Cheng Li

Cheng Li is uniquely positioned to examine US-China relations from both sides. He lived in the US for almost 40 years before accepting a new teaching position at Hong Kong University (HKU). He is currently a professor of political science there and the founding director of the Centre on the Governance of China.

Li is a highly-regarded academic on Chinese society and politics. He writes and speaks about Chinese leadership, the growing middle class, technological development, as well as foreign relations. Li is the author and editor of 17 books, including Middle Class Shanghai: Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement and Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era.

Prior to joining HKU, Li served as director and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, where he remains a nonresident senior fellow. Cheng Li has advised a wide range of US government, education, research, business, and not-for-profit organisations on work in China.

He is a director of the National Committee on US-China Relations and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Institute of Current World Affairs and the Committee of 100. Before joining Brookings, Li was the William R. Kenan professor of government at Hamiliton College, where he taught from 1991-2006.

Cheng Li is often called upon to share his unique perspectives and insights on CNN, CGTN, BBC, and ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, to name a few. He has also been featured in numerous publications such as, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Newsweek, Business Week, and Foreign Affairs. Li previously served as a columnist for the Stanford University journal “China Leadership Monitor” and is a regular speaker and participant at the Bilderberg Conference.

Li grew up in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution. In 1985, he moved to the United States where he received a MA in Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in Political Science from Princeton University.