Zhang Yunhua is Deputy Director-General of the Rural Economy Research Department in the Development Research Center of the State Council. He is concurrently Deputy Director of the Poverty Alleviation Office of DRC, and is a Research Fellow, and PhD.

His area of work are Agriculture economics, rural development, land systems and policies, grain policy, etc.

Zhang Yunhua was awarded the 13th Sun Yefang Prize in Economic Science (as one of the winning writers of a treatise); the 15th Sun Yefang Prize in Economic Science (as one of the writers of a specialized book); and was twice awarded the first prize for research on Chinese development and the Special Award for research on the topic of the State Council's Second National Agricultural Census.