Leading the collisional system working group and directing the Chinese working groups to study collision and continental growth as well as mineral deposits of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen, China.

    Born in 1961, Zengqian obtained his Ph.D. degree from China University of Geosciences (Beijing) in 1988, and undertook post-doctoral research at the Geological Survey of Japan in 1993-1994. He specialized in Chinese mineral deposit genesis and integrated exploration methods. He is currently Director of the Institute of Geology, CAGS (Beijing) and regional Vice-President of the Society of Geology Applied to Mineral Deposits(SGA). Hou’s major interests are in the delineation and characterization of mineral systems such as the formation of metallic ore deposits in continental collision zones and intracontinental settings. He was in charge of two national 973 projects on “Metallogensis of the Tibetan Collisional Orogen (2002-2007)” and “Continental Assembly and Metallogenesis in Tibet “(2011-2015), and is now the chief scientist for the National Key R&D Program of China on “Deep Structure and Ore-forming Process of Main Mineralization systems in the Tibetan Orogen” (2016-2020). He obtained a Golden Hammer Award (1993) and a Huang Jiqing Award (2006) of the Geological Society of China, and a National Science and Technology Award of China (2006). He served as Associate Editor of Mineral Deposits and is currently on the editorial board of Science in China. He was involved in collaboration with numerous geologists internationally and has organized and edited four special issues in international journals on ore deposits (Ore Geology Reviews, Exploration and Mining Geology). He published more than 160 scientific papers in both domestic and international journals.