IEA 16th World Congress Held in Tsinghua University
By Hu Aidi from School of Economics and Management
On July 4, 2011, the opening ceremony for the 16th World Congress of International Economic Association (IEA) was held at the Grand Auditorium, Tsinghua University. For the first time, IEA’s triennial World Congress takes place in China, upon invitation of the China Association of Comparative Economics Studies (CACES) and Tsinghua University.
Professor Masahiko Aoki, President of IEA, Professor Joseph Stiglitz, President-Elect of IEA, Professor WU Jinglian, Chairman of CACES, Professor GU Binglin, President of Tsinghua University and Professor XIE Weihe, Vice-President of Tsinghua University all attended the event. Professor QIAN Yingyi, Dean of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, chaired the opening ceremony.
Professor Aoki first addressed the audience with his opening remarks. He pointed out that, since IEA’s last triennial World Congress in 2008, the world economy had undergone a major financial crisis. To cope with such post-crisis challenges, a refreshed search for viable and sustainable order of the world economy is quite essential, which has been discussed by economists as well as policy-makers all over the world.
Professor Aoki then spoke highly of the prospects of the 16th World Congress held in Tsinghua, in particular, its unprecedented scale of participation. World-renowned scholars and researchers in economics (including two Nobel Laureates), joined by distinguished Chinese economists and policy-makers, namely WU Jinglian, ZHOU Xiaochuan, and QIAN Yingyi, will discuss together the important theoretical, empirical and policy issues in economics from a global perspective.
President GU Binglin of Tsinghua University acknowledged IEA for choosing Tsinghua as the host of the 16th World Congress, especially in times of Tsinghua’s Centenary Celebration. President Gu then recollected the development of economics education in Tsinghua. He believed that the 16th World Congress of IEA would not only boost international academic exchange in Tsinghua University, but also further enhance Tsinghua’s education in economics.
Following President Gu’s welcome remarks, Professor WU Jinglian spoke on behalf of CACES. He reflected on the previous cooperation and partnership between CACES and IEA, and then briefly reviewed the history of exchange and integration of China’s academia in economics into that of the world after the Reform and Opening-up.
On behalf of IEA, Professor Joseph Stiglitz made an announcement to entitle Professor WU Jinglian as the Honorary President of IEA to acknowledge his contribution to theoretical and policy research in economics as well as his dedication in China-World academic exchange. Professor Stiglitz, in his comment, also expressed his gratitude towards Tsinghua University and CACES on behalf of IEA.
The unified theme of the 16th World Congress of IEA is “Approaches to the Evolving World Economy.” More than 1,000 papers have been submitted, among which over 400 will be presented and discussed in the Congress.
The 16th World Congress lasts from July 4 to 8, which is devoted to 31 invited lectures and seminar sessions as well as over 150 parallel sessions of contributed papers.
The International Economic Association was founded in 1950 as a Non-Governmental Organization at the instigation of the Social Sciences Department of UNESCO. Its aim from the beginning has been to promote personal contacts and mutual understanding among economists in different parts of the world through the organization of scientific meetings, through common research programmes and by means of publications of an international character on problems of current importance.
(Photo by Guo Haijun)
