The Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal of the Qingdao Port in Shandong Province Photo: IC PHOTO

On Jan. 12, 2025, a symposium on constructing an independent knowledge system of Chinese economics was held in Shanghai, where attendees conducted in-depth discussions on the significance, necessity, and urgency of this important undertaking.

Inadequacy of Western economics

Since the reform and opening up, China’s economic development has achieved remarkable results. The emergence of new economic phenomena and the accumulation of practical experience have posed challenges to the paradigms, principles, and methodologies of Western economics. Building an independent knowledge system of Chinese economics is not only a necessary step in addressing major theoretical and practical issues in contemporary China’s development, but will also lay the theoretical groundwork for Chinese modernization.

Western economic theories value formal logic and empirical verification, but struggle to adequately explain Chinese economic practices while conflicting with the logic and dialectical mentality inherent in traditional Chinese culture, said Zhou Zhenhua, president of the Shanghai Economist Association and dean of the Shanghai Institute for Global City.

Zhao Hongjun, associate dean of the School of Finance and Business at Shanghai Normal University, noted that Western economic theories were developed based on economies that are relatively advanced, culturally homogenous, and small in scale. As a result, they are insufficient for comprehensively explaining and addressing China’s unique challenges, highlighting the urgency of expanding and advancing new fields in economics.

“The proposal of the concept ‘unified development economics’ represents an innovative theoretical exploration of contemporary Chinese economists to build an independent knowledge system of Chinese economics,” remarked Ni Pengfei, a research fellow from the National Academy of Economic Strategy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

According to Ni, unified development economics is grounded in the analysis of the forces driving economic progress from a historical and contemporary Chinese perspective, while drawing on insights from economics, physics, and psychology. By critically reassessing and transcending the limitations of neoclassical economic tools, assumptions, and analytical frameworks, unified development economics offers a new perspective on the universal patterns of human economic development across different times and contexts.

Perspective of the state

In mainstream Western economics, the state and the market are regarded as antagonistic, a view that has been increasingly questioned in modern market economies as the “economic prescriptions” derived from this dichotomy have failed to produce desirable effects. Scholars at the symposium emphasized that in the modern market economy, the boundaries between the state and the market are no longer distinct, nor are governments and markets inherently antagonistic. They called for more attention to the role of the state and government as catalysts for institutional innovation, particularly in efforts to build an independent knowledge system of economics.

“The problem doesn’t lie in the ‘prescription’ itself, but in its premise: state capacity,” said Zhang Jun, dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University. He attributed China’s economic success to the mutually reinforcing relationship between state capacity and the market and advocated for a return to the state-centric perspective in traditional Chinese culture. This approach will not only lead to breakthroughs in mainstream economic theory but also provide high-quality solutions to the developmental challenges facing contemporary China and the world at large.

Yin Desheng, dean of the School of Economics and Management at East China Normal University, stressed that development economics has traditionally focused on impoverished countries and populations, which has constrained its theoretical scope. He argued that China’s economic practice—characterized by a holistic approach integrating economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological development—offers a new research perspective for development economics.

Only by adopting a holistic national development perspective can scholars fully grasp the multidimensional factors underlying economic growth, thereby revitalizing and advancing theories of development economics, Yin added. 

The symposium was co-hosted by the Shanghai Academy under the auspices of CASS and the Shanghai municipal government, and the Shanghai-based Truth & Wisdom Press.

Edited by CHEN MIRONG