Jian Ren is a PhD candidate in History at Rutgers. His research examines China-Latin America relations in the Cold War period. His dissertation investigates how diplomats, politicians, intellectuals, trade negotiators from China and Latin America and Chinese immigrants in Latin America developed trust and mutual understanding between 1949 and 1989. Before coming to Rutgers, Ren received his B.A. in Political Economy and Spanish from the University of Sydney and his M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Chicago.