Recently, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping held a symposium with enterprises and experts in Shandong, where 73-year-old renowned economist and professor at Peking University’s National Development Institute, Zhou Qiren, drew the most attention among the 9 speakers. As he is seen as a pro-market economist, his presence sparked various speculations and interpretations, with some analysts pointing out misunderstandings in the interpretations.
According to reports from Chinese state media, Xi Jinping hosted the symposium in Jinan, Shandong Province to prepare for the upcoming third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July. Xi stated during the meeting, “Listen face to face to everyone’s opinions and suggestions.”
Participants of the meeting included representatives from state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises, as well as experts and scholars from the economic field. Among the 9 speakers, 3 were representatives of experts and scholars, and Zhou Qiren was one of them.
Public information shows that Zhou Qiren was born in August 1950, graduated from the Economics Department of Renmin University of China in 1982, studied at the University of California, Los Angeles in the fall of 1991, and later received a Ph.D. in Economics. He has long served as an economics professor at Peking University’s National Development Institute. From 2010 to 2012, he was a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank. From May 2008 to October 2012, he served as the Dean of the National Development Institute at Peking University. In June 2018, he was appointed as a member of the Shanghai Municipal Decision Advisory Committee.
Zhou Qiren has consistently advocated for real-world economics to promote China’s reform and development process through academic research.
The outside world is interpreting Zhou’s appearance at the symposium hosted by Xi Jinping on the eve of the third plenum of the Communist Party as a signal of what reformist intentions?
An article circulating online titled “What Signal is Zhou Qiren Sending as a Distinguished Guest?” emphasizes Zhou’s “right-leaning” advocacy for privatization and cites his idol Coase’s market-oriented views, concluding that Zhou’s return as a distinguished guest signifies the continued advancement of market-oriented reforms.
However, a commentary article in the Hong Kong “Sing Tao Daily” on the 28th by Ji Xiaohua stated that the above interpretations are misunderstandings.
The article mentioned that Zhou Qiren is a moderate pro-market economist and is currently still a member of the Central Bank’s Monetary Committee. Furthermore, his speech at the symposium lasted only about 10 minutes, focusing primarily on “enhancing the public’s sense of reform achievement” rather than advocating for top-level design or property rights systems.
Although Xi emphasized “deepening reform” at the symposium, he also asserted that regardless of the reform direction, the four insistences of the Communist Party must not waver. Therefore, Ji Xiaohua believes that linking the third plenary session reform with privatization is an overinterpretation.
Ji Xiaohua’s article also mentioned that Zhou Qiren has consistently opposed government intervention in the market. He wrote a lengthy essay titled “Impressions of Ziyang” in commemoration of Zhao Ziyang, which led some to view him as belonging to the “Zhao faction.” However, according to his friends, Zhou has never joined any faction and has a good sense of propriety. “Having a good sense of propriety means being politically cautious and speaking accurately,” he once explained.