Ezra Vogel, a China expert known for promoting cooperation between the United States and China, died on Sunday, according to the Fairbank Center of Chinese Studies at Harvard University. He was 90 years old.

A leading American Sinologist, Vogel was best known for authoring “Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China,” a biography of the former Chinese leader. As a rare Western scholar fluent in both Chinese and Japanese, Vogel also wrote bestsellers about Japan.

Vogel was an “outstanding scholar on China and an old friend of the Chinese people,” said Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to the United States.

“Throughout his lifetime he was dedicated to greater mutual understanding between the Chinese and American people and made significant contribution to their friendship and China-US relations,” Cui tweeted.

“His wisdom and insight on China has been of immeasurable value, not only to people in the field of study but also to the world … I believe his ideas and commitment will always have an impact on us.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin also called Vogel “an old friend of the Chinese people” and expressed condolences.

Vogel obtained his doctoral degree in sociology from Harvard in 1958, and became the director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies in 1973, and again in 1995.

Appearing at a November forum, Vogel predicted that U.S.-China relations have deteriorated over the past two years, and will not improve immediately after Joe Biden takes office. But Biden will deal with China more rationally, and leverage his personal relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping for diplomatic gain, Vogel added.

Biden might not be the smartest student in the classroom, but he would definitely be the most popular one, Vogel said at the November forum.

Vogel also urged the two countries to resume their dialogue, and called on China to let American journalists back into the country.

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