Eric Xun Li
李世默
Li in 2019
Born	Li Shimo (1968-05-04)May 4, 1968 (age 57)[1] Shanghai, China[2]
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley Stanford University Fudan University
Occupations	Venture capitalist, political scientist
Chinese name
Chinese	李世默
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Shìmò

Eric Xun Li,^[2] bornLi Shimo (Chinese:李世默; born May 4, 1968),^[1] is a Chineseventure capitalist and political scientist. He founded the Chinese nationalist news siteGuancha.cn (观察者网),^[3][4] and is a member of the board of directors at theChina Europe International Business School,^[5] as well as a trustee of the China Institute atFudan University.^[6] Li has several opinion pieces published inWestern media outlets where he criticizesliberal democracy and praises what he calls the "Chinese meritocratic system" and the Chinese political leadership.

Li was born inShanghai and raised by his grandmother, while his parents worked as academics in Beijing.^[7] He went to the United States for higher education in the late 1980s. He received his BA in economics from theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from theGraduate School of Business atStanford University. He later received a PhD in political science fromFudan University.^[8]

In 2000, Eric Li returned to China and established Chengwei Capital, an evergreen venture capital fund headquartered in Shanghai. With a cumulative total investment exceeding $2 billion U.S. dollars, the firm has invested in over 100 companies across various sectors such as communication software, enterprise software, financial services, IC design, niche component manufacturing, healthcare, and media.^[9][10] Its top investments includeSunny Optical Technology,AAC Technologies,Sungrow Power Supply,Hanting Hotel,Youku,China Renaissance, AInnovation, andRoivant Sciences. Its current investment portfolio also includes a number of unicorns, among them,Hellobike,WM Motor, Baibu, XAG,Sila Nanotechnologies, andStarFive. He serves as a member of the board of directors of the RISC-V International Association.^[11]

Li is the founder ofGuancha.cn, a digital news platform.^[12] Zihao Chen ofUniversity College London viewed the site as an online entity with "very conservative political attitudes".^[13]

In anop-ed he wrote forThe New York Times in 2012, he said that China needed a different development framework around a different idea of modernity.^[14]

In a 2012 op-ed and a 2013TED Talk, 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.^[15][16][17] Some commentators have deemed Li's talk to be pro-China propaganda spread on a Western platform, using Western-style arguments and flexible rhetorics.^[17][18]

In a 2018 opinion piece he wrote forThe Washington Post, Li argued it was "a good thing" thatGeneral Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party andparamount leaderXi Jinping abolished histwo-term limits for governing the country.^[19] In a 2020 op-ed he wrote forForeign Policy, Li said that Xi is a "good emperor".^[20]

In a 2020 interview withDavid Barboza, Eric Li described the China Policy of theTrump administration as an "irrational rivalry".^[21]

In a 2021 opinion piece he wrote forThe Economist, Li criticized liberal democracy in favor of the "current Chinese government" (which he described as a different form of democracy).^[22]

Li also serves on the board of directors ofChina 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 theBerkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive of the University of California, Berkeley, a trustee of theSan Francisco Symphony, a trustee of Asia Society Hong Kong, a member of the international board of theNew York Philharmonic, a member of the Council of theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), which organizes the annualShangri-La Dialogue.^{[23][24][25][26][6]}

• Party Life: Chinese Governance and the World Beyond Liberalism. Palgrave Macmillan Singapore. 2023.^[27]

• Party of the Century,Foreign Affairs, Oct 26, 2022
• The CCP’s Greatest Strength Is “Self-Reinvention”,Foreign Policy, July 2, 2021
• Why Xi’sLifting of Term Limits is a Good Thing,The Washington Post, Apr 2, 2018.
• Under Xi, a Chinese renaissance is assured, contrary to what the West believes,South China Morning Post, Nov 1, 2017
• Watching American Democracy in China,Foreign Affairs, Apr 19, 2016
• Why China’s Political Model Is Superior,The New York Times, Oct 6, 2014

• Huang, Yasheng (July 1, 2013)."Why democracy still wins: A critique of Eric X. Li's 'A tale of two political systems'".TED Blog. RetrievedMarch 21, 2021.
• Huang, Yasheng (April 25, 2014)."Why democracy still wins: A critique of Eric X. Li's 'A tale of two political systems'".Global Policy. Archived fromthe original on November 8, 2014. RetrievedDecember 22, 2016.
• Li, Eric (December 9, 2016)."The End of Globalism: Where China and the United States Go From Here".Foreign Affairs. RetrievedDecember 22, 2016.
• Li, Eric (April 19, 2016)."Watching American Democracy in China: Liberals and Conservatives After Trump".Foreign Affairs. RetrievedDecember 22, 2016.

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