International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEAS

Academician

Xinchang ZHANG

Profile:

Elected Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences in 2016, Professor Xinchang Zhang is a Chinese cartographer and researcher in geographic information science whose professional work has focused on geographic information systems, geospatial information integration and dynamic updating, and digital and smart cities. Born in August 1957, he received his bachelor’s degree in cartography from Wuhan College of Surveying and Mapping in 1982 and worked as an engineer in surveying and mapping bureaus in Xinjiang and Hubei before obtaining his master’s degree in cartography and geographic information engineering from Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping in 1990. He subsequently taught at the university, was a Senior Visiting Scholar in the Department of Surveying at the University of East London from 1997 to 1998, and received his Ph.D. in cartography and geographic information engineering from Wuhan University in 2004. In 1994 he joined Sun Yat-sen University, where he established its undergraduate programme in geographic information systems and later served as Professor and Doctoral Supervisor in the School of Geography and Planning. Since 2017 he has also served as a Leading Professor under the Hundred Talents Programme at Guangzhou University. He is currently Professor at Sun Yat-sen University, Xiangjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor at Hunan University of Science and Technology, and Concurrent Professor at the State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing at Wuhan University. A founding Fellow of the Chinese Society for Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography, he has received the State Council Special Allowance and numerous national and provincial honours, including the title of National Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker and recognition as a leading figure in China’s smart-city development.

Back to list page →

Professor Zhang’s research has centred on the fusion, integration, and dynamic updating of multi-source and heterogeneous geospatial information, together with digital and smart city technologies. He developed theoretical models and technical methods for the integrated processing, intelligent extraction, and adaptive updating of heterogeneous geospatial data, establishing a technological framework covering data integration, information extraction, database updating, and application. He also developed an intelligent platform for geospatial information fusion and dynamic spatial-database updating, addressing the integration of large-scale spatial datasets and associated database updates. Building on this work, he proposed a whole-lifecycle spatial-planning information platform for coordinated urban and rural development and developed city spatiotemporal information platforms integrating sensing, data fusion, analysis, decision-making, and services. These platforms have been implemented in nearly 20 cities, including Guangzhou, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Zhengzhou, supporting applications in land management, spatial planning, and geological-disaster monitoring. He has led more than 70 research projects, including seven funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and has received two Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Awards and two First Prizes of the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards. He has published more than 300 papers and authored five monographs and 12 textbooks, including several national planning textbooks, and developed the national-level online open course Introduction to Geographic Information Systems. He has supervised postdoctoral researchers and doctoral and master’s students throughout his academic career. Through sustained research on geospatial information integration and updating, its application to urban development, and GIS education, Professor Zhang has contributed to the advancement of geographic information science and the digital and smart transformation of cities in China.