2016.02.26 10:00 - 12:00
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Prof. Zhang Yunling
#China
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Prof. Huang Weiping
#China
Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies invited Prof. Zhang Yunling (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) and Prof. Huang Weiping (Renmin University of China) as the speakers for the nineteenth installment of the China Lecture Series held on February 26, 2016. Around 200 audiences gathered at the KFAS Conference Hall to listen to the top Chinese scholars’ analyses of recent developments in the Chinese economy.
In his opening remarks, President Park In-kook of KFAS introduced the new round of China Lecture Series that invites Chinese experts on various fields to share their insights with the Korean public. He elaborated on the plan to invite scholars from other countries, such as Japan or the US, to provide more diverse perspectives on China.
Prof. Zhang Yunling gave a lecture entitled, “Diagnosing Xi Jinping Government’s Economic Policy.” Reviewing government policy reports and documents since the 18th National Congress of China in 2012, the lecture gave an overview of Xi Jinping government’s economic policy. Special emphasis was laid on the “supply-side reform,” proposed by President Xi in the 2015 Central Economic Work Conference.
Underlining the criticisms on the supply-side reform that have emerged after its proposal last year, Prof. Zhang noted that as the reform tries to expel over-supplying and waning businesses, it can stimulate rising unemployment rate and economic slowdown. Amid the big and small transformations China is going through, there are still reasons to hold ‘cautiously optimistic’ view, he argued, pointing out the increase of service sector and domestic demand, and the growth of high-tech industry. He also commented that Chinese government’s solid control over the economy and the stable political leadership will contribute to its continuous economic growth.
Prof. Huang Weiping’s following lecture was titled, “The Development of Chinese Capital Market under the New Normal.” Prof. Huang opened his lecture with a positive outlook on Chinese economy, predicting that Chinese economy will hit the bottom this year and thereafter get stable. Unlike the US and Europe that can utilize only monetary or fiscal policies respectively, he argued, there’s not much to worry about China’s macro economy as it can utilize both.
Prof. Huang emphasized that encouraging the role of market is one of the key tasks for the economic development of China. And if the market is properly supervised, he explained, Chinese economy will be able to achieve relatively stable, though may not be fast, development in the future.
The lectures were followed by a Q&A session, which was chaired by Prof. Yoon Changhyun of University of Seoul. The two professors answered questions on the prospect of hard landing of Chinese economy, depreciation of RMB, and creating new growth engine for China. Through the well-informed explanations the audience members were able to clearly understand how Chinese experts view their own economic future.
On March 29, KFAS is holding the twentieth China Lecture Series on “Planning of One Belt One Road Initiative and Prospects of Chinese Economy” and “Modernization of China’s Economic Governance.”
ZHANG Yunling, HUANG Weiping, YUN Chang-Hyun