Campus Digest

Former Chief Economist of World Bank Professor Justin Lin speaks on world’s economic growth at HKBU lecture

09 Nov 2016

Professor Justin Lin shares his valuable insights on “How to Revive Trade and Economic Growth in the World” Professor Justin Lin shares his valuable insights on “How to Revive Trade and Economic Growth in the World”
Professor Justin Lin shares his valuable insights on “How to Revive Trade and Economic Growth in the World”

 

The School of Business held the 60th Anniversary Shun Hing Distinguished Lecture yesterday (8 November) with Professor Justin Lin Yifu, Professor and Director of the Center for New Structural Economics at Peking University, speaking on “How to Revive Trade and Economic Growth in the World”. This is one of the distinguished lectures in the series supported by the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund.

At the lecture, Professor Lin discussed this topic with reference to the trade growth rates of different countries from 2010 to 2015. He observed that, as the world’s second largest economy, China was not alone in its deceleration of growth. Major developing or developed countries all suffered from the same problem.

When shedding light on ways to revive economies, Professor Lin pointed out that given the difficulties of carrying out structural reforms and the lack of investment opportunities in developed countries, only by supporting infrastructural investments in developing countries can the world see light at the end of the tunnel. 

Professor Justin Lin is currently Professor and Director of the Center for New Structural Economics at Peking University and Professor and Honorary Dean of the National School of Development. In 1994, he established the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University and served as its Founding Director. Professor Lin was appointed as Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank in 2008. He is the first scholar from the developing countries to hold such an important position. He continued his teaching and research work at Peking University upon his World Bank tenure finishing in 2012.
   
Professor Lin is Councillor of the State Council, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. He is also a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for Developing World. Over the years, Professor Lin has published over 100 papers in international academic journals. His major publications include Against the Consensus: Reflections on the Great Recession, the Quest for Prosperity: How Developing Economies Can Take Off, Demystifying the Chinese Economy, and New Structural Economics: A Framework for Rethinking Development and Policy.