Jianyu ZHANG , a native of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, was born into a family of jade carvers—his father Qinglei Zhang and mother Mei Yu are both highly respected in the field. From an early age, he developed a strong interest in jade carving. During his undergraduate studies in Arts and Crafts, his works won multiple awards and were collected by the university. After graduation, he began working professionally in jade carving, and his pieces have received gold awards in numerous provincial and national arts and crafts competitions.

​

He currently serves as Director of the Jinling Jade Carving Art Museum, and has been recognized as one of Nanjing’s Top 100 Outstanding Cultural Talents and an Outstanding Young and Mid-career Talent in Jiangning District. He is a consultant for the National Program on Integrating Traditional Chinese Culture into Curriculum, a member of the Nanjing Youth Federation, a certified evaluator and supervisor for vocational skills certification in Jiangsu Province, and an Honorary Mentor at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, under its “Excellence in Materials and Learning” Talent Program (“长材茂学，作育人才”).