[4][5] Bai Chunli's father was a teacher in a public elementary school before the Civil War.

[7] Graduating from high school during the Cultural Revolution, Bai joined the Down to the Countryside Movement with other young people.

"[9] In January 1978, Bai graduated from Peking University Department of Chemistry with a major in catalysis.

He has been engaged in the study of scanning tunneling microscopy, which has been a significant field in nanotechnology (NT), since the mid-1980s.

He has created a team which aims to increase cooperation between China and the United States on the issue of regularly using energy sources.

He is the editor of China Basic Science magazine, and plays an important role in the political field.

His nomination for the Royal Society reads: Dr. Chunli Bai is one of the pioneers in the field of nanoscience.

These led to the earliest technological tools in the country for manipulating single atoms and molecules, and characterizing surfaces and interfaces.