Inaugural Conference Explores Challenges and Opportunities for Research on Macroeconomics and Finance in China
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.
A Chinese professor explains what air pollution does to your health
By: Kate Whiting
The Huai River is fed by tributaries high in China’s Tongbai Mountains and Dabie Mountains, and meanders 660 miles across Henan and Anhui provinces before it flows into Lake Hongze in Jiangsu province.
Historically, the river provided water for farmers’ crops on either side, with livelihoods growing up around it. On each bank today, people have a similar quality of life.
But those who live north of the river have a lower life expectancy – up to three years less – than those on its southern banks. The reason? Exposure to higher levels of pollution caused by burning free coal for winter fuel.
So discovered Professor Guojun He and his colleagues when they looked at the health impact of China’s Huai River Policy, which, since the 1950s, has been giving free or subsidized coal to residents living north of the river…
…Here, the assistant professor of Economics, Environment and Sustainability, and Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), whose work has been used to develop the air quality life index (AQLI), talks us through his research into China’s air quality and explains why pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks facing humanity…
Continue Reading at World Economic Forum…
China’s Economy Might Be Nearly a Seventh Smaller Than Reported
A new paper, by Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago and three co-authors from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, finds that industrial output and investment have been consistently embellished. As a result, they argue that China overstated real GDP growth by two percentage points on average every year from 2008 to 2016 (see chart). Over time that adds up: official figures for 2016 would have exaggerated the size of the economy by 16%, or more than $1.5trn.
Wigs and Others: China’s bitter and sweet manufacturing story
By Xiaohua Li
Premier Li Keqiang has vowed in his government work report on March 5 that sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions will be cut in 2019 by 3 percent, and that there will be a continuous decline in PM2.5 density in key areas. The government also vows to accelerate the pace of forestation, and to plant 6.67 million hectares of trees each year so as to increase its forest coverage rate to 26 percent by the year 2035.
As one of the people who applaud China’s anti-pollution efforts, Michael Greenstone, the University of Chicago’s Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor of Economics and director of the Energy Policy Institute, said, “It took about a dozen years and a recession for the United States to achieve the same percentage reduction in particulate pollution that China has achieved in such a short time.”
Despite this praise, China needs to strike a delicate balance between economic growth and environmental sustainability as it sets its lower yet still robust economic growth target at 6.0 to 6.5 percent. This will not only benefit China but the world as a whole
Continue Reading at China Daily..
What Hurt Chinese Growth in Last Decade? Corruption Crackdown, Research Suggests
Last week, four China specialists published a paper arguing that China’s growth since 2008 has been about 1.7 percentage points lower annually than reported. In other words, the economic slowdown has been a lot steeper than Beijing reported. The economists—Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago and Zheng Song, Wei Chen and Xilu Chen of Chinese University of Hong Kong—did two main tests of the official data.
Fight for a Beautiful China
(We will) establish a cooperative mechanism, introduce supporting policies, carry out centralized management, strengthen special law enforcement, initiate emergency responses, and increase public participation… China has acted swiftly as a whole to fight against pollution so that blue skies and clean water are no longer luxuries.
“Historically, we have not found examples of other countries that can significantly reduce pollution in such a short period of time,” said Michael Greenstone, an American economist who has long studied global energy policy.
Continue Reading at Xinhua Daily Telegraph…
What social media says about China’s war on air pollution
By: Bailey Hu
How does the average Chinese person feel about air quality today? It’s a question that seems even more pressing nowadays considering that in 2018, China appeared to slow down in its aggressive, government-led “war against air pollution.”
Previously, online popular opinion had kicked off a years-long struggle to control one of the most visible environmental issues spawned by China’s rapid industrialization. Air pollution has been an area where prominent netizens’ feelings have actively shaped official response; as environmental progress flags due to various factors, social media may once again come into play.
Despite a temporary setback, China has made significant progress in cutting down on smog. In March 2018, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute released a report titled, “Is China winning the war against air pollution?”
Continue Reading at Technode…
UChicago forms research collaboration with Chinese university
The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) has forged a 5-year research collaboration with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS).
The five-year collaboration aims to generate fresh insights into pressing energy and environmental challenges, offering Chinese policymakers new tools to tackle important priorities such as cost-effective reductions in air pollution.
Representatives of UChicago and UCAS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on this recently.
The collaboration came on the heels of the Mandarin launch of EPIC’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), a first-of-its-kind tool that allows policymakers to quantify the benefits of air pollution reduction measures by converting them into the most important metric that exists: improvements in life expectancy.
Continue Reading at Xinhua…
Latest international measure shows that China’s air quality has improved significantly
By Zhou Mingyang
Recently, the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago released its latest research results in Beijing, the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), and the Air Quality Life Index China Report. Michael Greenstone, project leader and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, said that AQLI is based on two peer-reviewed studies that quantify the causal relationship between long-term human exposure to particulate pollution and life expectancy, directly converting the fine particulate pollution in the air into its impact on people’s life expectancy.
“The index used before, such as the well-known air quality index, marked the air quality as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, but most people couldn’t understand the actual impact of pollution on human health,” said Greenstone. AQLI achieved a new breakthrough in this. AQLI shows that the average human exposure to fine particulate air pollution has reduced life expectancy by nearly two years compared to the safety level recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). In fact, in the living area of 75% of the world’s population, the concentration of fine particulate is higher than the WHO guidelines.
The AQLI index shows that if the concentration of fine particulates in a region declines, the life expectancy of the population in the region will increase. Based on daily monitoring data from more than 200 monitors between 2013 and 2017, the air quality in China’s densely populated areas has improved significantly, ranging from 21% to 42%. AQLI also found that the air pollution level of fine particulates in 2016 was down 12% from 2013.
Greenstone said that if these improvements can be maintained, the average life expectancy of Chinese urban residents will be 2.3 years longer than in 2013. Although there is still a long way to go to meet the WHO air quality standards, China is striving to win the “battle for more blue skies” – once the WHO guidelines are met, the life expectancy of the nation will increase by 2.9 years.
Continue Reading at Economic Daily…
Research from the University of Chicago shows that China’s PM2.5 has been reduced, residents’ life expectancy is increased by half a year
By Li He
The health hazards of fine particulates (PM2.5) have been gradually recognized. China launched a war against pollution in early 2014. In 2016, the PM2.5 level was down 12% compared with the level in 2013. The Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), recently released by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago in Beijing, shows that this reduction is equivalent to an extension of the average life expectancy of Chinese residents by 6 months.
Why is the health impact of PM2.5 pollution so great? “The main reason is that residents living in polluted areas have nowhere to go to avoid air pollution,” said Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC). “You may quit smoking, and diseases can be prevented. But no one can stop breathing, so the impact of air pollution on people’s life is greater than any other factor. Currently, 75% of the world’s population, or 5.5 billion people, live in areas where PM2.5 exceeds WHO (World Health Organization) guidelines.
The “Air Quality Life Index” is the conversion of PM2.5 concentrations into their impact on life expectancy. Developed by a team of researchers at EPIC, the index is based on two peer-reviewed studies that quantify the causal relationship between long-term human exposure to particulate pollution and life expectancy to help the public and decision makers understand the importance of anti-air pollution policies.
The “Air Quality Life Index” released shows that developing and industrializing countries in Asia are most affected by PM2.5 pollution. If the WHO-guided safety standards are met, the average life expectancy of Indians will increase by 4.3 years, while in China it will increase 2.9 years from 76 to 79 years. About one-third of the population of the United States lives in areas that do not meet WHO guidelines. If the target is met, life expectancy in the most polluted areas is expected to increase by one year.
“China’s efforts to deal with air pollution are part of the global anti-pollution initiative,” said Greenstone. The concentration of pollution in several key areas of China has fallen much faster than the national average, bringing more benefits to local residents. For example, Tianjin, one of China’s three most polluted cities in 2013, saw particulate pollution drop by 14 percent in 2016. If sustained, this would mean a 1.2-year gain in average life expectancy for its 13 million residents, compared with 2013. The results were most impressive in Henan province, where the exposure time of residents to PM2.5 pollution is 20% lower than that in 2013, which is equivalent to an increase in average life expectancy of 1.3 years.
“China’s efforts in air pollution control have achieved results in recent years. Satellite data shows that as of 2016, the PM2.5 concentration has decreased by more than 10%. More new data shows that the reduction may be even greater in recent years,” Greenstone said, “If this momentum can be maintained, Chinese residents will live a healthier, longer life.”
Continue Reading at Technology Daily…