In 1989, Hongbin Li sat for the gaokao, China's college entrance exam. The high score he achieved launched him on his trajectory out of the Jilin factory in which he had grown up to his position now as co-director of the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions. An economist who taught previously at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University, Li’s research areas include the transition and development of the Chinese economy and the Chinese education system. His new b