Zhi Ling was a professor and tutor of postgraduates from the School of Economics and Management of Southwest Forestry University. She served as vice-dean of the School from 2005 to 2011. She obtained her Bachelor's degree and doctorate from Beijing Forestry University in 1982 and 2001, respectively. She worked as an in-service postdoctoral researcher at the Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences from 2001 to 2005. Her field of study is in the forestry economic management, financial accounting, and asset evaluation, etc. She has published over ninety papers and reports, two monographs, and four textbooks (as chief or deputy editor) before coming to GCC in 2019.