Wing Thye WOO, a world-renowned Chinese economist and an outstanding professor in economics at the University of California, Davis has officially signed an agreement to join Liaoning University as a full-time professor at the China Economy Research Institute (CERI).

Born in Georgetown, Malaysia, professor Wing Thye WOO graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1976 with both a bachelor’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He obtained a master’s degree in economics from Yale University in 1978 and a master’s degree and a PhD degree in economics from Harvard University in 1982. He is a student of Distinguished Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University. At present, he is Vice Chairman of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solution Network (SDSN) in Asia, a distinguished researcher at Penang College in Georgetown, Malaysia, a visiting professor at Malaya University, a visiting professor at Sunway University in Malaysia and a visiting professor at University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He is also Chairman of Chinese Economic Association in North America (CEANA) and China Economist Society (CES). He was also a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, Director of the East Asia Program at Columbia University and Executive Chairman of the Penang Institute. He has held research positions in many universities, research institutions and international organizations around the world, including Singapore South Asia Institute, Indonesian Center for Strategic and International Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science, International Monetary Fund, University of Hong Kong, National Taiwan University, Malaysian Institute for Strategic and International Studies, Rowe Institute in Sydney and Renmin University in China. He was awarded the Outstanding Academic Public Service Award in 2004 and the title of Outstanding Professor in 2019 at the University of California, Davis. In 2006, he was awarded the title of Changjiang Scholar by the Ministry of Education in China.

Professor Wing Thye WOO’s research fields are economic growth and sustainable development, macroeconomics, exchange rate management and public economics. He is a pioneer economist who studies the transition of planned economy and constitutional reform. He has unique insights on global and East Asian economic growth and has many strategic, forward-looking and creative ideas. He has achieved tangible academic achievements and has published more than 180 papers and several monographs in international authoritative journals such as the American Economic Review and the Journal of International Economics. His academic papers has been cited in Google in 13,517 with an H index of 55. His paper ‘Monetary Analysis of Exchange Rate Determination under the Condition of Rational Expectation-a Case Study of US Dollar against Deutsche Mark’ was once rated as one of the most influential papers in the past 30 years by the JIE. With a first-class academic level and far-reaching academic influence, he enjoys a high reputation in the academic field, serving as an academic consultant for many international academic journals and acting as editor-in-chief of Asian Economic Papers, editor-in-chief of Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies and deputy editor-in-chief of Asian Economic Journal.

With a rigorous attitude and focusing on the combination of theoretical innovation and practical application, professor Wing Thye WOO works to promote global prosperity by providing valuable decision-making advice and suggestions for many governmental departments and international institutions in macroeconomics, foreign exchange management, restructuring of state-owned enterprises, trade issues and development of financial sectors. He was a member of the advisory panel of the Ministry of Finance of China, an adviser to the US Treasury, an economic adviser to East Asia of the United Nations Millennium Project and a member of the Malaysian Prime Minister’s international advisory group. He also led an international team to study the reform experiences of countries of the planned economy, including famous economists Lesek Balcer Rovich, Boris Fedoroff and Jeffrey Sachs and provided strategic advice for the transition from a planned economy to a market economy for them. As a member of the advisory panel of the Ministry of Finance of China, he participated in the design of China’s tax and exchange rate reform and published the ‘Financial Management and Economic Reform of the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’ (Oxford University Press, 1995). In addition, he co-founded the Asian Economic Panel (AEP) and convened the Asian Development Bank and the Earth Institute of Columbia University to jointly establish the ‘Shadow G-20 Workshop’.

Professor Wing Thye WOO is one of the top economists in international economic community who studies East Asia and China. With a strong sense of social responsibility and mission entrusted by the times, he devoted himself to promoting economic growth and development in East Asia, especially in China, Malaysia and Indonesia. He has explored deeply into the major practical problems in the process of modernization in East Asia, such as middle income trap, transition economics, growth and development, globalization, exchange rate and regional economic disparities. He has also made a profound analysis and summary of the laws of economic development in East Asia based on his profound theoretical insights and wisdom. Thanks to his outstanding contribution to China’s economic reform and wealth gap research, he is deemed as one of the most famous Chinese economic experts in the world.

Previously, Professor Wing Thye WOO was appointed as a lifelong honorary professor of Liaoning University and was invited to deliver an academic report titled ‘Reforming Economic Globalization for Peace, Prosperity and the Planet’. His course ‘Avoiding the Middle Income Trap’ for PhD students in economics was widely praised by teachers and students at the university. His accession at Liaoning University is another landmark achievement for Liaoning University after Professor Russell W. Cooper consented to work at Liaoning University to be a full-time teacher. With this, Liaoning University’s ‘Double first-class’ development has entered a brand-new stage as the university achieved a major breakthrough in recruiting international high-level talents, presenting staunch confidence for the university to develop the economics discipline into a world-class discipline. This endeavor also enhanced the academic status and international influence of Liaoning University in the world!