April 1964, Ji was born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China.

His thesis Spectral Degeneration of Riemann Surfaces was advised by R. Mark Goresky and Shing-Tung Yau.

From 1994 to 1995, Ji was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study School of Mathematics in Princeton, New Jersey.

From 1995 to 1999, Ji was an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan.

[4] Besides academic papers, Ji has also published or co-written many influential books in mathematics, including: