Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) is a transcription factor and can be activated by a cytokine called leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF). LIF/Stat3 signaling plays an important role in facilitating reprogramming to the pluripotent embryonic stem cell state and retaining the identity of embryonic stem cells. How LIF/Stat3 exerts these effects, however, is still largely unknown. Here, we found that LIF/Stat3 induces the expression of a gene called gastrulation brain homeobox 2 (Gbx2) and increasing the expression of Gbx2 can mimic the effect of LIF/Stat3 signaling in maintaining embryonic stem cell identity. We also found that elevated Gbx2 expression is sufficient to reprogram epiblast stem cells (a type of pluripotent stem cells derived from the post-implantation epiblast) to embryonic stem cells. Our results reveal a new mechanism on how embryonic stem cell identity is maintained and promoted by LIF/Stat3 signaling and will lead to the development of better culture conditions for the propagation of embryonic stem cells