Hao Chen is a political economist specializing in Chinese economic and political development. His research interests include state-business relations, leadership politics, and urban governance. He is currently working on a book manuscript, tentatively titled The Investor State: China’s Government Venture, Technology Innovation, and U.S.-China Competition, which examines the Chinese state’s role in driving technological innovation and the global implications of its industrial policies. The project focuses on government guidance funds in semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), analyzing how state-led innovation shapes the dynamics of U.S.-China strategic competition. His work has been published in The China Quarterly, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Journal of Public Management, among others, and has been featured in The Washington Post. He has served as a distinguished visiting professor at the Schwarzman Scholars Program, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California, and a research fellow at Harvard Business School. Hao holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston University.