Topic: International Trade

Fan Gang

Fan Gang is one of China’s most influential economists, and one of China’s leading reform advocates.  He is Director of China’s National Economic Research Institute (NERI), and Secretary-General of the China Reform Foundation, China’s first economic think-tank.

He was previously a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China (2006-10), and is currently a highly respected advisor to the Chinese Central Government on economic reform and strategic development. He is Professor of Economics at Peking University, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

Fan is both an influential opinion leader in China, as well as internationally. An expert in the macroeconomics of long-term development, international trade and currency, foreign relations and China’s regional integration within Asia. He is most renowned for addressing such topics as China’s financial risk and financial systems reform, foreign exchange regimes and revaluation, China’s economic reform, and globalisation.

He is widely recognised as the go-to-expert of the Chinese central government, and is often invited to give advice when key ministries of the government consider major policy and reform decisions. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to international organisations such as the World Bank, United Nations Development Program, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. He has been a Member of International Academic Committee since 1992, a Fellow of the Chinese Economist Society since 1993, and a Fellow and Global Leader for Tomorrow of the World Economic Forum since 1995.

He was ranked 33rd in the ‘World’s 100 Most Admired Intellectuals’  by Foreign Policy and Prospect in both 2005 and 2008, and one of the ‘Top 100 Global Thinkers’ by Foreign Policy in 2010.

Fan is an accomplished author, and has written 8 books on macroeconomics and the economics of transition, more than 80 academic papers,  as well as more than 100 articles for magazines and newspapers.  Currently, he writes a monthly series called “Enter the Dragon” for Project Syndicate, which analyses trends in China’s economy and the impact they have globally.

José Manuel Barroso

José Manuel Barroso was President of the European Commission, prior to which he served as the Prime Minister of Portugal. He led the Commission during a period immediately following the expansion of the Union into eastern Europe and taking in the fallout from the financial crisis and a range of diplomatic and international challenges.

After an academic career in economics, international affairs and law, taking in periods at the Universities of Lisbon and Geneva, as well as a visiting professor at the Georgetown University in Washington DC, José Manuel entered parliamentary politics in his native Portugal as a member of the PPD (Democratic Popular Party).

Appointed Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, within a few years José Manuel became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Co-operation. It was in this role that he achieved his first international success, driving an armistice in the Angolan civil war, a bloody conflict which had at the time raged for 25 years. He was then promoted to Foreign Minister, a role he held until the governing party lost the 1995 general election. Whilst in office he also played a leading role in moves that led to independence for East Timor from Indonesia.

In opposition José Manuel chaired Portugal’s Foreign Affairs Committee and was Vice President of the European People’s Party before becoming leader of the PSD (the Social Democratic Party and successor to the PPD). He led the party into a coalition government which saw him become Prime Minister. His time in charge saw him successfully manage Portugal’s national deficit as well as taking a leading role in the Iraq conflict before he was nominated as President of the European Commission.

Spending a decade as President of the EU’s executive and legislative branch, José Manuel handled issues from the Treaty of Lisbon to the introduction of single market initiatives. An adherent of a closer, federalised union he has been an outspoken critic of all sides in the Brexit debate. Since leaving the Commission, he has returned to academia with roles at Princeton, the Woodrow Wilson School, and the University of Geneva. He is also the non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International.