Lei Guang is the So Family Executive Director of the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy.

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He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota and is professor emeritus of political science at San Diego State University. His scholarly research has focused on the Chinese state and society, political economy and U.S.-China relations. He has also written on Indian politics, including China-India relations. He is on the editorial boards of The China Quarterly and The China Journal, two leading academic journals on China.