Dongshu Zhou

Director

European Institute of Law (EIL)

Biography

Dongshu Zhou is Director of the European Institute of Law.

Dr. Zhou is a legal scholar specialising in AI governance, data law and digital sovereignty, with research and policy experience across European universities, public institutions and international research collaborations. His work focuses particularly on the interaction between European and Chinese legal and regulatory systems and the broader transformation of law and regulatory power in the digital age.

He is currently a Senior Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and at the Law Department of the European University Institute (EUI).

He has previously been a Visiting Scholar at Leiden University and an expert member of Leiden Asia Centre.

Alongside his academic work, Zhou has contributed to legal and policy discussions at both national and European levels. He previously served as a member of a legal expert group of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, contributing to work concerning the digital economy and related legal policy.

He currently contributes to European data protection and regulatory discussions as a member of a legal expert group associated with the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). His professional experience also includes legal work with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Italy.

Dr. Zhou is qualified to practise law in Italy and the European Union and became the first Chinese national admitted to the Bologna Bar Association. He pursued his doctoral studies (Phd in European Law) at the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna.

Contact info

dongshu.zhou@eilaw.eu

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Research Areas

AI Governance
Personal Data Law
Data Law
Digital Sovereignty
Comparative Law
EU–China Legal Studies
Generative AI
Deepfakes
Social Scoring
Fundamental Rights

Working languages

Italian, Chinese, English