Hao Ping has assumed the presidency of Peking University (PKU), replacing Lin Jianhua who retired after holding the post for three years and eight months.

Born in 1959 in the coastal city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province, Hao enrolled at the PKU in 1978 and received a bachelor's degree in history in 1982. Later, he obtained a master's degree in history at the University of Hawaii in 1996 and a doctoral degree in international relations at the PKU in 1999.

Between 1982 and 2005, he worked at several posts in the PKU and became its vice president. After that, he served as president of Beijing Foreign Studies University (2005-09) and vice minister of education and director of the National Commission of the People's Republic of China for UNESCO (2009-16).

Hao was chairman of the PKU Council before taking the current position.