Sept 2003 Editor: Min Fan 
Contents:
1. Closing Remark from Leaving President, Shuanglin Lin 2. Opening Remark from Coming President, Shunfeng Song 3. Michigan Conference 2003 Report 4. CER Delivery Problem Solved 5. Call for Papers: RMB Valuation and Convertibility 6. ASSA Sessions 2004 Announcement 7. Member News 

Closing Remark from Leaving President, Shuanglin Lin
Dear fellow CES members, It’s time for me to report the work we have done this year. First I would like to thank all of you for your trust, help, and support, and I would like to thank our devoted Vice Presidents Wing Tye Woo, Chong-en Bai, Shuming Bao, Min Fan, Kevin Zhang, Xiaodong Zhu for their outstanding efforts in pursuing our goals this year. Our major accomplishments are as follows. 
Held a successful CES annual conference at the University of Michigan from August 1-3, 2003. More than 100 people from all around the world attended the conference and more than sixty papers were presented. The conference has effectively promoted academic exchanges and cooperation among CES members and other China experts, and has greatly stimulated the membership expansion of CES. A book consisting of selected conference papers will be published. 
Organized a research trip to Russia from July 13-22, 2003. The delegates held roundtable discussions with distinguished scholars from the Institute of Far East Studies and the Institute of Economics at Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow University, and international financial institutions. The CES will publish a book on Russian economic reforms and development in both English and Chinese. 
Obtained financial support from the Ford Foundation and Chow Foundation for sending CES members to teach economics and business courses in China. Together with President-elect Shunfeng Song, we have received two years’ funding from the Ford Foundation. This year, we selected six teachers for teaching in China. We also selected three teachers to teach in China, with the support from the Chow Foundation. Due to SARS some CES teachers have postponed their teaching trip to China to next year. 
Succeeded in membership drive. One of the objectives of our Board is membership expansion. We have sent many letters to major universities to invite graduate students and other scholars to join CES. We also updated the CES website and published CES News Bulletins. Statistics shows that more than 120 people joined the CES or renewed their membership this year. Persistent efforts have been made to solve the CER delivery problem. 
Organized three sessions in the Western International Economic Association Annul Conference in July 2003, three sessions at the ASSA meeting in San Diego in January 2004. We have also tried to have CES sessions at the Canadian Economic Association Annual Meeting. Due to limited paper submissions, the effort was not successful. However, we believe that this is a positive direction given that we have many members in Canada. 
Expanded the CES contact with Chinese universities. For the first time, the CES conducted a survey at the second Chinese Economics Annual Conference in Xi’an. The survey shows the demand of Chinese universities and colleges for CES members in teaching and research. The results were sent to all of CES members, and that has helped some CES teachers in contacting universities in China. 
Formed a CES delegation to visit Taiwan, but the trip was canceled due to SARS. Fourteen members were selected and some had already purchased the air tickets. We hope that the members selected this year can become a part of the CES future delegation to Taiwan. 
Prepared an International Symposium on Private Enterprises and China’s Economic Development in Beijing. The conference was postponed to June 18-20, 2004 due to SARS. Our co-organizer is the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Nearly 70 papers were selected though an anonymous process. Many distinguished economists were invited, including Nobel Laureates Robert Lucas and Sir James Mirrlees. Our Board will continue to work on the symposium. With more time to prepare, we are confident that we will have a high-quality and high-profile conference in Beijing.
All of these achievements would not have been possible without your strong support and without the dedication of our Vice Presidents. Thank you all very much. I would like to express my sincere thanks to many individuals for their help in preparing the Beijing symposium, particularly Yingqiu Liu, Zhenzhong Wang, Jason Yin, Wei Zhang, Shunfeng Song, Aimin Chen, Yongjun Chen, Yan Wang, Min Tang, Justin Lin, Wen Hai, Xinghai Fang, Gang Yi, Wei Yu, Shanli Zhu, Guoen Liu, Weidong Tan and Xiaomin Shi. Special thanks also go to Xiaohe Wu for her tremendous help with the Russian trip, to Albert Park and Changwen Zhao for their great contribution to the CES annual conference, and to Shunfeng Song for his generous help with the preparation of Taiwan trip. My fellow CES members, after more than one year’s hard work, I still don’t have the luxury to completely step down and to enjoy a normal life. We have unfinished business--the CES Beijing Symposium in June 2004. My wife and two kids will continue to support me, and I am also asking for your continuing support for the conference. On behalf of the current Board, I would like to convey our best wishes to new President Shunfeng Song and his team, who will take over the CES office tomorrow. I am sure that under Shunfeng’s outstanding leadership our great organization will reach new heights. Yours truly, Shuanglin Lin 
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Opening Remark from New President, Shunfeng Song
Dear Fellow CES Members, I hope you all had a wonderful summer as I did. I enjoyed SARS (sun, air, rest, sports). After a year’s waiting, I am glad to see my term finally comes. I take it as a great honor to serve our society in the following academic year. Last year, you elected me. This year, I will do a good job to serve you. Here, I would like to congratulate Shuanglin and his vice presidents for their outstanding services to CES. Despite the troubles caused by SARS, they still achieved and achieved beyond their goals. Looking at Shuanglin’s report and knowing the activities he and his board had organized over his term, I was amazed by the tremendous dedication they have contributed to CES. This year, I am lucky to have six wonderful directors serving on the board. They are Xiao-yuan Dong, Li Gan, Haizheng Li, Hong Qiao, Lixin Xu, and Xiaobo Zhang. With them and the continuing support from every CES member, mission impossible will become possible. The following are the activities we plan to organize during our term: 
A conference in Hangzhou, China 
A conference in Atlanta, Georgia 
A research trip to Taiwan and Korea/Japan 
CES sessions at the ASSA meetings 
Ford and Chow teaching programs 
Membership drive 
Others that come out. 
To turn our blueprint into reality, your active engagement is indispensable. Your participation ranging from advice giving to paper submission is the best support to CES and my service. Particularly, I would encourage more student members to join CES research trips, participate in teaching programs, and attend CES conferences. Finally, I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Shuanglin Lin, Aimin Chen, Jason Yin, Shuming Bao, Guoen Liu, James Wen, Hong Lu, Kevin H. Zhang, and my six board members for their friendship. They are always there when I need their help. Thank you all. Sincerely yours, Shunfeng Song President, the CES 2003-2004 
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Michigan Conference 2003 Report
The CES conference on the Chinese Economy after WTO: Challenges of Globalization, held at the University of Michigan from August 1-3, 2003, was a huge success. This conference evaluated the impact of China’s WTO entry on the Chinese economy as well as on the world economy, analyzed the challenges and opportunities faced by China and other countries, discussed China’s current economic problems, and provided valuable policy suggestions. The conference has effectively promoted academic exchanges and cooperation among CES members and other China experts. We were honored to have Professor Alan Deardoff, a well-known international economist from the University of Michigan, deliver a keynote speech on WTO and the World Economy. Three distinguished speakers from China, Dr. Liu Shijin of the State Development Council, Prof. Hai Wen of Peking University, and Dr. Fang Xinghai of Shanghai Stock Exchanges, provided insightful analyses of the Chinese economy. Prof. Michael Kennedy, Vice Provost for International Affairs and Director of International Institute at the University of Michigan, gave a speech at the opening ceremony; and Prof. Robert Kennedy, Administrative Director of William Davidson Institute, hosted a reception party for all conference participants. More than 100 people from all around the world attended the conference and more than sixty papers were presented. All the presenters and discussants were well prepared. All the sessions were well attended and discussions in every session were very active. Special guests from China also included Professor Shi Jingchuan of Zhejiang University, Prof. Chen Yongjun from Xiamen University, Prof. Ren Peiyu of Sichuan University, and Prof. Yu Qiao of Fudan University. Five former CES Presidents attended the conference: Gene Chang, Hai Wen, Fang Xinghai, Jason Yin, and Aimin Chen. President-elect Shunfeng Song and CES Finance Committee Chair Yu Wei were also at the conference. CES vice President Zhu Xiaodong, several former Directors and Director-elects, as well as CER Co-editor Belton Fleisher, were also in attendance. This was the first CES conference in North America since 1998, and most of the attendants were new CES members. Clearly the conference has greatly stimulated the membership expansion of our great society. The conference was co-sponsored by the University of Michigan and Sichuan University. We would like to express my deep appreciation to CES Vice President Shuming Bao, Prof. Albert Park of the University of Michigan, and Prof. Changwen Zhao of Sichuan University, for their outstanding efforts in organizing the conference. 
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China Economic Review (CER) Delivery Problem Solved
We finally received good news from our CER publisher, Elsevier, about the CER delivery problem in late August. Many thanks to James Wen who negotiated and persistently pushed the Elsevier representative to have the problem solved. Elsevier is sending out past CER issues according to the name lists Holly Wang and Min Fan provided and asks our members to wait for four weeks for the old issues to arrive. Presently, Volume 12, Issue 2/3 has been sent, and we should expect the later issues in a month. Thank you all for your patience. 
For contents of past and recent issues of CER, please visit CER webpage on Elsevier. 
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Call for Papers A Symposium Issue for The International Journal of Public Administration Chinese Currency: Valuation and Convertibility
The Chinese currency – Renminbi (RMB) has been under increasing pressure for revaluation lately. Is RMB undervalued at its current level? What are the implications and likely consequences if the currency is revalued, or if the currency becomes fully convertible? We invite manuscripts on theoretical and policy analysis of the subject for a special symposium issue of the International Journal of Public Administration. The topics of this symposium include, but are not limited to: 
Valuation of the Chinese currency based on various currency valuation models; 
Implications and likely consequences of a revaluation of the currency for China’s trade, capital flows, economic development, and financial stability; 
Implications and likely consequences of a revaluation of the currency for China’s trade partners, international investors, and the international monetary system; 
Experiences of other developing countries in currency crises and their lessons for China; 
The prospects of RMB becoming an international reserve currency or regionally dominating currency.
Guest editor: Jiawen Yang, Ph.D. Department of International Business School of Business and Public Management The George Washington University 
Submission deadline: December 10, 2003; Early submission is encouraged. 
Two copies of the manuscript should be sent to: Jiawen Yang 2023 G Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20052, USA 
Electronic copies are accepted (in PDF format) at: jwyang@gwu.edu. 
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ASSA Session Announcement
CES will present three sessions at the ASSA meetings in San Diego: 
Financial Intermediation in China: Banking sector reform is one of the most important tasks faced by the Chinese government. This session features opinions on the issue from central bank officials, researchers in international organizations, as well as academic economists. This session is joint with AEA. 
Local Governance and Public Finance in Rural China: The four papers included in this session examine the topic from the perspectives of regulation, privatization, democratization, and decentralization. 
China’s Regional Development: It includes papers on regional disparities, migration, economic growth and industrial pollution in China’s Western Region. The sessions address important economic issues faced by China and promise to attract a large audience. 
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Member News
Chong-En Bai: co-edited with Chi-Wa Yuen a new book Technology and The New Economy published by MIT press. The topics include the relation between innovation and the stock market value of the innovating firm; competition policy; demand factors as determinants of growth; institutional aspects of the innovation process; and the effectiveness of monetary policy in stabilizing the economy. 
Chong-En Bai: has three papers accepted recently -- Revenue Sharing and Control Rights in Team Production: Theories and Evidence from Joint Ventures (with Zhigang Tao and Changqi Wu), Rand Journal of Economics, forthcoming. -- Local Protectionism and Regional Specialization: Evidence from China’s Industries (with Yingjuan Du, Zhigang Tao and Sarah Tong), Journal of International Economis, forthcoming. -- Uncertainty in Labor Productivity And Specific Human Capital Investment (with Yijiang Wang), Journal of Labor Economics, forthcoming.