On August 6, 2025, at the annual conference held at the University of Glasgow in the UK, the Chinese Economic Association (CEA) UK/Europe was established and released its fellow list. Professor Yao Shujie from Liaoning University (LNU) was awarded as an inaugural fellow of the association. This title, as the highest honor of the association, aims to recognize scholars who have made outstanding contributions to the development of the association and the research on China’s economy.
The establishment of the title ‘Fellow of the Chinese Economic Association UK/Europe’ marked a significant milestone in the developmental history of CEA UK/Europe. The awarding ceremony not only represented the highest recognition of the award-winning scholars’ remarkable academic achievements in their respective research fields, such as macroeconomics, microeconomics, development economics, financial economics and institutional economics, but also embodied profound gratitude for their long-term strong support for the development of CEA UK/Europe and their active efforts in promoting exchanges and cooperation between the economic academic communities of China and Europe. Since its establishment 37 years ago, the association has grown into an important platform connecting economic research between China and Europe and these fellows have been key participants and contributors throughout this journey.
The establishment of the fellows of the CEA UK/Europe represented a landmark resolution. Following a unanimous and prudent decision by the association’s council, a total of 14 distinguished scholars were awarded this honor, including Jin Lizuo, Liu Minquan, Tian Jun, Qin Duo, Liu Zinan, Zhuang Juzhong, Song Haiyan, Yao Shujie, D’Maris Coffman, Eric Girardin, Lin Yifu, Wu Yanrui, Zhang Jun, and Zhang Weiying. The achievements and contributions of these Fellows have set a brilliant benchmark for the global economics community, especially for the younger generation of economists.
Introduction of the awarded winner:
Professor Yao Shujie, Dean of Li Anmin Institute of Economic Research at Liaoning University, a Senior Professor, Vice Chairman of the 10th Academic Committee of Liaoning University (2023-), Secretary General of the Center of Urbanization and Regional Innovation Pole Development and a distinguished professor under the National Talent Plan of the Ministry of Education. Graduated from Hainan University with a bachelor’s degree, he gained a master’s degree and a PhD degree in economics from Manchester University, UK and is a postdoctoral researcher from Oxford University. In 2014, he returned to China as full-time deputy director of the Faculty of Social Sciences of Chongqing University. He was founding dean and professor of the School of Contemporary China Studies and the Confucius Institute at the University of Nottingham. He has served as an economic consultant in international organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations and traveled to more than 20 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia to work and study. In 1997-1998, he was chairman of the China Economic Society in the UK. Since 2012, he has served as a senior consultant in soft science in China. In 2021, he served as chairman of the Chongqing Higher Education Economics Undergraduate Professional Education Steering Committee. In 2021, he was awarded as an excellent scientist in Chongqing. He has published nearly 200 papers in dozens of famous domestic and international academic journals such as Journal of Political Economy and Economic Research (14 articles). He has published 19 monographs and books in Chinese and English in famous publishing houses at home and abroad. He has published more than 100 articles in mainstream media at home and abroad such as Financial Times, People’s Daily, Guangming Daily, Reference News and People’s Forum. He serves as a special commentator for China Global Television Network (CGTN) and has participated in multiple discussions with state leaders including Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Wang Qishan, and Liu Yandong. He holds editorial board positions at several SSCI/CSSCI journals, including Economic Research Journal. According to Google Scholar, his works and papers have been cited 7,309 times, with an H-index of 45 (28 in the past five years) and an i10-index of 92, including 2 highly cited papers in the past three years. On CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), his works have been cited 3,676 times, with a single paper cited over 700 times. He was awarded by Elsevier as a highly cited scholar of applied economics in 2020 and 2021 globally and listed among 1,000 outstanding scientists in the field of economic and financial management in modern Britain (ranking 261), ranking behind Professor James Mirrlees, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics. He was included among the Lifetime Achievement list of top 2% scientists in the world in 2022.
He has presided over one major project of the National Social Science Fund, one general project of the National Natural Science Fund and more than 10 provincial and ministerial-level scientific research projects. He has been awarded the 9th Zhang Peigang Outstanding Paper Award in Development Economics, the An Zijie Outstanding Article Award in International Trade, as well as multiple first, second, and third prizes for outstanding scientific research achievements and outstanding article awards at the national, provincial, and ministerial levels. He also won the Top 10 Outstanding Theoretical Articles Award from Chongqing Daily for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021). Over ten policy advisory reports have received instructions and been adopted by national leaders and leaders at the provincial and ministerial levels. His suggestions on modern transportation infrastructure construction and rural revitalization have been incorporated into Chongqing’s “14th Five-Year Plan”. Fourteen of his Chinese articles have been fully reprinted by the Renmin University Photocopy Materials.
