About

I am currently a senior editor at ChinaFile in New York City, where I work on data-driven research projects. I am also the primary editor of The China NGO Project.

I am a member of the DC-based band Gramophonic and the music director of the new folk musical Tear a Root from the Earth.

Previously, I was a foreign affairs research analyst in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, where I focused on modern Chinese society as well as leadership and governance, including cultural, religious, ethnic, media, and political trends. In 2016, I was a Visiting Academic Fellow at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin. I’ve also spent time living in China, Kyrgyzstan, India, and Mexico. I speak Chinese, (some) Uyghur, and (some) German. There is Spanish buried in there too, somewhere.

I received an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Stanford University and a B.A. in Linguistics from Pitzer College.

You can reach me at hello@jessicabatke.com.

If you’re looking for a formal bio and headshot, please feel free to use the following:

Jessica Batke is a Senior Editor at ChinaFile, where she focuses on data-driven research projects and also manages The China NGO Project. She is an expert on China’s domestic political and social affairs, and served as the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research Analyst for nearly eight years prior to joining ChinaFile. In 2016, she was a Visiting Academic Fellow at MERICS in Berlin, where she published papers on Chinese leadership politics and created databases to catalogue hard-to-find, high-level Chinese policy documents and details about policy advisory groups.