Institute of Economics

The Institute of Economics was established in December 1993. Its predecessor was the Division of Political Economy, Department of Social Sciences at Tsinghua University. The institute is recognized as a leading academic disciplinary body and confers a doctoral degree (shared with Tsinghua School of Economics and Management) as well as master’s and bachelor’s degrees in theoretical economics. It also has a post-doctoral program. Major research interests of the institute include political economy, economic history, history of economic thoughts, and Western Economics.

The director of the institute is Dr. Li Qiang, concurrently the Dean of the School of Social Sciences. Dr. Long Denggao, Dr. Wang Yong, and Dr. Huang Dehai serve as deputy directors. The branch secretary of the Communist Party is Dr. Liu Taoxiong, who also serves as a deputy secretary of the Party for the School of Social Sciences. Previous directors of the institute were Liu Meixun, Wu Yaru, Li Bozhong, Kuang Mei, Cai Jiming, and Chen Zhengping. The institute has 14 faculty members including eight professors: Chen Zhiwu (one of the top scholars sponsored by the National Thousand Tenants Program and Changjiang Chair Professor), Cai Jiming (a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), Long Denggao, Gao Shujuan, Kuang Mei, Meng Jie (one of the scholars honored by the Talents of the New Century Program of the Ministry of Education), Liu Ying, and Liu Taoxiong; five associate professors: Zhao Zhun, Wang Yong, Wang Shengsheng, Huang Dehai, Cheng Jianguo; and one lecturer, Jin Weiping.

During the period of 1993 to 2011, the faculty of the institute received research grants from various government agencies including the National Social Sciences Vital Projects Fund, the National Natural Science Fund, National Social Science Fund, Humanities and Social Sciences planning projects from the Ministry of Education, as well as other agencies at the provincial or ministerial level. The faculty as a whole has published 20 research monographs, 15 textbooks, and more than 300 journal articles. In addition, the institute has edited several series of publications, namely "Explorations of Tsinghua New Political Economics," “Renditions of Socioeconomic History,” “Tsinghua Series of Economic History,” and “Global Chinese Migrations.” The faculty are also proud recipients of more than 10 teaching awards from various agencies such as the Ministry of Education.

Since its establishment, the Institute of Economics has created a large number of courses in theoretical economics and Marxist theory, many of which have been awarded honors from the university, municipals, and the State including the National Excellent Courses and Beijing Metropolitan Excellent Courses.

The Institute has provided a Ph.D. program for 16 years, a Master’s program for 22 years and an undergraduate program for 8 years. It has trained more than 60 doctoral graduates, 220 master graduates, 120 undergraduates, and more than 30 post-doctoral fellows. The institute has also been commissioned a professional master’s program by the Ministry of Education and trained 187 part-time students who worked in various government agencies. Our students make great contributions to China’s economic development and growth; some become national leaders, civil servants, top scholars and researchers.

The institute has been responsible for a number of successful international academic activities, such as "International Symposium on China Land Reform" (2008), "International Symposium on Marxist economics Development and Innovation" (2012), “International Symposium on Chinese & Western Great Economic Diversions" (2012), and the Tsinghua Forums of North American Chinese Scholars for three consecutive years. The faculty and doctoral students of the institute have been actively participating in high-level international academic exchanges with top academic institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, University of Cambridge, and the University of Leuven.

The institute has established several platforms for the dissemination of research and knowledge. These include "Tsinghua Lecture on Theoretical Economists," "Tsinghua Forum for Economic History,” and “Tsinghua Lecture by Chinese Entrepreneurial Leaders.” The Tsinghua lecture venue invites world-class scholars and entrepreneurs to showcase their successes and communicate with Tsinghua faculty members and students about China’s future. Faculty members and graduate students of the institute freely participated in the “Biweekly Seminar on Theoretical Economics” and “The Student Salon for Theoretical Economics” acquiring cutting-edge knowledge in economic research and current economic issues. The institute faculty made several initiatives by integrating internal and external resources, as well as domestic and overseas resources. They founded the Research Center for Political Economy, the Research Center for Chinese Economic History, the Research Center for Strategy and Policy, the Research Center for Development of Chinese Enterprises, and the Research Center for Information Industry. Recently, with the support from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, in collaboration with the School of Economics and Management and School of Public Administration, the institute has established the Tsinghua University Research Center for Chinese Entrepreneurs, a university-level interdisciplinary research institution.