Bai's father was a primary school teacher who encouraged Bai to read. In 1966, he went to middle school, graduating with a High School Certificate in 1970, at the time of the Cultural Revolution. After high school he joined the Down to the Countryside Movement with other young people. Bai Chunli worked in the Inner Mongolia production and construction corps for four years. In 1974, after the whole soldiers' secret ballot and the exam, Bai Chunli was recommended to be a student at Peking University graduating in 1978. In 1981 he received a master's degree of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in 1985 earned a doctor’s degree.
Bai's research is mainly in the field of nanotechnology and scanning tunneling microscopy, where his work focuses on scanning probe microscopy techniques, and molecular nano-structure, as well as nanotechnology research. He has published a large number of books in both Chinese and English. He was an alternate committee member of the 15th and the 16th CPC Central Committee, and the sixth Vice President of the China Association for Science and Technology. Bai conducted research in areas such as polymer catalyst structure and property, organic compounds of crystal structure X-ray diffraction, molecular mechanics and conductive polymers of EXAFS, etc. He has been engaged in the study of scanning tunneling microscopy, which has been a significant field in nanotechnology, since the mid-1980s. Many of his works, both in Chinese and English, have been published by Germany Springer Publish Company and Scientific Company and many other publishing houses. Furthermore, he has earned many other awards such as Internationalism which is awarded by the International Chemical Industry association. Bai Chunli is one of the pioneers in the field of scanning probe microscopy. The laboratory he leads organized much wide-ranging and detailed research. Bai has made many contributions to STM study nationally and internationally. He has created a team which aims to increase cooperation between China and the United States on the issue of regularly using energy sources. Bai has also devoted himself to shortening the scientific distance between China and foreign countries. He is the editor of China Basic Science magazine, and plays an important role in the political field. In his youth, he was named the best worker around China and one of China's Top Ten Outstanding Young Persons among other distinctions. His research has been published widely in peer reviewed journals and books.
