AI Outperforms Traditional Methods in Controlling Disease Spread Between Prisons and Communities
A reinforcement learning AI model used by SHP researchers achieved high reductions in infections with far fewer resources used for testing and much less intense non-pharmaceutical interventions.
AI-augmented Class Tackles National Security Challenges of the Future
In classes taught through the Gordian Knot Center, artificial intelligence is taking a front and center role in helping students find innovative solutions to global policy issues.
On November 20, 2025 The Economist published their list of the best books of 2025 and included Hongbin Li's new book, "The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China" in the line-up.
Hongbin Li and Ruixue Jia joined Yiqing Xu for a fireside chat on their newly published book, "The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China." Watch the recording and see event highlights.
"The Highest Exam: How the Gaokao Shapes China", written by Ruixue Jia, Hongbin Li, and Claire Cousineau, combines rigorous research with compelling personal narratives to reveal how the gaokao has become much more than a test: it is a tool to shape China’s society and economy.
Co-authors Hongbin Li and Ruixue Jia write for the WSJ, "The Test That Rules Chinese Society: The gaokao is China’s college entrance exam, but it shapes the country and its people far beyond the classroom."
At the 2025 SCCEI China Conference, Elizabeth Economy, Hargrove Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, outlined China’s ambitious bid to reshape the global order—and urged the U.S. to respond with vision, not just rivalry, during a Fireside Chat with Professor Hongbin Li, Senior Fellow and SCCEI Faculty Co-Director.
SCCEI is pleased to announce the formation of the SCCEI Faculty Steering Committee. The committee consists of our two co-directors, Hongbin Li and Scott Rozelle, as well as three esteemed faculty members, Grant Miller, Jennifer Pan, and Xueguang Zhou.
"By 2016, China had the world’s largest stock of operational robots. This was a massive increase from 2010, when it trailed Japan, the United States, Germany, and South Korea. To learn why and how China is automating so rapidly, [Erin Slawson] spoke with Dr. Hongbin Li, Co-Director of the Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI)."
Hongbin Li's research finds that "In China, the college entrance exam score is predictive for both firm success and wage-job success in the future, yet higher-score individuals are less likely to create firms."
Stanford Center on China’s Economy and Institutions (SCCEI) Co-Directors Scott Rozelle and Hongbin Li hosted a “Faculty Meet & Greet” event to introduce the academic community to the work they will be doing under the new center. They were joined by 9 Stanford faculty affiliates who briefly presented their research projects within SCCEI's 6 flagship research initiatives.
