Qiren Zhou graduated from Renmin University of China in 1982. In 1980s, he worked for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Research Centre for Rural Development of the State Council, as he was engaged in the research of China's reform and development. From 1989, he visited and studied at University of Oxford, University of Colorado, University of Chicago, and then University of California Los Angeles where he got his Ph.D. degree.Since January 1996, he joined China Centre for Economic Research at Peking University (CCER). He was the Dean of National School of Development (NSD) at Peking University from 2008 to 2012.He also served as a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People's Bank of China during 2010-1012. His researches focus on Property Rights and Contracts, Economic Institution Change, Firms and Market Organization, Monopoly and Regulation, Land System Reform and Urbanization, Money and Banking, etc.