Yuan Jing, male, was born in October 1952 in Shanghai, with ancestral home in Tonghua, Jilin Province. He is a non-Party member, holds a doctoral degree, and graduated from the Graduate School of Chiba University, Japan. He joined the Institute of Archaeology in 1985 and retired in 2023. He is a Research Fellow, and has served as Director of the Archaeological Science and Experimental Research Center, Member of the Academic Committee of the Institute of Archaeology, Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Institute of Archaeological Science of Fudan University. He was also a Member of the 12th and 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

In 1998, he was awarded the title of "Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Expert with Distinguished Contributions" by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). In 2003, he was honored as "Advanced Individual Among National Returnees from Overseas Studies" jointly by six ministries including the Organization Department, the Publicity Department, the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, and the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China. In 2006, he received the Government Special Allowance issued by the State Council.

In 2002, his edited work Environmental Archaeology of Shell Mound Sites on the Jiaodong Peninsula won the "Second Prize for Excellent Scientific Research Achievements (4th Session) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences". In 2004, his co-authored work (as first author) Pig Domestication in Ancient China was awarded the "Third Prize for Excellent Scientific Research Achievements (5th Session) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences". In 2011, his co-authored work (as first author) New Zooarchaeological Evidence for Changes in Shang Dynasty Animal Sacrifice obtained the "Second Prize for Excellent Scientific Research Achievements (7th Session) of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences".

In 2012, he was conferred the title of "National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor" by the Ministry of Education and the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. In 2020, his monograph Chinese Zooarchaeology won the "Third Prize for Excellent Scientific Research Achievements (8th Session, Humanities and Social Sciences)" awarded by the Ministry of Education.

His research interests include zooarchaeology, environmental archaeology, and archaeological science. He has presided over the survey and excavation of 21 shell mound sites on the Jiaodong Peninsula, Shandong Province. He also participated in the excavation of several Neolithic sites, including Shizhaocun in Tianshui, Gansu Province, Xiehu in Lantian, Shaanxi Province, as well as the Kitsuka Shell Mound Site and Hazama Shell Mound Site in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. He has carried out the collation and research of unearthed animal remains at more than 50 sites across 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions nationwide.

He has presided over a number of research projects, including: National Social Science Fund of China Major Project "Environmental Archaeology and Ancient Human-Environment Relations"; National Social Science Fund of China Project "Study on Ancient Human-Environment Relations of Shell Mound Sites on the Jiaodong Peninsula"; National Natural Science Foundation of China Project "The Origin and Development of Agriculture, Livestock and Pottery in China"; Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Key Project "Environmental Archaeology of Shell Mound Sites on the Jiaodong Peninsula"; CASS Key Discipline Construction Projects "Archaeological Science" and "Key Laboratory of Archaeological Science"; CASS Class A Major Project "Methods and Technologies of Chinese Archaeology"; CASS Sino-European Cooperation Project "Bioarchaeology"; Projects under the "Project for Exploring the Origins of Chinese Civilization" of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, namely "Study on the Economic and Technological Development in the Central Plains Region from 2500 BC to 1500 BC and Its Relationship with Civilization Evolution", "Study on the Technological and Economic Conditions in the Formation and Development of Chinese Civilization from 3500 BC to 1500 BC", and "Study on Resources, Technology and Subsistence in the Yellow River, Yangtze River and West Liaohe River Basins from 3500 BC to 1500 BC"; as well as National Cultural Heritage Administration Projects "Atlas of Animal Bones", "Study on the Domestication, Breeding and Selection Technologies of Pigs in Ancient China and Their Influences", and "Study on the Origin of Domestic Horses in China".

•Yuan Jing. Zooarchaeology in China. Cultural Relics Press, 2015.

•Yuan Jing. Lecture Notes of Archaeological Science in China. Fudan University Press, 2018.

•Yuan Jing. Seeking Antiquity Through Animals: Discovering China in the Chinese Zodiac. Guangxi Normal University Press, 2023.

•Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (collab.). Shell Midden Sites in the Jiaodong Peninsula Studies in Environmental Archaeology. Social Sciences Academic Press, 1999.

•Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (collab.). Methods and Applications of Scientific and Technological Archaeology. Cultural Relics Press, 2012.

•Yuan Jing. "MAN'S MEAT-ACQUIRING PATTERNS IN NEOLITHIC CHINA". Acta Archaeologica Sinica, No. 1, 1999.

•Yuan Jing. "A Study on Animal Remains Unearthed from the Heying Site in Chuzhou, Anhui". Cultural Relics, No. 5, 2008.

•Yuan Jing. "The Reexamination on the Origination of the Domestication of Animals in China". Archaeology, No. 9, 2018.

•Yuan Jing. "The Rise and Fall of the Liangzhu Society in the Perspective of Subsistence Economy". Archaeology, No. 2, 2020.

•Yuan Jing. "Reflections and Research on Zooarchaeology in China". Cultural Relics in Southern China, No. 4, 2022.