Prof. Ye Zhi, is mainly engaged in research on urban forestry, forest cities, ecological culture, and ecological civilization. He has participated in compiling the National Forest City Development Plan (2018-2025), Construction Plan for Xiong'an New Area Forest City and etc. He took a leading role in formulating 20 forest city plans, and presided over the assessment of the National Forest City Master Planning for more than 40 cities.

Prof. Ye Zhi has mainly published the following works: What Kind of Forest City Does China Need?, The Concept and Practice of China's Urban Forests, The Balance Between Administrative Management and Ecological Governance, The Role of Forestry in Ecological Civilization, The Connotation and Requirements of Ecological Cultural System Construction, Ecological Civilization, Beautiful China and Forest Ecosystem Construction, Views of China's Forest City Construction, Cross-cutting and Integration: The Choice for Forest-based Health Preservation, Some Thoughts about the Construction of Forest City in Xiong’an New Area, etc.