TRANSLATION
Recently, the Macro Finance Research Program at the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management co-hosted the Macroeconomy and Finance in China Conference, an academic conference in Beijing. The challenges facing China’s sustainable economic development and the positive role of finance in supporting economic growth were discussed by participating experts.
They all agreed that as the second largest economy in the world, China has seen immense growth in economic and social development over the last 40 years, a result of more open markets and an innovative approach to advancing financial technologies.
Lars Peter Hansen, David Rockefeller Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, University of Chicago, said “Given the economic interconnections around the world and the increasing importance of China in the world economy, it incumbent for academic economists understand better, first, what is unique about the Chinese economy and its challenges in future and second, what lessons can learned from the experiences of other economies on their paths towards economic advancement. By bringing together top scholars with knowledge and expertise about finance and the macroeconomy in China, we hope to nurture future research in this area.”
In September 2018, the Macro Finance Research Program at the University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management launched the Tsinghua-Chicago University Joint Research Center for Economics and Finance. Chong-En Bai, Mansfield Freeman Chair Professor, Department of Economics; Dean, Tsinghua School of Economics and Management mentioned that this center aimed to encourage the research on the Chinese economy, featured several experts study findings and shared the insights of economic development from different perspectives.
Professor Hansen said that he hoped to hear more from outside of the academic community and conduct multi-level and comprehensive exchanges with professionals from the government, private sector and other fields, so to better frame future research on the economy of China and to extract insights pertinent to economics more generally.
Mr. Xiao Gang, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that Chinese regulatory authorities need to further clarify the boundary of supervision and avoid taking too many unnecessary responsibilities. The goal of regulation should focus on maintaining the openness, fairness and justice of the market. The role of the government is to formulate rules according to the law. It is necessary to severely punish illegal behaviours, as well as to protect the interests of investors in the market.
Mr. Xu Chenggang, professor of economics at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, mentioned that to achieve economic growth in China, it is essential to establish a business environment protecting fair competition.