Professional Affiliation

Assistant Professor at Georgetown University

Expert Bio

Ning Leng is an Assistant Professor of political science at the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University. She specializes in the political economy of China, authoritarianism, and China in the world. Her first book, "Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party-State in China" (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming) reveals how the Chinese state solicits political services from companies, when and why this occurs, and how it leads to an unstable investment environment and unsustainable development outcomes. Her other works include studies of bureaucratic politics in China, Chinese companies, censorship, and global public opinion towards Chinese investments and lending practices in developing countries.

Dr. Leng's research is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Georgetown Americas Institute, the Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies, and various other research grants. Dr. Leng received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was previously a postdoctoral fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Wilson Center Project

Chinese Companies in South America: Success, Failure, and Influence

Project Summary

Dr. Leng is currently working on her second book, which explores Chinese investments in South America. Focusing on the economic and political activities of Chinese companies in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, the project examines their influence on regulatory environments in host countries. Bridging research on the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) and authoritarian diffusion, this book assesses the extent of China’s FDI influence and the factors that facilitate or constrain it. This book project is based on original datasets of Chinese companies’ bidding and lobbying records, as well as extensive fieldwork in South America.