings (IPOs). As Managing Partner of NextG Tech and China Bridge Capital, he oversees funds with a combined $2.5 billion in assets under management (AUM), specializing in scaling disruptive technologies across sectors such as renewable energy, arts, media, entertainment, and food retail. 

Among Zeng's notable achievements are the 1993 acquisitions of UNIPEC and GoldPark, which he later took public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In 1996, he co-founded Sparkice Inc., China’s first B2B/B2C e-commerce platform and a leading internet café brand integrating RFID technology, earning him recognition in Time Magazine's "Who’s Who in China’s Wired World."

Zeng has been recognized by the World Economic Forum as a "Global Leader of Tomorrow" and has been featured in publications like Forbes, Time Magazine, Red Herring, and the South China Morning Post. Recently, he was honored at the 2023 APEC Summit for his leadership in sustainable technology investing. He is a frequent speaker at the World Economic Forum, the Harvard China Forum, the Chinese Entrepreneurs Forum, and other notable international conferences. He holds a Master of Science in Economics from Tsinghua University, where he was the sole recipient of the Outstanding Thesis Award from the State Council of China, and a Master of Science in Financial Economics from the University of Toronto. Since 2018, he has served as an Adjunct Professor at Tsinghua University.

While at APARC, he will be researching U.S.-China relations for global growth and sustainability.