Speaker: Ji Li, John & Marilyn Long Professor of US-China Business and Law, University of California – Irvine

Rising geopolitical tensions have significantly amplified the risk of international trade and investment for Chinese firms. How do they cope with it? What is the role of law? How do their coping strategies implicate US-China relations? These important questions have received little academic attention. To narrow the gap, Ji Li conducted multi-year surveys of Chinese companies operating in the US, about 180 interviews with business and legal professionals, and archival research involving numerous legal documents. The study found a theoretically and empirically nuanced picture featuring firm-level variations based on multiple factors such as ownership structure and cultural differences. Notably, the coping strategies, especially legal strategies, adopted by Chinese firms have lasting impacts on both US law and US-China relations. 

Professor Li joined UCI Law in July 2019 as the John S. and Marilyn Long Professor of U.S.-China Business and Law. Prior to the appointment, he was Professor of Law and Zhuang Zhou scholar at Rutgers University and a member of the Associate Faculty of the Division of Global Affairs.

Professor Li received a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University and a J.D. from Yale Law School where he was an Olin Fellow in Law, Economics and Public Policy. After law school, he practiced corporate and tax law for several years in the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.

Professor Li’s teaching and scholarship explores a broad range of topics including Chinese law and politics, international business transactions, contracts, comparative law, and empirical legal studies.