on may 12, at the invitation of the school of public policy & management (sppm) of tsinghua university and the center for science & technology development and governance, tsinghua university, paul romer, professor of economics at new york university’s stern school of business and winner of the 2018 nobel prize in economics sciences, visited tsinghua university. president qiu yong met with professor romer in the h-shaped hall (gong zi ting). lan xue, chairman of the academic committee of sppm and dean of schwartzman college, bo meng, deputy director of international cooperation and exchange office, xuefeng zhu, associate dean of sppm, attended the meeting. qiu yong expressed his welcome and gratitude for professor romer’s visit, and had an in-depth discussion with professor romer on the latest academic trends, the internationalization strategy of tsinghua university, and the discipline construction of public management.
the two groups took a group photo after the meeting
in the afternoon, professor romer visited the school of public policy & management and had an internal discussion with famous domestic scholars and faculty of sppm under the theme of “science & technology and economic development”. the internal discussion was held in conference room 302, hosted by professor xiaojuan jiang, dean of sppm. the event also invited experts such as wei shu, executive secretary of china association for science and technology (cast), chong-en bai, dean of tsinghua university school of economics and management, danyang xie, professor of business school of hong kong university of science and technology, suping wu, deputy editor-in-chief of comparative studies, shanchao wu, deputy director of research and publicity department of china association for science and technology, yaojin peng, associate researcher of the institute of zoology of chinese academy of sciences. lan xue, angang hu, zongchao peng, zhiyuan cui, qiao yu, xufeng zhu, zheng liang, zhilin liu, and other faculty from sppm participated in the internal discussion.
the internal discussion
xiaojuan jiang first extended a warm welcome and gratitude to professor romer and other honourable guests on behalf of sppm and the center for science & technology development and governance. xiaojuan jiang pointed out that romer’s research topic “innovation and development” is not only an essential direction of teaching and research in the sppm, but also highly consistent with china’s development strategy.
professor xiaojuan jiang delivered a welcome speech
in the keynote speech, professor romer said the current turmoil in the world has bought many problems to the surface. we need to look not just at technology and economic growth, but from a broader perspective. the world has entered a multi-polar circumstance, and each country inevitably starts to pay attention to its own national interests, with little regard for global issues and global benefits. scholars and universities have an important role to play, focusing on efficiency and the well-being of all people in the world. in terms of scientific and technological cooperation between china and the united states, professor romer believes that universities should conduct more in-depth and extensive cooperation in various fields. at the same time, universities can play an exemplary role in promoting global governance. professor romer said universities should not only build abstract models, but also focus more on reality issues and practical policy solutions.
professor romer believes china can take the lead in two areas of research. firstly, in urbanization, how china’s peasants integrate into the cities and share the results of economic growth. secondly, in how to stabilize the economy, including financial stability. the governance of giant technology company can be discussed from new perspectives such as taxes. universities and academia could contribute in this area by injecting new ideas into policy.
professor romer spoke
lan xue made a brief comment and response to professor romer’s speech. lan xue believes that trade disputes are political in nature and we need new approaches and method to deal with it. currently there are some barriers to universities and academic exchanges in the united states. scholars and universities should take more responsibility to help solve problems.
the internal discussion mainly focused on three themes. 1. science & technology and economics development; 2. the prospect of sino-us technological cooperation; 3. governance of science & technology. professor romer argued that technological innovation is crucial to economic development, emerging countries have made great economic gains yet the role of government is not clear. traditional developed countries and emerging countries need a new consensus to advance cooperation. qiao yu and zheng liang pointed out the issue of digital economy and digital property rights. lan xue, chongen bai, danyang xie expressed their views on university and academic exchanges, economic conservatism and government intervention regarding the current sino-us trade dispute. xiaojuan jiang and xufeng zhu mentioned the difficulties in supervision and governance of high-tech companies. zhiyuan cui, angang hu, and zhilin liu expressed their views on urbanization. yaojin peng commented on scientific research and technology policy issues.
in the free discussion, the experts present at the meeting stated their views on the fields of their study and fields they are concerned about, and put forward relevant questions to professor romer. professor romer responded to each guest’s views and questions. the questions put forward by the experts in the discussion are highly targeted with great theoretical and practical significance; the discussion is specific and in-depth.
at the end of the event, professor xiaojuan jiang once again expressed her sincere gratitude to professor romer and honourable guests, and presented a gift to professor romer.
professor xiaojuan jiang presented a gift to professor romer
the two groups took a group photo after the meeting