Professor Justin Yifu Lin gives speech on the 11th GEP-China Conference

02 November 2019

1 November: Professor Justin Yifu Lin, Dean of Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University and former Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, spoke on “The Rise of China and the Belt and Road Initiative” at the 11th Globalisation and Economic Policy Research Centre (GEP) China Conference at UNNC.


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During his speech, Professor Lin illustrated China’s remarkable growth through economic transformation within the last four decades, for which he attributed to China’s “latecomer advantages” and predicted that by 2025, China will posit among high income countries.    

He emphasised that “for developed countries – who are already at the technological frontier of the world – innovation relies solely on independent research, over 90% of which may fail. However, developing countries could utilise this advantage by imitating and patent right licensing with much lower risk and cost. This is the so-called latecomer advantage.”

According to Professor Lin, China’s comparative advantage also plays a significant role in proposing and implementing the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’. That includes superb infrastructure like a leading steel production globally and a sufficient foreign exchange reserve to support such construction. 

Professor Lin’s speech was part of the 2019 Wold Economy China Lecture of the 11th GEP-China Conference. The conference focuses on “Globalisation with Chinese Characteristics: The Belt and Road Initiative, International Trade and FDI”. In addition, on the 2nd of November, Professor Klaus Zimmermann from Bonn University, currently President of the Global Labour Organization, delivered a lecture discussing “Global Labour Challenges and the B&R Initiative”.  

Established in 2008 by Sir Professor David Greenaway, Emeritus Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, GEP – China encourages the development of new research projects and supports both fundamental and applied research. It provides a forum for discussion, in particular among scholars based in Asia, of relevant policy-economic issues linked by the broad elements of globalisation and the Chinese economy.