The Panel of “Asia and Beyond” in Beijing Forum

Morning of November 11, 2009

    On the morning of November 11, 2009, the last panel of economic sub-forum of Beijing Forum is hosted in Peking University. Chaired by Professor Satoshi Mizobata, this panel is themed as “Asia and Beyond”. After discussing heated issues after the burst of the financial crisis, scholars today focus on the future of Asian countries.

    As the first speaker, Professor Xin Chen from the University of Auckland presents her understandings of the financial crisis originated form the Wall Street. She mentions that the global crisis leads the world economy once again to the crossroad. On one side, the spillover effects of the explosion of Wall Street underscore the role that governments should play in the process of economic development. One the other side, the public still worries about the potential negative effects of governments' interference with economy. Professor Chen stresses the importance of regional integration and cooperation in East Asia. After the rapid development in the past decade, the degree of integration among East Asian countries has deepened, and the region should work together to mitigate the impacts of the crisis and enhance the international image of the region.

    Following Professor Chen's speech, Professor Zuhui Huang from Zhejing University talks about the structural change of China's economy. He first summarizes that, up till now, China's transition is still rudimentary, since the economy relies heavily on export and the Chinese government frequently interferes with the economic development. Then he argues that China's economy will suffer from current economic growth model in the long run. Professor Huang suggests that China try to seek institutional transitions that would lead to the change of economic growth model, and urbanization and industrial cluster will play crucial role in this process.

    China's economic growth is the focus of this panel. Professor Wenpu Li shares his understanding of the causes and effects of the imbalance of China's growth and income distribution. He focuses on the roles local governments play in the formation of economic imbalance and the effects of China's endowments structure. Professor Li suggests that, to avoid suffering in the long term, China should take the crisis as an opportunity to adjust the economic growth structure.

    The last speaker of this panel is Professor Lina Appleton from the University of Nottingham. Unlike other speakers, she focuses on issues with health care systems which are usually considered closely related with long term economic development. She introduces the health care systems adopted by Britain and the U.S., and analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the two systems. More importantly, she talks about the lessons China should learn from the two systems. She believes that health care system could be run by both government and market, and either alone would probably be insufficient. She stresses that China should reconsider the balance between the roles of the government and the market in the development of health care system.

    After all the speeches, all the guests and other participants discuss over issues of China's transition and urbanization. The panel ends with a complete success.