Li Yining

Professor Li Yining was born on November 22, 1930 in Jiangsu Province, China. In 1955, he graduated from the Department of Economics of Peking University. Professor Li Yining is a well-known economist both in China and abroad.

His major contributions to economics and China's economic reform and development are manifested in the following three aspects: Through comparative studies about the economic practices in China and many countries worldwide, Professor Li Yining has developed the theory of disequilibrium in economy and applied it to elucidate the functioning of China's economy. This theory is mainly elaborated in his book entitled "Disequilibrium in Chinese Economy" in which he divided disequilibrium into two categories: first, disequilibrium under the condition of a market which is not well developed; second, disequilibrium of a market which is not well developed and in which enterprises are not under the budget constraint. China's economy belongs to the second category throughout its whole transition process. Li Yining put forward the measures for China's economy to realize the transition from the second category of disequilibrium to the first. His viewpoint about carrying out reforms in a gradual way in order to achieve a steady economic growth has originated from this theory.

Li Yining pointed out that the primary task for the reform of China's economy lies in the reform of ownership. This viewpoint is embodied in his book "Ideas on China's Economic Reform". There existed for a long time hot debates about the policy options for China's economic reform: Whether priority should be given to price reform or to the reform of ownership. On the basis of profound studies of the process of China's economic growth, he criticized the prevailing view in the mid-1980s which favored the option of price reform. He pointed out: "The failure of China's reform may be caused by the failure of price reform, nevertheless the success of Chinese economic reform is by no means determined by the success of price reform, but by the success of ownership reform." His significant remark created a great impact upon China's economic circles. The runaway inflation in 1988 as a result of price reform proved the validity of Li Yining's theory.

Beginning from the latter half of 1997, the academic circles and the government departments have reached the common understanding of the importance of ownership reform advocated consistently by Li Yining. Ever since then, China has been paying more and more attention to the growth of non-state owned economies.

Li Yining has developed the share-holding theory and made relevant policy proposals which are fully explained in his books entitled "China's Economic Reform and Share-holding System" and "Share-holding System and Modern Market Economy". Considering that China was under the planned economy which was tightly controlled by the government and that its state-owned enterprises held a dominant position but with poor performance, Li Yining raised the idea of reforming China's economy through share-holding system at the very beginning of the reform. His idea consists of transforming through share-holding system state-owned, collective, township and village enterprises as well as other enterprises the ownership of which is not clearly defined. His ideas and policy proposals came under criticism by certain people, thus creating some trouble for him. However, Li has been holding steadfastly to his position. It has been proved with the passing of time that his theories are entirely feasible for China's economic reform and therefore have been widely accepted by the theoretical circles and policymakers. Li's theory and policy proposals have helped propel the reform and growth of China's economy. Because of his advocacy of the share-holding theory which has contributed to China's economic reform, he is also known both in China and overseas as " Mr. Stock Market Li." Based on his economic theory, Li Yining has worked out the overall idea regarding the reform of economy in China. Despite the ups and downs in the course of China's economic reform over the past two decades, its general orientation coincides with Li Yining's theory and relevant policies which have produced positive and significant influence on China's economic reform and development.

Li Yining has not only made notable achievements in economics and economic policies, but also contributed remarkably to ethics. His works "The Problem of Ethics in Economy", "Economy, Culture and Development" and etc. reflected his thinking in this field. He pointed out: "There are two foundations on which efficiency is built, one is the material and the other moral. With material foundation alone, people can only get ordinary efficiency, whereas with moral foundation, they can obtain extraordinary efficiency."

Li Yining has been awarded many prizes, including the award of economics named after the noted economist Sun Yiefan, the certificate award for middle-aged and young experts who have made outstanding contributions, the first prize of scientific research granted by the State Education Commission and the highest award for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. He has been invited to deliver lectures by a number of universities, scientific and research institutes both in China and abroad.

Professor Li Yining's insight in economics and particularly his remarkable contribution to China's reform and development make him a worthy recipient of the International Academic Prize of the Fukuoka Asian Cultural Prizes.

Among Professor Li Yining’s major academic achievements are China’s Economic Reform Approaches, Unbalanced Chinese Economy, Chinese Economic Reform and the Shareholding System, The Shareholding System and the Modern Market Economy, A Theory of Transitional Development, Beyond Market and Government: Influence of Ethical Factors on Economy, Origin of Capitalism: Comparative Studies on Economic History, Rome-Byzantine Economic History, and On Private Firms.