Source: CRI Online
International Online News (Reporter: Han Donglin): In the waves of globalization and the technological revolution, there is a figure who has straddled multiple fields such as physics, finance, and technology. With his unique cross – disciplinary perspective and unremitting efforts, he has written a wonderful life of his own and built a solid bridge for Sino-US scientific and technological cooperation. He is Li Daxi, the Chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Business (CASB). Recently, the reporter interviewed Mr. Li Daxi, listened to his unique insights on “new – quality productivity”, and his cross – disciplinary exploration in Sino – US scientific and technological cooperation.
(CMG Global Exclusive Interview)
Daxi Li, Chairman of the Chinese Association for Science and Business (CASB)
A Transboundary Life: A Gorgeous Transformation from Particles to Capital
Li Daxi’s dream of physics began in his youth. In high school, he self-studied physics and advanced mathematics at the High School Affiliated to South China Normal University, laying a solid foundation for his future physics research. In 1979, he passed the China-U.S. Physics Examination and Application with the excellent result of the second place in the country, and went to the United States for graduate study. He dedicated himself to the research of superstring theory at the City University of New York, trying to explain why humans live in a four-dimensional space-time. After ten years of hard study and research, he made some breakthroughs in the research of superstring theory, which made him stand out in the physics community.
Facing the complexity of superstring theory and the long research cycle, Li Daxi decided to switch to the financial field at the invitation of a Wall Street headhunter. “Physics taught me to use mathematical models to analyze complex systems, and the financial market is essentially a dynamic system composed of countless ‘economic quanta’.” Li Daxi integrated the probability thinking of quantum mechanics into financial modeling, developed a stock price prediction system based on neural networks, and, through the joint efforts of his colleagues in the association, successfully warned of risks during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. This cross – disciplinary practice of “deconstructing finance with physical thinking” not only made him stand out on Wall Street but also quietly nurtured his initial understanding of “new-quality productivity” – when knowledge flows across disciplinary boundaries, it can give birth to the power to change the world.
New – Quality Productivity: The Innovation Code Penetrating the Three Industrial Revolutions
In order to better serve Sino-US scientific and technological cooperation, Li Daxi, together with many influential Chinese-American scientists on Wall Street and in the academic community, founded the Chinese Association for Science and Business (CASB) in 1997. The association is committed to promoting the development of venture capital in China and strengthening scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States. The first major project they promoted was to assist the four major Chinese banks in stripping non-performing assets and introducing international advanced risk management concepts.
After that, they jointly established the Shenzhen Overseas Students Venture Park with the Shenzhen Municipal Government and stipulated that it would be managed by overseas students sent by CASB, providing strong support for overseas students to start businesses when they returned to China. In 2000, when the first batch of returnees brought back technical drawings, what Li Daxi promoted was not only a physical space but also an innovative ecosystem of “technology + finance + system”. Up to now, 14 listed companies have been incubated here. The secret lies in combining the venture capital concept with government – guided funds and activating intellectual assets with a market-based mechanism. “Today, the boom in fields such as AI, new energy vehicles, and biomedicine is the embodiment of new-quality productivity in the industrial sector – when engineers meet capital and laboratories connect with the market, a chemical reaction occurs.”
In Li Daxi’s view, “new-quality productivity” is the underlying logic that connects the industrial revolution, the information revolution, and the intelligent revolution. It breaks through the limitations of traditional productivity that rely on physical assets, establishes computing power, algorithms, and data as the core elements of AI, and reconstructs production relations through interdisciplinary integration. “Just as superstring theory attempts to unify the four fundamental forces, the mission of ‘new-quality productivity’ is to use innovation capabilities to break through the ‘key links’ of scientific and technological transformation.”
Technological Game: Searching for the “Third Space” of Cooperation
The year 2001 was an extraordinary year for Li Daxi. In this year, he had a deeper understanding of the value of technology and became more determined to contribute to the country and society. “One day, I suddenly realized that what humanity needs most is not technological confrontation but the ability to cooperate to solve common challenges.” Since then, he has devoted more energy to Sino-US scientific and technological cooperation, committed to promoting the common progress and development of global science and technology. He led CASB to build a “third space” between the scientific and technological communities of China and the United States: in the field of biomedicine, he promoted the use of AI to analyze the Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon), combining traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation and treatment with gene-editing technology; in the semiconductor field, he advocated an asymmetric strategy of “mature manufacturing process + special process”, avoiding direct competition in high-end chips and establishing advantages in niche fields such as power semiconductors.
Facing the occasional phenomenon of technology blockade in the international community, Li Daxi put forward the view that “institutional innovation takes precedence over technological breakthroughs”: “Why could Huawei and DJI be born in Shenzhen? Because it was the first to break through the institutional barriers to the transformation of scientific research achievements. When we establish a more flexible talent flow mechanism and a more inclusive venture-capital ecosystem, technological breakthroughs will naturally occur.” He particularly emphasized being vigilant against politicizing scientific and technological issues. “The principles of quantum computing have no national boundaries, and human fear of diseases has no national boundaries. The ultimate goal of scientific and technological innovation is to enable every country to find the ‘quantum – state superposition’ of development through cooperation.” He believes that true innovation often occurs at the margins of disciplines, achieving value leaps through the recombination of elements.
Building Certainty in Uncertainty
When talking about the current popular “cross-disciplinary craze”, Li Daxi smiled and talked about the “T-shaped knowledge structure diagram”: “The vertical axis represents professional depth. My physics background allows me to understand the essence of technology; the horizontal axis represents cross-disciplinary breadth. Finance and technology management have given me business thinking. True cross-discipline is not just scratching the surface but extending tentacles into unknown fields after establishing a coordinate system in the in-depth field.”
He shared his epiphany on Wall Street: when traditional financial models could not predict market black swans, it was the chaos theory of physics that made him see the light – “There are certain laws hidden in uncertainty, and the key is to have cross-disciplinary decoding capabilities.” For young people, he suggested “crossing disciplines with problems”: “Don’t cross disciplines for the sake of crossing disciplines. Instead, just like doctors looking for treatment plans, use multi-disciplinary tools to solve specific problems.”
Li Daxi encouraged young people to maintain curiosity and the habit of continuous learning. In his view, cross-discipline is not an escape but a search for breakthroughs in higher dimensions. “Institutional innovation is an important driving force for promoting scientific and technological development.” Li Daxi also encouraged young people to have the courage to challenge the existing institutional framework and actively explore new cooperation models and development paths. The “finance-physics” cross-model he created on Wall Street is still a classic case of AI risk management. At the same time, he has always been committed to breaking down industry barriers, from promoting venture-capital legislation to establishing cross-border incubators, constantly creating a favorable environment for scientific and technological innovation.
Anchoring the Direction in the “Superposition State” of Civilizations
At the end of the interview, Li Daxi was filled with emotions. He believed that the ultimate mission of “new-quality productivity” is not to create more wealth but to reconstruct the way humans get along with knowledge – making every brain a neuron that lights up civilization. With his unique cross-disciplinary life and profound understanding of “new-quality productivity”, Mr. Li Daxi has demonstrated the demeanor of a pathfinder of the times. “Scientific and technological cooperation should be like DNA, with two chains intertwined but still independent, jointly carrying the code of civilizational progress.” From superstring theory to new-quality productivity, from Wall Street to Shenzhen Bay, his cross-disciplinary life has always been guided by a belief: when knowledge breaks through boundaries and innovation crosses the divide, humanity will eventually find the “optimal solution” to meet challenges through cooperation.
Just as he inscribed on the wall of the Shenzhen Overseas Students Venture Park: “Cross – discipline is not the end but the starting point of innovation.” In this era of technological reconstruction of the world, Li Daxi’s exploration has not only written a personal legend but also shown us that only by breaking through the “four-dimensional space-time” of cognition can we create the “new-quality universe” of the future. In the days to come, we look forward to him continuing to contribute more wisdom and strength to the cause of Sino-US scientific and technological cooperation and leading Sino-US cooperation to move forward continuously on the path of scientific and technological innovation.
