Pei has won a wide variety of prizes and awards in the field of architecture, including the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the first "Praemium Imperiale" for Architecture in 1989, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 2003.
Na Kitajsko se je prvič vrnil leta 1974 in dizajniral hotel v tradicionalnem slogu v parku na severozahodu Pekinga ter nebotičnik za Banko Kitajske v Hong Kongu petnajst let kasneje.