Dr. Zaharul Abdullah is a Senior Lecturer at the Asia-Europe Institute, Universiti Malaya. He earned his PhD in the political economy of development from the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Prior to his current appointment, he served as a lecturer at several Malaysian public universities, including Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and previously held the position of Research Officer at the Akademi Profesor Malaysia (APM). His academic expertise centres on China–Southeast Asia relations, China–US relations, developmental state theory, and the political economy of infrastructure and economic cooperation, with particular emphasis on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Dr. Zaharul has published extensively in Scopus-indexed journals such as International Journal of China Studies, International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, and Kajian Malaysia. He currently leads several competitive research grants and is an active contributor to policy discussions in Malaysian media, including Berita Harian and Malaysiakini.