Meiqi Ding is a PhD student in the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (HKIHSS) at The University of Hong Kong. Prior to entering the PhD project, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Chinese ancient history at Zhejiang Normal University. Before joining in PhD project, Meiqi worked as a full-time research assistant at the HKIHSS (2023-2024).

Her master's thesis, entitled "The Research on the convention of Qizheqian during Qing Dynasty" is a case study of Chinese traditional imaginary money system. In this study, she identifies the origin of Qizheqian and the development of imaginary money during Qing dynasty, which is regarded as an important proportion of Chinese copper coin money system. She also sheds lights on the multiplicity of copper coin in traditional market, and thus providing a new perspective to understand the currency divergence between account books and contracts in Qing dynasty.

Tentatively, under the primary supervision of Professor Zhiwu Chen and co-supervision of Professor Ghassan Moazzin, Meiqi will continue her research on the development of traditional financial market and money system in the Qing dynasty for her PhD project.