Professor Li Anshan is widely regarded as the preeminent Chinese scholar on African affairs. Li, who’s now a professor emeritus at Peking University and President of the Chinese Association of African History, has shaped the Chinese intellectual discourse on Africa probably more than anyone else in academia.
While his books are mostly historical, he often writes and speaks publicly on contemporary Sino-African issues. Li’s comments are important because they reflect many of the themes articulated by government stakeholders and simultaneously help to inform official thinking on key African affairs.