Eric Xun Li,
born Li Shimo (; born 4 May 1968
), is a Chinese
venture capitalist
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
and nationalist commentator. He founded the Chinese nationalist news site
Guancha.cn, and has defended
single party rule in China versus a
multi-party system
In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...
.
Early life and education
Li was born and raised in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
. He went to the United States for higher education in the late 1980s. He received his BA in economics from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, and an MBA from the
Graduate School of Business at
Stanford University. He also has a PhD in political science from
Fudan University
Fudan University () is a national public research university in Shanghai, China. Fudan is a member of the C9 League, Project 985, Project 211, and the Double First Class University identified by the Ministry of Education of China. It is als ...
.
Business ventures
In 2000, Li returned to China and founded Chengwei Capital, with an investment portfolio of over $2 billion. Its top investments include
Youku, an Internet-based television service, and
Huazhu Hotels Group, a chain of Chinese budget hotels.
Views
In 2011, Li founded
Guancha.cn, a nationalist outlet.
Zihao Chen of
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
viewed the site as an online entity with "very conservative political attitudes".
In an
op-ed he wrote for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 2012, he said that China needed a different development framework around a different idea of modernity.
In a 2012 op-ed and a 2013
TED Talk
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
, Li advocated for China's one-party state on the grounds of "pluralism", saying that China has prospered under a "meritocratic system" and alleviated poverty without elections, and that its system is superior to Western democracy in several respects.
Some commentators have deemed Li's talk to be pro-China propaganda spread on a Western platform, using Western-style arguments and flexible rhetorics.
In a 2018 opinion piece he wrote for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', Li argued it was "a good thing" that
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...
and
paramount leader Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
abolished his
two-term limits for governing the country.
In a 2020 op-ed he wrote for ''
Foreign Policy'', Li said that Xi is a "good emperor".
In a 2021 opinion piece he wrote for ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
'', Li criticized liberal democracy in favor of the "current Chinese government" (which he described as a different form of democracy).
In a 2020 interview with
David Barboza, Eric Li described the China Policy of the Trump administration as an “irrational rivalry”, a competition in which the US is willing to hurt China even by hurting itself. He argued that global problems, such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, and the pandemic, have been neglected to a horrible degree due to the lack of cooperation between the two great powers. He hoped the Biden administration to moderate its hegemonic mindset and “bring about a period of calm” for both the US and China.
Affiliations
Li also serves on the board of directors of
China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), the board of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and the Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI). He is a trustee of Fudan University's China Institute, a trustee of the
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive of the University of California, Berkeley, a trustee of the
San Francisco Symphony, a trustee of Asia Society Hong Kong, a member of the international board of the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
, a member of the Council of the
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a British research institute or think tank in the area of international affairs. Since 1997, its headquarters have been Arundel House in London, England.
The 2017 Global Go To Think ...
(IISS), which organizes the annual
Shangri-La Dialogue
The IISS Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is a " Track One" inter-governmental security conference held annually in Singapore by an independent think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The dialogu ...
.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Eric
1968 births
Living people
21st-century Chinese businesspeople
21st-century Chinese scientists
Businesspeople from Shanghai
Chinese political scientists
Chinese venture capitalists
Fudan University alumni
Scientists from Shanghai
Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni
University of California, Berkeley alumni