Cheng Li
Director of Research
The John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings Institution
Director of Research
The John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings Institution
Cheng Li is a Senior Fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. He is also the William R. Kenan Professor of Government at Hamilton College in New York.
Cheng Li grew up in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution. In 1985, he came to the United States where he received an M.A. in Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Political Science at Princeton University. In 1993-95, Dr. Li worked in China as a fellow of the U.S.-based Institute of Current World Affairs, observing grassroots changes in his native country. In China, Dr. Li had the opportunity to interview political and business leaders as well as people from everyday walks of life. Based on this experience, he published a nationally acclaimed book, Rediscovering China: Dynamics and Dilemmas of Reform (1997).
Dr. Li is also the author or the editor of China’s Leaders: The New Generation (2001), Bridging Minds Across the Pacific: The Sino-U.S. Educational Exchange 1978-2003 (2005), and China’s Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy (2007). He is currently completing two book manuscripts: Chinese Technocrats and Urban Subcultures in Shanghai. His academic writings have appeared in World Politics, China Quarterly, China Journal, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Critical Asian Studies, and Journal of International Migration and Integration.
Dr. Li has been a recipient of fellowships or research grants from the Freeman Foundation, the Peter Lewis Foundation, the Crane-Rogers Foundation, Charlotte E. Proctor Honorific Fellowship, the Emerson Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace, Hong Kong Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. In 2002-2003 he was a residential fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
He has frequently been called upon to share his unique perspective and insights as an expert on China. He recently appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, BBC, VOA, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose Show, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, and NPR Diane Rehm Show. He has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Time, the Economist, Newsweek, Business Week, and numerous other publications. Dr. Li is also a columnist for the Stanford University Journal, China Leadership Monitor.
Dr. Li has advised a wide range of government, education, research, business and not-for-profit organizations on work in China. Dr. Li is a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a trustee of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Hanover, New Hampshire, a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Congressional U.S.-China Working Group, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. policy toward China, a member of Committee of 100, a council member of the Institute for International Research at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and a member of the U.S. National Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific.
Cheng Li grew up in Shanghai during the Cultural Revolution. In 1985, he came to the United States where he received an M.A. in Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Political Science at Princeton University. In 1993-95, Dr. Li worked in China as a fellow of the U.S.-based Institute of Current World Affairs, observing grassroots changes in his native country. In China, Dr. Li had the opportunity to interview political and business leaders as well as people from everyday walks of life. Based on this experience, he published a nationally acclaimed book, Rediscovering China: Dynamics and Dilemmas of Reform (1997).
Dr. Li is also the author or the editor of China’s Leaders: The New Generation (2001), Bridging Minds Across the Pacific: The Sino-U.S. Educational Exchange 1978-2003 (2005), and China’s Changing Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy (2007). He is currently completing two book manuscripts: Chinese Technocrats and Urban Subcultures in Shanghai. His academic writings have appeared in World Politics, China Quarterly, China Journal, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Critical Asian Studies, and Journal of International Migration and Integration.
Dr. Li has been a recipient of fellowships or research grants from the Freeman Foundation, the Peter Lewis Foundation, the Crane-Rogers Foundation, Charlotte E. Proctor Honorific Fellowship, the Emerson Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace, Hong Kong Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. In 2002-2003 he was a residential fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
He has frequently been called upon to share his unique perspective and insights as an expert on China. He recently appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, BBC, VOA, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Charlie Rose Show, Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria, and NPR Diane Rehm Show. He has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Financial Times, Time, the Economist, Newsweek, Business Week, and numerous other publications. Dr. Li is also a columnist for the Stanford University Journal, China Leadership Monitor.
Dr. Li has advised a wide range of government, education, research, business and not-for-profit organizations on work in China. Dr. Li is a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a trustee of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Hanover, New Hampshire, a member of the Academic Advisory Group of the Congressional U.S.-China Working Group, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on U.S. policy toward China, a member of Committee of 100, a council member of the Institute for International Research at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center, and a member of the U.S. National Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific.