The 2013 Chinese Economist Society (CES) Business Meeting and Reception were held on January 5 at the American Economic Association (AEA) Annual Meetings in San Diego. More than 150 CES members and friends attended the event. The meeting was a great success, thanks to the generous sponsorship by Hunan University in Changsha.
Current President Tony Fang chaired the Business Meeting and reception. He also announced a few new initiatives undertaken by the 2012-2013 CES leadership team: the proposed CES office in China, the launch of PhD Job Market at the 2013 CES annual conference in Chengdu and enhanced placement services to both recruiting universities and job candidates, and a possible launch of China policy Journal.
Vice President Zhang Qiang of Hunan University delivered welcoming remarks and introduced some bold recruiting programs at this "Ancient Millenarian Academy, Famous Centennial University".
Distinguished Peking University Professor, former Vice President and Chief Economist of World Bank, Dr. Justin Yi-fu Lin offered his inspirational opening remarks. He reflected his career development path along the birth and rise of the Chinese Economist Society. He further asserted that as the world economic power has shifted from the West to the East, especially to China, now it’s the time for China to produce its own world class economists.
Current BOD members, Dr. Orn Bodvarsson, Dr. Han Li, Dr. Le Wang, and Dr. Junfu Zhang took turn to brief the audience about the upcoming CES conferences and programs: the preparation of the 2013 CES annual conference, Post-conference publication, Chow Teaching Fellowship Program, and Chow Awards Programs.
Representatives from 11 Chinese universities, including President Zhang Zhongyi of Southwest University of Finance and Economics, Vice President Zhang Jing of Hunan University, Vice President Yan Shijing, made campaign style faculty recruiting speeches, which were applauded by both job candidates and CES members. After the reception, the CES and Hunan University also hosted a welcoming dinner at the San Diego Fish Market Restaurant.