Dongzhu Xu

Dongzhu Xu is a PhD candidate in Development Studies at SOAS, University of London, supervised by Professor Zoe Marriage and Professor Jonathan Di John.

His doctoral research examines the political economy of mineral wealth and poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with a particular focus on resource-for-infrastructure arrangements and Chinese investment in the Copper–Cobalt Belt. He is especially interested in why decades of large-scale copper and cobalt extraction, combined with substantial external financing, have failed to generate sustained poverty reduction.

Before joining SOAS, Dongzhu completed an MSc in the Political Economy of Late Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His broader research interests include development studies, political economy, economic history, and African studies. He also engages with debates on the energy transition, critical minerals, and green industrial policy, especially in Sub-Saharan African economies

Alongside his doctoral research, Dongzhu contributes regularly to the journal of the Institute of Area Studies at Tsinghua University and participates in the Conflict, Peace and Development research cluster at SOAS. He works in Chinese, English, and French, and can read and write Spanish.

PhD Development Studies (in progress)

SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies)  

MSc Political Economy of Late Development, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)  

BA Politics and Economics, University of Montreal

• Political Economy
• Poverty
• Economic History
• Critical Minerals
• Extractive Industries
• Green Transitions
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Sub-Saharan Africa