NCUSCR U.S.-China Insights - Nicholas Lardy on Economic Reform in China: Past, Present, and Future

Nicholas Lardy on Economic Reform in China: Past, Present, and Future

04/02/19 • 6 min

As the Chinese state—under the leadership of President Xi Jinping—continues to exert more control over China’s economy through its policies, prospects for future reforms seem uncertain. Dr. Nicholas R. Lardy of the Peterson Institute explains why economic reform has been so important to Chinese society over the past 40 years and shares his perspective on whether the country’s reform period has indeed ended. Nicholas R. Lardy, called “everybody’s guru on China” by the National Journal, is the Anthony M. Solomon Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He joined the Institute in March 2003 from the Brookings Institution, where he was a senior fellow from 1995 until 2003. He was the director of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington from 1991 to 1995. From 1997 through the spring of 2000, he was also the Frederick Frank Adjunct Professor of International Trade and Finance at the Yale University School of Management. He is author, coauthor, or editor of numerous books, including Markets Over Mao: The Rise of Private Business in China (2014), Sustaining China’s Economic Growth After the Global Financial Crisis (2012), The Future of China’s Exchange Rate Policy (2009), China’s Rise: Challenges and Opportunities (2008), Debating China’s Exchange Rate Policy (2008), and China: The Balance Sheet—What the World Needs to Know Now about the Emerging Superpower (2006). Lardy is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the editorial boards of Asia Policy and the China Review.

Previous Episode

Ben Harburg: A View of the U.S.-China Trade War from Beijing

Recent challenges in the U.S.-China economic relationship have been well-documented in the United States and debated from every point of view. But how is the trade war viewed by the U.S. business community in China? As an American working in Beijing, Ben Harburg, managing partner of MSA Capital, gives his interpretation of the short- and long-term effects of this tension in the relationship.

Ben Harburg is a Managing Partner of MSA Capital, a venture capital firm which has invested $1b over the last 4 years into Chinese technology companies. In 2018, the firm had one of the most successful years of any VC fund globally, with four IPOs and one major sale.

MSA’s most recent venture fund already boasts 10 companies individually valued at over $1b. Prior to MSA, he worked for The Boston Consulting Group and founded several companies.

He was a Fulbright Scholar at Freie University Berlin and Neubauer Scholar at Tufts University, where he also sits on the Board of Advisors of the School of Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Carnegie Endowment’s Tsinghua Center.

Next Episode

Scott Kennedy on Huawei's Role in the Global Tech Sector

As tensions continue to escalate between the United States and China, technology has become a focal point of growing bilateral competition. One of China’s top high-tech companies, Huawei, is the subject of scrutiny from competitors as well as governments across the globe, as it faces accusations of violating sanctions, stealing trade secrets, and compromising user privacy. Nevertheless, Huawei is at the forefront in the commercialization of 5G technology, the next generation of wireless networks that will power our phones, computers, and even autonomous vehicles. Dr. Scott Kennedy of CSIS explains how Huawei got its start, how secure its devices are, and what its role will be in the tech sector for years to come. Scott Kennedy is senior adviser of the Freeman Chair in China Studies and director of the Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS). A leading authority on China’s economic policy and its global economic relations, specific areas of focus include industrial policy, technology innovation, business lobbying, multinational business challenges in China, global governance, and philanthropy. Dr. Kennedy has been traveling to China for almost 30 years and has interviewed thousands of officials, business executives, lawyers, nonprofit organizations, and scholars. He is the author of The Fat Tech Dragon: Benchmarking China’s Innovation Drive (CSIS, 2017); (with Chris Johnson) Perfecting China Inc.: China’s 13th Five-Year Plan (CSIS, 2016), and The Business of Lobbying in China(Harvard University Press, 2005). He has edited three books, including Global Governance and China: The Dragon's Learning Curve (Routledge, 2018), and Beyond the Middle Kingdom: Comparative Perspectives on China’s Capitalist Transformation (Stanford University Press, 2011). His articles have appeared in a wide array of policy, popular, and academic venues, including the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, China Quarterly,China Journal, and the Journal of Contemporary China. Dr. Kennedy is a fellow in the National Committee's Public Intellectuals Program.