About the Huang Lian Memorial Lectures

Huang Lian was a doctoral student from the People's Republic of China. He joined the Economics Department at Stanford University during the fall of 1997. Previously, he had obtained a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of the People's Bank of China. Talented and diligent, Huang Lian had come to the United States to seek higher professional training, and planned a career in China working on economic policy. In June of 1999, he died in a tragic accident. SCID founded this lecture series in his honor.

The Seventh Annual Huang Lian Memorial Lecture was held on March 6th, 2007. The speaker was Thomas G. Rawski, a Professor of Economics and History at the University of Pittsburgh. Professor Rawski spoke on “China’s Economy: Past, Present, Future.” He traced the history of Chinese economic development through the turbulent past three centuries and described the policies of the reform era that have enabled the Chinese economy to grow at an unprecedented rate over the past quarter century. Professor Rawski also identified factors that still constrain further sustained growth. But, in looking to the future, he took a positive view of China’s ability to rise to the formidable challenges that remain. He emphasized the benefits to China from integration with the global economy and viewed positively the social and environmental costs associated with fast growth, arguing that the measures required to deal with them are becoming increasingly affordable.

The Sixth Annual Huang Lian Memorial Lecture was held on February 16, 2006. The speaker, Professor Dwight Perkins, is the Harold Hitchings Burbank Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. Professor Perkins spoke on "Forecasting China's Growth and Economic Fallout". It was well attended by faculty, students, donors and members of the Stanford community.