How Xi Jinping's daughter ended up at Harvard

The only daughter of Chinese President Xi Jinping and renowned soprano Peng Liyuan, Xi Mingze has spent most of her life cloaked in secrecy. From carefully staged public appearances to tightly controlled media coverage, her existence has been shielded by the full weight of the Chinese state. Yet, in what now seems like a geopolitical paradox, Xi’s daughter spent her formative academic years in the United States—under the radar, but very much within its borders.

Early Education and the Road to Harvard

Xi Mingze began her academic journey at Hangzhou Foreign Language School (2006–2008), where she studied French, before briefly enrolling at Zhejiang University. Like many children of China’s political elite, she was quietly groomed for overseas education—particularly in the West, where brand-name universities serve as both a rite of passage and a marker of status.

In 2010, she enrolled at Harvard University in the US under a pseudonym, a routine measure taken by families of senior Chinese officials to maintain discretion and security abroad. She graduated in 2014 with a degree in Psychology, her presence on campus shielded from public attention and, reportedly, protected by security personnel linked to China’s military.

The Trump Paradox


Read: How China became a liability for Harvard

Xi Mingze’s education in the US took place just before Donald Trump stormed into Washington with a campaign that painted China as America’s greatest threat. Yet, by the time she was rumoured to have returned to Harvard for postgraduate studies around 2019, the Trump administration was already knee-deep in a trade war, cutting research visas, blacklisting Chinese tech firms, and warning of espionage on American campuses.

That the daughter of the Chinese President may have quietly studied in Massachusetts while Trump’s officials were accusing Chinese scholars of infiltrating US academia is a detail loaded with irony. The president who decried Beijing’s reach into the West may have unknowingly overseen its most elite export.

Neither Beijing nor Washington has ever confirmed whether Xi Mingze returned to Harvard in 2019. But the speculation persists—and has only grown louder in the wake of fresh visa restrictions targeting Chinese nationals tied to the Communist Party or sensitive research fields.

Why America?

A Tradition Among the Elite
For decades, Western universities—especially in the UK and US—have served as educational finishing schools for China’s political royalty. From Deng Xiaoping’s descendants to Xi Jinping’s daughter, the Ivy League represents more than academic excellence—it’s a social passport and a strategic asset.

Controlled Anonymity
Given the scrutiny surrounding her father, Xi Mingze’s identity was kept hidden throughout her time at Harvard. The use of an alias, restricted media access, and enhanced security ensured her privacy in a way few global figures could achieve.

Where Is She Now?
Her current whereabouts remain unconfirmed. Reports continue to place her in Massachusetts, possibly living under diplomatic or state protection, while others suggest she quietly returned to Beijing following her graduation. With neither capital commenting officially, her situation is emblematic of the opaque world she was born into.