When Deng Xiaoping announced the reform and open door policy in December 1978 in a bid to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), he set in motion the economic transformation of modern China. Since then, as a direct result of that policy, China has become the largest exporter of goods and commodities, and a leading FDI recipient country in the world.

The importance of the open door policy implementation nearly 40 years ago is still being felt across the country. But the exact implications have remained secret until recently as detailed level official figures on trade and FDI were not available to researchers. This has now changed and academics have access to crucial data revealing the impact of trade and FDI on the Chinese economy.

Professor Larry D X Qiu is the Chung Hon-Dak Professor in Economic Development at the School of Economics and Finance at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He is also currently the Associate Dean (Knowledge Exchange) and the Director of Executive Education at the Faculty of Business and Economics, and an Associate Director of the Institute of China and Global Development at HKU.

Professor Qiu obtained his Bachelor of Science (Math) degree in 1983 from Sun Yat-sen University, and a Master of Arts (Economics) degree in 1989 and PhD (Economics) degree in 1993 from the University of British Columbia. He then joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1993 as an Assistant Professor and later became an Associate Professor and Professor there. He moved to the School of Economics and Finance at HKU in January 2008 as a Professor.

Professor Qiu’s key area of research is China’s trade and FDI, including the analysis of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As), strategic alliances and technology transfers. He is using the newly available official data to understand the impact of international trade and investments by foreign multinationals on the Chinese economy. Professor Qiu and his team are among the first researchers to access this material. One of the findings is that trade liberalisation on intermediate inputs reduces firms’ innovation incentives.

On a wider scale, he is researching a range of topics with a focus on industrial organisation, international trade and policy, M&As, and industrial organisation. In the field of international trade, he has studied the optimal design of strategic trade policies, the impact of intellectual property rights (IPR) protection on international trade, and the impact of environment policies on technology transfer.

Professor Qiu holds visiting professor/scholar positions at many academic institutions. He has published widely in international economics journals and books. He has taught undergraduate, graduate, MBA, EMBA, and executive training courses on various topics.

He serves on the Editorial Board of many academic journals and is an Associate Editor of International Economics. He is President of the Hong Kong Economic Association. From 2011 to 2016, Professor Qiu was invited by The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to nominate candidates for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Professor Qiu's research has received a number of research grants from the HKSAR Government. He has also undertaken consultant projects for the HKSAR Government and the Asia Development Bank. He currently serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director at the Board of Guangzhou Security and Hang Seng Bank Security Joint Venture.

Remark: Previously known as Chung Hon-Dak Professorship in Economic Development

A long tradition of education, research, outstanding achievement and engagement with society ensures that the School of Economics and Finance enjoys a high reputation in the territory and throughout the region. The education provided and the research conducted by the School is particularly relevant in the context of Hong Kong, which is regularly lauded as the world’s most free economy, and a beacon of market power. Positioned as it is as international finance centre and a Special Administrative Region of China – now the second largest economy in the world, with enormous potential – the future is indeed exciting. 

Professor Xu Cheng-Gang has contributed greatly over many years to international understanding of mainland China’s development. His analysis of the country’s institutions and economic progress, legal systems, financial regulation and political economy have placed him firmly in the forefront of globally recognized “China experts”. 

Professor Xu was among the first to identify and explain what is known as the “China Puzzle” – the situation whereby economic reforms have led to spectacular growth and poverty reduction, while by contrast the development of the country’s institutions has legged behind, as they continue to display serious shortcomings. He is a leading economist in the area of “soft budget constraint” which is widely seen as a major factor causing the most significant problems in centrally planned economies, and he has played a vital role in expanding the theory to other areas such as economic development, research and development, and measures to confront financial crises. He was also instrumental in developing the concept of “incomplete law”, which has had a growing impact in the literature. 

Professor Xu has been involved in Chinese reform policy debates since the early 1980s when he worked at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He has offered policy advice to the State Council, the People’s Bank of China, the IMF and the World Bank, among others. 

Professor Xu joined the School of Economics and Finance at The University of Hong Kong in 2009, having previously taught at the London School of Economics. He gained his PhD from Harvard in 1991. He is a Research Fellow at the Centre for International Development of Harvard, the Asia Research Centre of the LSE, and the Centre for Economic Policy Research (Europe). He is a Special-Term Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, a World-Class University Visiting Professor at Seoul National University, and is also the current President of the Asian Law and Economics Association (AsLEA). 

Numerous contributions from Professor Xu have appeared in high-level publications, including the Journal of Political Economy, the American Economic Review, Review of Economic Sutides and the Journal of Economic Literature. He is a co-editor of three major international journals and a member of the editorial or advisory boards of a dozen others. 

He has presented papers to major international professional conferences, and has given keynote or public lectures at international summits and policy gatherings, including the Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing, the China-Europe Summit in Shanghai, and the Central European Initiative Summit Economic Forum in Slovenia. Professor Xu is also a well-known media figure, from his frequent interviews with international news outlets including CCTV, the Caixin Media, the Phoenix Television, the BBC, the Financial Times, and the VOA.

Remark: Previously known as Chung Hon-Dak Professorship in Economic Development