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Justin Lin: My 40 Years in Chinese Mainland

Apr 24-2019   



On the evening of May 16th, 1979, 27-year old lieutenant captain Lin Zhengyi quit Jinmen Island and swam more than 2,000 meters to reach Xiamen coast in Fujian Province. On an afternoon in early spring, 2019, 67-year-old Lin Yifu (his changed name) smilingly welcomed my visit to an office at NSD. So begins an exclusive interview in Jie Fang Daily tracing the odyssey and accomplishment of Prof. Justin Lin, Dean of both the Institute of New Structural Economics and the Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development at PKU, as well as the Honorary Dean of NSD. He answers questions relating to his years as a student at PKU and the University of Chicago, his academic career and breakthroughs, his observations of and confidence in China’s reform, his legendary role in the founding of NSD and the teaching of economics in China, his stint at the World Bank as Chief Economist and Senior Vice Present, and most importantly, his mission to contribute to the overall welfare of humankind by serving the nation and assisting the development of other developing countries. The book China Miracle: Growth Strategy and Economic Reform, which he co-authored with Cai Fang and Li Zhou in 1994, predicted that by 2015 the Chinese economic size would surpass that of the US based on purchasing power parity. Not only just remarkable for its prescience, but the book also paved the way for the formation of the theoretical frameworks of his new structural economics, namely the analysis of factor endowment and the inherent growth capability of companies. The backbone of his theories can be summed up as an efficient market and effective government, with due respect for the (endogenous) situations of different countries. He brushes aside speculations that he will be crowned Nobel Laureate soon, but believes that as China becomes the largest economy in the world, economic theories that can aptly explain China’s economic phenomena will be the most influential. 40 years on, the epic continues. 

Justin Lin: My 40 Years in Chinese Mainland

Apr 24-2019   



On the evening of May 16th, 1979, 27-year old lieutenant captain Lin Zhengyi quit Jinmen Island and swam more than 2,000 meters to reach Xiamen coast in Fujian Province. On an afternoon in early spring, 2019, 67-year-old Lin Yifu (his changed name) smilingly welcomed my visit to an office at NSD. So begins an exclusive interview in Jie Fang Daily tracing the odyssey and accomplishment of Prof. Justin Lin, Dean of both the Institute of New Structural Economics and the Institute of South-South Cooperation and Development at PKU, as well as the Honorary Dean of NSD. He answers questions relating to his years as a student at PKU and the University of Chicago, his academic career and breakthroughs, his observations of and confidence in China’s reform, his legendary role in the founding of NSD and the teaching of economics in China, his stint at the World Bank as Chief Economist and Senior Vice Present, and most importantly, his mission to contribute to the overall welfare of humankind by serving the nation and assisting the development of other developing countries. The book China Miracle: Growth Strategy and Economic Reform, which he co-authored with Cai Fang and Li Zhou in 1994, predicted that by 2015 the Chinese economic size would surpass that of the US based on purchasing power parity. Not only just remarkable for its prescience, but the book also paved the way for the formation of the theoretical frameworks of his new structural economics, namely the analysis of factor endowment and the inherent growth capability of companies. The backbone of his theories can be summed up as an efficient market and effective government, with due respect for the (endogenous) situations of different countries. He brushes aside speculations that he will be crowned Nobel Laureate soon, but believes that as China becomes the largest economy in the world, economic theories that can aptly explain China’s economic phenomena will be the most influential. 40 years on, the epic continues.