September 2015

Melanie Hart is a Senior Fellow and Director for China Policy at the Center for American Progress, an independent nonpartisan policy institute based in Washington, D.C. She leads the Center’s work on China and U.S.-China relations. Her most recent work focuses on developing a comprehensive U.S. strategy toward China, analyzing the domestic political factors driving Chinese foreign policy in the Xi Jinping era, tracking Chinese industrial policy in the energy and information technology sectors, and assessing China’s intentions toward the global order.

Hart has worked on Chinese domestic and foreign policy issues for nearly two decades. Before joining American Progress, she worked primarily in the information technology sector, helping American businesses understand China’s emerging industrial policies. Hart has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. from Texas A&M University. She studied Chinese at China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing and has worked as a Chinese-English translator for Caijing Magazine.