Tenured Professor and PhD Supervisor
Director, Center for Climate Communication and Risk Governance
School of Journalism and Communication
Tsinghua University
Center website: 4c.tsjc.tsinghua.edu.cn | WeChat: THU Climate Communication
ACADEMIC PROFILE
Fanxu Zeng is a tenured professor and PhD supervisor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, and Director of the Center for Climate Communication and Risk Governance. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute (2010–2011). His research interests include environmental and climate communication, science and risk communication, and sustainability communication, with particular attention to public understanding, trust, multi-stakeholder deliberation, and sustainable action across environmental, climate, science, and risk issues. He has led projects supported by the National Social Science Fund of China and international partners, authored or co-authored seven books in Chinese and English—including Negotiating Public Agenda in China, Media as Mediator, and Environmental Risk Communication in China—and published dozens of journal articles. He has also produced a series of climate communication research reports and received multiple academic awards, including a Third Prize in the Ministry of Education's Awards for Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research (Humanities and Social Sciences).
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Environmental and Climate Communication
• Science and Risk Communication
• Sustainability Communication
EDUCATION & ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Zeng received his PhD in Communication from the Communication University of China. He previously taught at Sun Yat-sen University and conducted postdoctoral research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard-Yenching Institute from 2010 to 2011 and joined the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University in 2012, where he is now a tenured professor and PhD supervisor. Before entering academia, he worked as a senior journalist and editor specializing in in-depth reporting.
ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS & SERVICE
• Editorial Board Member, Chinese Journal of Communication
• Research Fellow, Institute for National Governance and Global Governance, Tsinghua University
• Research Fellow, Center for Information and Communication Studies, Fudan University
TEACHING
• Doctoral course: AI and Science Communication
• Master's courses: Environmental and Climate Communication; In-Depth Reporting; Communication Innovation and Strategic Management
RESEARCH PROJECTS
• Key Post-Funded Project of the National Social Science Fund of China: Engaging China's Generation Z: Life Values and Climate Communication
• Tsinghua University–London School of Economics Joint Research Fund: A Comparative Analysis of Climate Change Narratives and Politics in China and Indonesia
• International Collaboration: Climate Narratives among the Chinese Public
• International Collaboration: Public Communication on Air–Climate–Health
• Tsinghua–Envision Sustainability Fund: Global Green Humanities and Communication for Sustainable Futures
RESEARCH CENTER & PUBLIC IMPACT
The Center for Climate Communication and Risk Governance advances climate communication research, capacity building, and cross-sector collaboration, using communication to foster climate action, social dialogue, and sustainability transitions. The Center conducts ongoing research on public climate perceptions and climate narratives, publishes research reports and communication guidelines, hosts the Tsinghua Global Climate Communication Forum, and organizes capacity-building initiatives including the Tsinghua Global Climate and Energy Media Program and the China–Global South Energy Communication Co-Creation Initiative for Social Impact.
Selected research reports:
• Climate Narratives for the Chinese Public: Six Segments and Narrative Principles
• Engaging China's Generation Z: A Research on Life Values and Climate Communication
• A Communication Guide for Climate Change South-South Cooperation
• A Communication Guide for Strengthening Climate Adaptation in China
• Communicating Climate Risks: A Guide for Non-profit Organizations and Media
• A Communication Toolkit for Just Transition
• A Communication Guide for People-oriented Low-Carbon Transitions
HONORS & AWARDS
• Third Prize, Ministry of Education Awards for Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research (Humanities and Social Sciences) (2015)
• National Award for Outstanding Academic Monographs by Young Journalism Scholars (2016)
• National Award for Outstanding Papers in Journalism and Communication (2013, 2014)
• Third Prize, Journalism and Communication Academic Society Award (2016, 2017, 2019)
• Qihao Award for Young Scholars in New Media Research (2018, 2019)
• Outstanding Book, China Journalism and Communication Yearbook (2022–2023)
BOOKS
• Dai, J., & Zeng, F. (2022). Environmental Risk Communication in China: Actors, Issues and Governance. Routledge.
• Zeng, F. (2012). Negotiating Public Agenda in China: When NGOs Meet the Media. Shanghai Joint Publishing Press. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F. (2015). Media as Mediator: Citizen Activism and Public Deliberation. Shanghai Joint Publishing Press. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., & Dai, J. (2015). Risk Communication: The Road to Social Trust. Tsinghua University Press. [in Chinese]
• Dai, J., & Zeng, F. (2016). Environmental Communication: Issues, Risks, and Action. Tsinghua University Press. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., & Wang, Y. (2021). Disruptive Innovation in the Media Industry: From Media Innovation to Media Entrepreneurship. Tsinghua University Press. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., Lin, S., & Zhuang, Y. (2021). In-Depth Reporting: Topics, Concepts, and Methods. Tsinghua University Press. [in Chinese]
SELECTED JOURNAL ARTICLES
• Zeng, F., & Chen, X.* (2026). When energy transition needs negotiation: How multiple stakeholders communicate for a just transition in China. Energy Research & Social Science, 139, 104896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104896
• Zeng, F., & Chen, X. (2026). From global risk to local action: Local knowledge and climate adaptation communication in China. Journal of Social Science of Hunan Normal University, 55(4), 122–133. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., Xiang, H.*, Hou, Y., & Xu, J. (2026). From generational imagination to genuine dialogue: NGO practices, challenges, and strategic reconfiguration in youth climate communication. Journalism Research, (5), 33–46. [in Chinese]
• Wang, Y., & Zeng, F.* (2025). How climate communication connects the Chinese public: Audience segmentation and climate narratives. Global Journal of Media Studies, 12(6), 40–58. [in Chinese]
• Chen, X., & Zeng, F.* (2025). Who benefits from addressing climate change? Media narratives and discursive shifts concerning beneficiaries of climate governance. Shanghai Journalism Review, (12), 34–51. [in Chinese]
• Zhang, J., & Zeng, F. * (2025). Traditional or Modern？Chinese Cultural Value-based Research on the Public Engagement with Climate Change and Climate Change Narrative Strategies. Jinan Journal (Philosophy & Social Sciences), 47(9), 102–124. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., & Zhang, Z. (2024). A Values-based approach of climate communication: An exploration of values and climate change narratives of Generation Z in China. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 32(7), 27–44. [in Chinese]
• Wang, Y., & Zeng, F. * (2022). Public expression and government responsiveness on social media: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) of risk events. Shanghai Journalism Review, (10), 16–27. [in Chinese]
• Wang, Y., & Zeng, F. * (2021). Issue networks and political participation on social media: A comparative analysis of haze and GMO issues. Shanghai Journalism Review, (5), 55–67. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., Dai, J.*, & Javed, J. (2019). Frame alignment and environmental advocacy: The influence of NGO strategies on policy outcomes in China. Environmental Politics, 28(4), 747–770.
• Zeng, F., Dai, J.*, & Jiang, W. (2019). Authoritarian cooptation of urban protests in China: Normative, cognitive, and regulatory controls through the media. Chinese Journal of Communication, 12(2), 127–146.
• Dai, J., Zeng, F.*, & Wang, Y. (2017). Publicity strategies and media logic: Communication campaigns of environmental NGOs in China. Chinese Journal of Communication, 10(1), 38–53.
• Zeng, F., Dai, J., & Wang, Y. (2015). Technical risk vs. perceived risk: Communication processes and the social amplification of risk. Modern Communication (Journal of Communication University of China), (3), 40–46. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F.*, & Huang, Y. (2015). The media and urban contention in China: A co-empowerment model. Chinese Journal of Communication, 8(3), 233–252.
• Zeng, F., Dai, J., & Zheng, J. (2013). Frames contest, resonation and diffusion: An analysis on news coverage of PM2.5 issue. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication, (8), 96–108. [in Chinese; National Award for Outstanding Papers in Journalism and Communication]
• Zeng, F. (2013). Traditional media as mediators: A frame alignment process and policy change. Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies, (1), 37–50. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., & Huang, G. (2013). Exploring local media systems in China: An important political resource for urban contention. Communication & Society, 24, 119–154. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., Huang, G., & Liu, L. (2013). Virtual organizations of movement entrepreneurs: The Internet and new modes of social contention in contemporary China. Open Times, (3), 169–187. [in Chinese]
• Zeng, F., & Huang, G. (2012). The Composition, Linkage, and Policy Impact of Online Opinion Leader Communities: A Case Study of Weibo. Open Times, (4), 115–131. [in Chinese; National Award for Outstanding Papers in Journalism and Communication]
* Corresponding author.
Invited Q&A (2026): Invited contributor to the Nature Climate Change climate communication Focus, “Local stories in climate change communication.”
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS & POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Prospective master's and doctoral students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, with backgrounds in journalism, communication, or related social sciences are welcome to apply or explore opportunities for collaboration. I particularly value strong social science research training and sustained interests in public understanding, trust, engagement, risk governance, and sustainability transitions.
