Dr Zhe Li is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Finance & Accounting (Research & Education) and joined the School of Business and Management (SBM) at Queen Mary University of London in December 2021. He has also served as the co-program director for the BSc Accounting & Finance and Level 8 Asset Pricing & Econometrics programs at SBM since 2023. Before joining Queen Mary, Zhe was an Assistant Professor (Research-Focused) in Finance at Swansea University between 2020 and 2021. Zhe holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Birmingham (2020), an MSc in Business Finance and Accounting from the University of Warwick (2016), and a Bachelor's degree in Economics (Finance) from South China University of Technology (华南理工大学 20215).

He has received several university-level research and education awards in recent years, including Teacher of the Year (年度最佳教师), PGR Supervisor of the Year (年度最佳博士生导师), Education for Sustainable Development, Academic Advice Champion (年度最佳学术指导奖), and Innovative Teaching and Technology of the Year at the 2024 and 2025 Queen Mary University of London Education Excellence Award Ceremonies. He was also shortlisted for the 2024 QMUL Research and Innovation Award in the Research/PhD Supervisor category, ranking among the top 5 at QMUL.

His research interests primarily lie in empirical corporate finance, with a focus on corporate social responsibility (企业社会责任), sustainable finance (绿色金融), climate change issues (气候变化), artificial intelligence applications in corporate investment decisions (人工智能与投资活动), and corporate governance (公司治理). He investigates the role of foreign institutional investors, cross-border acquisitions & alliances, seasoned equity offerings, and top management team attributes in shaping firm behavior and decision-making. His work also explores social norms and community social capital, the impact of internal control and auditing services, and compensation incentives on mitigating agency conflicts and managerial ethical issues. Among others, Zhe has published in journals such as Abacus, the Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, the British Journal of Management, European Financial Management, the Journal of Financial Research, the Journal of Accounting Literature, the Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, the Accounting Forum, International Review of Financial Analysis, etc.