Early Life and Education
Zhang Changhong was born in March 1958, in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. He attended Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU) in Xi'an, where he graduated in 1987 with a master's degree in philosophy.
Rise to Success
After completing his studies, Zhang worked as a teacher before entering the securities-services industry. By the 1990s, he was already making a name for himself in the sector, serving as general manager of the Shanghai Pudong branch of Beijing Wanguo Enterprise Service Co. and later as chairman and general manager of Shanghai Wanguo Stock Appraisal & Consulting. His founding of Shanghai DZH (formerly Shanghai Great Wisdom) in December 2000 marked a turning point, growing it into a major competitor to Bloomberg and Reuters in China. DZH obtained regulatory approval to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2011.
Key Business Strategies
Zhang's strategic vision involved a focus on providing real-time market data and trading software to the Chinese market, making DZH a key player in the financial information service industry. In the early 2000s, Zhang proposed a "full circulation" plan to resolve the split-share structure to promote the trading rights of non-tradable state and corporate shares to benefit the market. DZH's listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2011 further solidified its position.
Controversies
In 2016, DZH faced regulatory penalties and legal issues. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) found that DZH's 2013 annual report contained false information and had overstated its profit. Zhang resigned from his positions in 2016, after being fined and banned from the securities market for five years.
