Xunjing Li (1935-2003) was a pioneer in control theory in China. He was known in the Chinese community of applied mathematics, and in the global community of optimal control theory of distributed parameter systems. He has made important contributions to the optimal control theory of distributed parameter systems, in particular regarding the first-order necessary conditions (Pontryagin-type maximum principle) for optimal control of nonlinear infinite-dimensional systems. He directed the Seminar of Control Theory at Fudan towards stochastic control theory in 1980s, and mathematical finance in...