ZHENG Weidong is an assistant research fellow at the Research Institute on Economic Systems Reform, which is under the State Commission for Restructuring the Economic Systems (SCRES). He is responsible for social survey research in the office of the 'Social Survey Network'. With colleagues, he is conducting a sampling survey on reform situation and social psychology, which is undertaken twice a year with urban residents in 53 cities. This work entails sampling, questionnaire design, data collection control, data processing and report writing. His findings based on analysis of this survey data have been published in several books and many newspapers.

His main areas of interest include population and sustainable development, survey techniques, computer science, and the progress and applications of social surveys in investigating environmental awareness. His bachelor's degree in management science is from Shandong University (1992) and his master's degree in population research is from Peking University (1995). He has also completed additional professional training in survey techniques.