Cheng Li Keynote Speaker

Expert on Chinese leadership politics and China-US relations
Founding Director of the Centre on Contemporary China and the World
Former director and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center

Cheng Li's Biography

Dr. Cheng Li is an expert in Chinese leadership politics. He is professor of political science and founding director of the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Li’s research areas include the transformation of political leaders, the Chinese middle class, technological development in China, Sino-U.S. relations, and global governance. Li is the author and editor of 19 books, including more recently China-U.S. Relations: Converging Visions in a Shifting Global Landscape (2024), Middle Class Shanghai: Reshaping U.S.-China Engagement (2021), The Power of Ideas: The Rising Influence of Thinkers and Think Tanks in China (2017), and Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era (2016).

Prior to joining the University of Hong Kong, Li served as director and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, where he remains a nonresident senior fellow. Dr. Li is also a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Distinguished Fellow of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at University of Toronto, a nonresident fellow at Yale University’s Paul Tsai China Center, and a scholar-in-residence in the Asia Society Hong Kong. Li received an M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Princeton University.

He is a professor of political science and founding director of the Centre on Contemporary China and the World at the University of Hong Kong, bringing academic authority and real world relevance to leadership audiences.
He draws on research spanning Chinese leadership politics, Sino U.S. relations and global governance to help leaders understand how shifting power dynamics shape strategy and risk.
He brings a track record as author and editor of 19 books, including China-U.S. Relations: Converging Visions in a Shifting Global Landscape (2024), to give audiences clear context and credible foresight on the forces remaking the relationship.
He leverages experience as former director and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center to deliver sharp, decision ready insight for senior executives and policy leaders.