Rural geography / Rural development / Rural industry

Agricultural geography / Land use policy / Land consolidation

Loess Plateau / Black Soil Region / China

2014/09--2017/06, Ph.D. in Human Geography, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS

2011/09--2014/06, M.S. in Natural Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS

2007/09--2011/06, B.S. in Resources & Environment and Urban and Rural Planning, Shandong Normal University

   

2020/12~ , Associate Professor, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS

2019/11~2020/12, Assistant Professor, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS

2017/07~2019/11, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS

   

Qianxi Zhang, Zhi Cao*, Yansui Liu*, Fei Li. “Rural molecular” structure transformation from star-like aggregates of “village atoms” to networked chains in China. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 2026, 13: 1133.

Zhou Xue, Cao Zhi*. Progress of research on land use pattern change and optimization in the slope-gully system of the loess hilly-gully region in China. Progress in Geography, 2026, 45(3): 485-498. (in Chinese)

Qianxi Zhang, Zhi Cao*, Sixin Su, Xuanchang Zhang*. Quantifying and categorizing development paths of poverty-elimination counties in China: Based on the perspective of population-land-industry. Geography and Sustainability, 2025, 6: 100218.

Cao Zhi, Huang Yijia. Rural land use problems and optimization approaches from the perspective of rural territorial system. Progress in Geography, 2024, 43(9): 1853-1864. (in Chinese)

Cao Zhi, Han Zhen, Li Yurui, Wang Jieyong. Distribution of topographical changes triggered by prolonged heavy rainfall in the Chinese Loess Plateau: A case study of the Gutun catchment in Yan’an. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2024, 34(3): 571-590.

Zhi Cao, Yansui Liu, Yurui Li. Rural transition in the loess hilly and gully region: From the perspective of “flowing” cropland. Journal of Rural Studies, 2022, 93: 326-335.

Li Yurui, Zhang Xuanchang, Cao Zhi*, Lu Zhi, Liu Yansui*. Towards the progress of ecological restoration and economic development in China's Loess Plateau and strategy for more sustainable development. Science of The Total Environment, 2021, 756: 143676.

Cao Zhi, Liu Yansui, Li Yurui, Wang Yongsheng. Spatial pattern and its influencing factors of specialized villages and towns in China. Acta Geographica Sinica, 2020, 75(8): 1647-1666. (in Chinese)

Zhi Cao, Yurui Li, Zhengjia Liu, Lingfan Yang. Quantifying vertical distribution pattern of land-use conversion in the loess hilly region of northern Shaanxi during 1995-2015. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(5): 730-748.

Cao Zhi, Li Yurui, Chen Yufu. Approaches to rural transformation and sustainable development in the context of urban-rural integration. Acta Geographica Sinica, 2019, 74(12): 2560-2571. (in Chinese)

Zhi Cao, Xiaoyu Zheng, Yansui Liu, Yurui Li, Yufu Chen. Exploring the changing patterns of China’s migration and its determinants using census data of 2000 and 2010. Habitat International, 2018, 82: 72-82.

Zhi Cao, Yurui Li, Yansui Liu, Yufu Chen, Yongsheng Wang. When and where did the Loess Plateau turn “green”? Analysis of the tendency and breakpoints of the normalized difference vegetation index. Land Degradation & Development, 2018, 29: 162-175.

Yurui Li, Zhi Cao, Hualou Long, Yansui Liu, Wangjun Li. Dynamic analysis of ecological environment combined with land cover and NDVI changes and implications for sustainable urban–rural development: The case of Mu Us Sandy Land, China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017, 142: 697-715.

Cao Zhi, Min Qingwen, Liu Moucheng, Bai Yanying. Ecosystem-service-based ecological carrying capacity: concept, content, assessment model and application. Journal of Natural Resources, 2015, 30(1): 1-11. (in Chinese)

Students supervised

PhD students: Xue Zhou

Master's students: Qianxi Zhang, Yijia Huang 

Students currently supervising

Master's students: Yizhu Ruan, Shiqi Wang