Dr Hongzhi Gao is an Associate Professor in International Business at the School of Marketing and International Business (SMIB), Victoria University of Wellington. He received his Master of Commerce (MCom) in Marketing with distinction in 2004 and his PhD in Marketing in 2009 from the University of Otago. He served as a Senior Lecturer in International Business at SMIB from 2009 to 2018, and previously held roles as a Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago from 2008 to 2009.

Before moving to New Zealand, Dr Gao worked as a senior analyst in foreign loans and risk management for the Jilin Provincial Government in China. In this role, he was responsible for a number of international projects funded by the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and various national governments. He was awarded the New Zealand Postgraduate Study Abroad Award in 2005 and the Early Career Researcher Award from the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago in 2007. He also received the Emerging Researcher Grant from the Asia New Zealand Foundation in 2008 and the Peking University New Zealand Centre Visiting Fellowship in 2014.

Dr Gao’s research has been published across multiple disciplines, including international business, marketing, management, ethics, and food science. His work has appeared in leading journals such as Journal of World Business, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of International Marketing, International Business Review, Long Range Planning, Journal of International Management, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, European Management Journal, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, Appetite, British Food Journal, and Journal of Business Communication. He has served on the editorial review boards of Industrial Marketing Management since 2012 and Journal of International Marketing since 2015. His teaching spans a wide range of subjects in marketing and international business.

Dr Gao has also held a Senior Research Fellow position at the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Centre, a multi-university programme based at Victoria University of Wellington involving partners from the University of Otago, University of Canterbury, Auckland University of Technology, University of Waikato, and the University of Auckland since 2012. He previously served as Associate Director of the Centre from 2009 to 2012.

Over the past 15 years, Dr Gao has focused on researching the marketing and international business strategies of New Zealand firms. He has provided consulting services and academic advice to numerous New Zealand organisations, particularly in relation to China and broader international markets.

In addition, Dr Gao has actively supported the Virtuoso Strings Charitable Trust, contributing to the development of a Porirua based youth orchestra over the past decade in roles as Chair, board member, and parent.