Title:How should Chinese policy-makers approach today’s new challenges of economic reform?

Speakers: Barry J. Naughton, Professor of Chinese Economy and Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs at the University of California, San Diego. 

Moderator: Chen Ling, Associate Professor and Assistant Director, Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University.

Time: 15:00-17:00, December 5th, 2012

Location: Room 321, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University

Language: English

Organizer: Center for Industrial Development and Environmental Governance（CIDEG）
 
Brief Introduction:
The new Chinese leadership has made it clear that they will renew the process of market-oriented economic reform.  What approach to reform is most likely to succeed?  In this talk, I argue that three factors are most important in determining a successful reform program: credibility; responsiveness to changing economic conditions; and careful design.  Of these three, only “careful design” has so far received adequate attention. 
The early steps in reform should be designed to increase the credibility of China’s commitment to reform.  Those proposals should of course be popular and likely to succeed, but they should also show that the government is willing to bear the costs of reform, and the success or failure of these early steps should be easily monitored and verified by outsiders. 

After the early steps, reforms should be designed to take advantage of rapidly changing economic conditions.  Both positive and negative surprises create opportunities for reform, and successful reform strategy will take this into consideration.
 
Bios of Speakers:
Barry J. Naughton is a Professor of Chinese Economy and Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs at the University of California, San Diego. Naughton is an authority on the Chinese economy, with an emphasis on issues relating to industry, trade, finance, and China's transition to a market economy. Recent research focuses on regional economic growth in the People's Republic of China and the relationship between foreign trade and investment and regional growth. He is also completing a general textbook The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth.