Name: Li Xinfeng
Title: General-Director of IWAAS, Executive President of the China-Africa Institute, Senior Research Fellow, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor
Contact: Lixinfeng@cass.org.cn
Resume:
Li is the deputy secretary general of the China Prose Society; deputy secretary general of the China Reportage Society; deputy chairman of Chinese Society of African Historical Studies; standing director of the China African Research Society; and Vice-President of The Asia-Africa Association of China.
Li graduated from the English Language College of Xi’an International Studies University in 1981 and started teaching at the same university. He was twice admitted into the graduate school of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and was awarded a master degree in law and a doctoral degree in management. He was later awarded a master degree in arts by Wales University in Great Britain at the completion of his government-funded studies. In 2006, Li, as a member of “Servicing Doctor Team,” worked as an assistant to the Western Hunan Autonomous Prefecture governor. He was a member of the 8th China Youth Federation, and became a member of the China Writers’ Association in 2007 and a member of the China Photographers’ Association in 2008.
Li has been a senior reporter, South Africa division director, and chief reporter of the People’s Daily, and a special reporter for People’s Daily Online and The Global Times. He has traveled more than half of the African continent. He was the first Chinese reporter who visited descendants of the Zheng He fleet on Pate Island in Kenya, who discovered Mwamaka Sharif, the “Chinese Student,” and the only Asian reporter who visited and reported on the inland areas of Somalia since the civil war broke out there.
He published two monographs------Following Zheng He’s Footsteps in Africa and an Unusual Journey across the African Continent. Former Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao gave inscriptions to his first book in 2006 and the two books won a series of national prizes. He is also the chief editor of two books: Zheng He and Africa and Darfur Issue under the Global Perspective which aroused general concern.
At present, he is the team leader on Chinese side of the joint project------Chinese in Africa and Africans in China which is a co-operation between CASS and Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) of South Africa. He was also the chief researcher of the CASS innovation program------Ethics issue and African development studies.
Major Field of Research:
Relations between China and African countries
Ethics problem in Africa
Peace and security
Major Publications:
Books:
1. Li Xinfeng, A Reporter’s Exploration Following Zheng He’s Footsteps in Africa, Yunnan: Chenguang Publishing House, 2005. Second Edition, Beijing: China Social Science Press, 2013.
2. Li Xinfeng, My Experience as a Journalist in Africa: An Unusual Journey across the Continent, Yunnan: Chenguang Publishing House, 2005. Second Edition, Beijing: China Social Science Press, 2013.
3. Li Xinfeng, China in Africa: in Zheng He’s Footsteps, South Africa: HSRC Press, 2017.
As Editor:
1. Lixinfeng eds., Zheng He and Africa, Beijing: China Social Science Press, 2012.
2. Liu Hongwu and Lixinfeng eds., Darfur Issue under the Global Perspective, Bejing: World Affairs Press, 2008.
Papers:
1. Li Xinfeng, Zheng He’s Voyages to Western Oceans and Contemporary China’s African Policy, West Asia and Africa, No.10, 2010, pp.50-57.
2. Li Xinfeng, The Cause of Zimbabwe’s Land Problems, African Studies, No.1, 2011, pp. 199-212.
3. Li Xinfeng, The Characteristics and Effects of Referendum in Southern Sudan, West Asia and Africa, No.4, 2011, pp.3-10.
4. Li Xinfeng, “The Voyage of ‘Extremely Far from China’: Research on the Relationship between Zheng He and Africa”, Li Anshan eds., Annual Review of African Studies in China, Beijing: Peking University Press, 2011.
5. Li Xinfeng, On Mandela’s Spirit and Its Causes, West Asia and Africa, No.6, 2014, pp.65-80.
6. Li Xinfeng, The Cornerstones of China-Africa Friendship: Sincerity, Real Results, Friendship, and Good Faith, Qiushi, No.9, 2013, pp. 52-53.
7. Li Xinfeng, The Cornerstones of China-Africa Friendship, Qiushi (English Edition), No.5, 2013.
8. Li Xinfeng, Zhang Chunyu, Zhang Mengying, China’s Role in Peace and Security Cooperation in the Gulf of Guinea, China International Studies, No.4, 2017, pp. 113-123.
9. Li Xinfeng, Complexity Assessment of China-Africa Media Communication and Cooperation, South Africa: Institute for African Studies Press, 2013.
10. Li Xinfeng, Textual Research of Zheng He’s Mission in Pate Island Kenya, Joint published by Cheng ho Cultural Museum (Melaka) and Zheng He International Association, 2012.