Dr. Wenquan Li is an Assistant Professor in Finance at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). He earned his PhD in Finance from The University of Queensland (UQ). He has been designated as a Jiangsu Provincial Innovation and Entrepreneurship PhD Talent and is also a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Dr. Li’s primary research interests include climate and environmental finance, household finance, and behavioral finance. His recent working papers also focus on corporate bonds and mergers & acquisitions.

His research has been presented at leading finance conferences, including the AFA, CICF, FMA, EFMA, EAA, FIRN, AsianFA, CAFM, and NZFM, among others. Multiple studies have also been featured on The FinReg Blog of the Duke Financial Economics Center at Duke University. Dr. Li’s papers have been published in the British Accounting Review (ABDC: A*), Journal of Financial Research (ABS: 3), International Journal of Finance & Economics (ABS: 3), and North American Journal of Economics & Finance (JCR: Q1). He was awarded the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Higher Degree by Research Theses at UQ, and his work has received an Editors’ Choice Award from the JFR. He collaborates closely with research-active scholars in the US, Singapore, China, Australia, the UK, and Canada on multiple research projects.

Dr. Li serves as an Editorial Board Member of Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (published by Nature Portfolio; Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS): Q1). He also serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for several high-quality journals and conferences, such as British Accounting Review; Journal of Business Finance and Accounting; Journal of Business Research; Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money; American Accounting Association Annual Meeting; Accounting & Finance; Pacific-Basin Finance Journal; Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting; Finance Research Letters; Accounting Research Journal; Emerging Markets Finance and Trade; and Kyklos: International Review for Social Sciences.

Dr. Li has also secured funded and industry-engaged research projects. He leads "Digital Finance Talent Development System and Pathways Study", a collaborative project with Bank of China (BOC) Jiangsu Branch, and serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) of an XJTLU Research Development Fund (RDF) grant that investigates the impact of artificial intelligence exposure on corporate decision-making.

In terms of service and engagement at XJTLU, he sits on the Finance Department Research Committee and serves as the Timetabling Officer for the Department of Finance. He has also supervised PhD candidates at SUSTech, master’s students at HEC Paris, and honours students at UQ.

Dr. Li leads the IntelliGreen Finance research group, which welcomes motivated students interested in green finance and AI in finance. His students have secured competitive placements in industry, such as Deloitte, China Galaxy Securities, and Latimer Partners, and progressed to postgraduate study at leading universities worldwide, such as NYU, NTU, Columbia, CMU, USC, UCL, HEC Paris, JHU, UCSD, CUHK, HKUST, HKU, Manchester, and Edinburgh, among others. He strives to provide timely and practical guidance, supporting students in developing rigorous research skills and producing high-quality work.

Moreover, Dr. Li has extensive experience in entrepreneurship projects and competitions. One of his earlier entrepreneurship ventures secured multi-million RMB funding and received the National Silver Award in China University Students’ “Internet Plus” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. He is also an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program in FinTech Research at Ant Group (Alibaba), where he led a team to investigate how FinTech can be leveraged to address financing constraints faced by small and micro firms.

Accepting PhD Students

Google Scholar, SSRN, ORCID, Web of Science

Primary: Climate/Environmental Finance; ESG; Household Finance; Behavioral Finance
Secondary: Corporate Innovation; Financial Accounting; Mergers & Acquisitions; Corporate Bonds; Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance

Assistant Professor in Finance, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, 2024 to present

Guest Lecturer / Casual Academic - Finance, The University of Queensland, 2022 - 2023

Casual Research Assistant, The University of Queensland, 2022 - 2023

Visiting PhD, Renmin University of China, 2021

Visiting PhD, Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), 2021

Casual Research Assistant, Shenzhen Finance Institute (SFI), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, 2018 - 2020

Casual Research Assistant, Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC), 2019 - 2020

2025, Jiangsu Provincial Innovation and Entrepreneurship PhD Talent (江苏省双创博士), Jiangsu Province, China

2025, Editors’ Choice Award for Academic CEOs and Corporate Innovation, Journal of Financial Research

2025, Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Excellent Poster, XJTLU

2024, Dean’s Award for Outstanding Higher Degree by Research Theses (Sole Recipient at UQ Business School), UQ

2021, UQ Graduate School Scholarships (UQGSS), UQ

2020, Outstanding Graduate (Sole Recipient from the MSc Finance Program), CUHK(SZ)

2020, Dean’s List, CUHK(SZ)

2020, First Class Academic Excellence Scholarship, CUHK(SZ)

2019, Outstanding Team Award – Young Leaders Program in FinTech Research, Ant Group

2018, Outstanding Graduate at the Undergraduate Level, HainanU

2017 & 2018, Certificate of Appreciation for Service, Boao Forum for Asia (BFA)

2016, National Silver Award in China University Students’ “Internet Plus” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, Ministry of Education, China

2016, First Class Comprehensive Scholarship, HainanU

2015, National Undergraduate Training Program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Program ID: 201510589007), Ministry of Education, China

FIN201 Corporate Finance (Module Leader)

FIN206 Securities Markets

BUS303 Final Year Project

FIN405 Industry Research Project

Behavioural Finance

Advanced Studies in Finance

Corporate Finance

Financial Econometrics

Financial Market and Financial Institutions

Advanced Derivatives

Climate Finance Workshop

Stata Workshop

Data Techniques: Practical Excel-Based Data Processing and Analysis (For BOC)

Practical Excel Applications in Workplace Scenarios (For BOC)