Hugo Zhang
Head of Government Affairs China
Beijing, China
'It is RELX Group’s vision which continues to inspire me.'
I joined Elsevier, a RELX business, in 2006.
Prior to that, I worked in Chinese central government responsible for publishing policies. At that time, few people were leaving comfortable government jobs to join the private sector. China has a history of central and sophisticated civil bureaucratic rule. Central government jobs are always well respected in society with many people comparing them to a ‘Gold Rice Bowl’ - meaning guaranteed lifetime work. So my departure was surprising to many of my colleagues and friends.
It was also a huge transition for me personally. And thanks to my mentors, and many colleagues, I quickly adapted to the multinational culture. I started my job as Director of Business Development in Elsevier’s China team. Back then, the team was very small - less than 20 people in Beijing. So my responsibilities were actually broad - including local business strategy and development, journal cooperation and marketing, corporate communications and serving as vice chairman for a joint venture Elsevier has with a local STM publisher. Now, Elsevier has over 200 people in China - the strongest presence in its industry.
I took over the position of Managing Director of Elsevier Science & Technology China in 2008 and stayed in that position until late 2012.
Senior executives in both Elsevier and the wider RELX have a strong vision for China and our presence here. We have long term strategies, access to senior policy makers in government, a stronger voice for the industry, better people development and faster business growth.
I used to run a blog which talked about Elsevier’s mission and stories about our aim of becoming the best partner for the Chinese research community at a time when China was pursuing its journey to become a global scientific powerhouse.
Many younger colleagues joined the company after reading my blog. I was very proud of that.
I am still the founding chair of International Publishers Copyright Protection Coalition in China (IPCC) - an industry association I founded in 2010.
It is RELX's vision which continues to inspire me. My current role is Head of Government Affairs for RELX in China. This position gives me the opportunity to get to know all the businesses of RELX, and helps promote the great things we contribute to Chinese society - whether it is in STM, Big Data, business information or exhibition sectors.