Zhang Yaping, born in Yunnan Province 1965, is the Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).　

As a research professor of Kunming Institute of Zoology, he has been conducting research on molecular evolution and genome biodiversity.

He was elected CAS academician in 2003 and academician of Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2007. He also sits on editorial board for several international periodicals including Genome Biology and Evolution, and Animal Genetics.