Background
He was born in Changsha, Hunan, China in September, 1892.
He was born in Changsha, Hunan, China in September, 1892.
Kuo-Ching Li received his early education in the Changsha schools after which he studied mining in the Hunan Technical Institute. He then went to England and completed his course for a mining engineer degree in the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College), London.
On returning to China he became actively associated with the mining industry of Hunan and became successively, Secretary of the Hunan Mining Board, General Manager of the Kiangwah Government Tin Mines, General Manager of the Hsiao Ku San Government Mines - the largest of its kind in China - and co-director of the Hunan Mining Board.
Kuo-ching Li organized the Wah Chang Trading Corp., the largest import and export Chinese firm in' New York and had since been its president. He was once representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and also Ministry of Finance. He was well-known as a mathematician and had written books on algebra, trigonometry and calculus which are used as text books in China.
Mr. Li was also known as a student of Chinese literature. During the World War he actively served the American and Canadian Governments in furnishing raw materials from China and South America, for which he received letters of appreciation from the Allied Governments. He was decorated by the Chinese Government and was often consulted by his Government on national affairs. He was a member of the Lawyers' Club, Lotus Club, Downtown Athletic Club, all of New York Hempstead Yacht Club of Glen Cove, L. I.
Kuo-ching Li was President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in New York, Governor of the Commodity Exchange, a member of American Institute of Mining Engineers and a member of the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America. In 1927 he was appointed as a Chief Delegate to the Economic Conference of the League of Nations in 1931, Delegate to the Conference of the International Chamber of Commerce at Washington.