Academic Staff

      Chen Zhiwu

      ZHIWU CHEN 陳志武

      Director, Hong Kong Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences
      Chair Professor of Finance
      Cheng Yu-Tung Professor in Finance
      Director, Centre for Quantitative History
      HKU Council member

      Academic & Professional Qualification
      • Ph.D., M.A., M.Phil., Yale University
      • M.S., Changsha Institute of Technology
      • B.S., Central-South University of Technology
      Biography

      Professor Zhiwu Chen is Chair and Cheng Yu-Tung Professor in Finance at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Professor Chen currently serves as director of both Hong Kong Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences (HKIHSS) and Centre for Quantitative History (CQH). His research covers finance theory, the sociology of finance, economic history, quantitative history, emerging markets, as well as China’s economy and capital markets. Professor Chen was a former Professor of Finance at Yale University (1999 – 2017) and a Special-Term Visiting Professor at Peking University (School of Economics) and Tsinghua University (School of Social Sciences).

      Professor Chen started his career by publishing research papers in top economics and finance journals on topics related to financial markets and theories of asset pricing. Around 2001, he began to expand research beyond mature markets by investigating market development and institution-building issues in the context of China’s transition process and other emerging markets. He successfully led efforts to construct historical financial and social databases from China’s historical archives and has written on economic/social history topics. In 2013, he started the annual Summer School for Quantitative History cum International Symposium on Quantitative History at Tsinghua University and continues to organize them at Peking University, with the goal of promoting quantitative historical research in China and beyond. In 2022, Professor Chen’s Quantitative History of China project was awarded HK$67.32 million (over US$8.5 million) under the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme, marking a new record high for government funding raised for the HKU Business School since its establishment.

      Professor Chen has been a member of the HKU Council since November 2018. He is on the board of directors of Noah Holdings, Bairong Inc., and GigaCloud Tech. He also served on the International Advisory Board of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) (2012 – 19), the Expert Advisory Board for the formation of the China Investment Corporation (2007), and on the board of directors as an independent non-executive director at IDG Energy Investment (2016 – 18) and Bank of Communications (2010 – 18); as an independent director at PetroChina (2011 – 17) and Lord Abbett China (2007 – 15). He was on the Board of Trustees of the Yale China Association, the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plan Advisory Commission to the Beijing Municipal Government, and the Chief Academic Advisor to two 10-episode CCTV documentary series, “Wall Street” and “Money”. He was a co-founder and partner of Zebra Capital Management from 2001 to 2011. In Burson-Marsteller’s 2012 “G20 Influencers” report, Professor Chen was listed as one of the top ten political influencers in China.

      Professor Chen is a frequent contributor to media publications in China on topics of economic policy, market development, institutional reform, and historical research. His work has been widely published and regularly featured in major newspapers and magazines in the United States, Hong Kong, China and many other countries. His Chinese books include: How Is Wealth Created? (2005), Media, Law and Markets (2005), Why are the Chinese Industrious and Yet Not Rich (2008), Irrational Overconfidence (2008), The Logic of Finance (2009), 24 Wealth Lectures (2009), Assessing China’s Economic Growth of the Past 30 Years (2010), On the China Model (2010), The Logic of Finance 2: Path to Individual Freedom (2015), Introduction to Finance (2018) and Introduction to Investment (2019). He has recently published a two-volume long history book in Chinese titled Logic of Civilization, that explores a number of human innovations, including mythology or magic and supernatural beliefs, technologies, social structures, cultural norms, religions, financial markets, and the welfare state. He has received research awards including the Graham and Dodd Award (2013), the Pacesetter Research Award (1999), the Merton Miller Prize (1994), and the Chicago Board Options Exchange Competitive Research Award (1994). He has also received a number of book awards in China and Hong Kong, among which are 23 awards for The Logic of Finance in China and Hong Kong, and the best book award from hexun.com for Why are the Chinese Industrious and Yet Not Rich.

      Professor Chen received his PhD in financial economics from Yale University in 1990; MS in systems engineering from Changsha Institute of Technology in 1986; and BS in computer science from Central-South University in 1983. He was Assistant Professor of Finance at University of Wisconsin – Madison (1990 – 95); Associate Professor of Finance at Ohio State University (1995 – 99); and Professor of Finance at Yale University. He has been an endowed professor since joining HKU in July 2016. In July 2019, Professor Chen was conferred the title of Chair Professor of Finance in recognition of his contribution to finance.

      Contact

      Room 217, May Hall, / Room 1338, K. K. Leung Building, The University of Hong Kong
      Tel: (852) 3917-1271 / 3910-3079
      Fax: (852) 2559-6143
      Email: zhiwu.chen@hku.hk

      Teaching

      CCHU9069 Economic Logic of Civilizations: How Human Societies have Innovated to Deal with Risk

      Research Interest
      • Finance Theory
      • Sociology of Finance
      • Quantitative History
      • Economic History
      • Emerging Markets
      • China’s Economy and Capital Markets
      Selected Publications
      • Logic of Civilization: How Humans have Innovated to Deal with Risk《文明的邏輯:人類與風險的博弈》. Beijing: CITIC Press, 2022.
      • “Production, Consumption, and Living Standards,” (co-authored with Kaixiang Peng) In Debin Ma & Richard von Glahn (Eds.), The Cambridge Economic History of China, Volume 1: To 1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022, pp. 676-709.
      • “Banking on the Confucian Clan: Why China Developed Financial Markets So Late” (with Chicheng Ma and Andrew Sinclair), The Economic Journal, 2022, 132(644), 1378-1413.
      • Quantitative History Research, Vol 5《量化历史研究 (第五辑) 》, co-edited with Debin Ma and Long Denggao, Science Publishers, China. 2019.
      • “Social Norms and Household Savings Rates in China,” (with Yvonne Chen and Shijun He) Review of Finance, 2018, 1-31
      • “A Study of Wife Prices in Qing China: How women were used as Insurance Assets,” (with Shijun He, Zhan Lin and Kaixiang Peng) China Economic Quarterly, 1, 2018, 253-280.
      • “Usury, Market Power and Poverty Traps: A Study of Rural Credit in 1930s’ China,” (with Kaixiang Peng and Weipeng Yuan) Frontiers of Economics in China, 13(3), 2018, 369-396.
      • Introduction to Investment《陳志武金融投資課. Beijing: CITIC Press, 2019.
      • Introduction to Finance《陳志武金融通識課》. Changsha: Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, 2018.
      • Quantitative History Research, Vols 3 & 4《量化歷史研究 (第三,四輯)》, co-edited with Debin Ma and Long Denggao, Science Publishers, China. 2018.
      •  “Social-economic change and its impact on violence: Homicide history of Qing China,” (with Kaixiang Peng and Lijun Zhu) Explorations in Economic History, 63, 2017, 8-25.
      • The Future of Financial Reform中國金融改革未來會怎樣 ? (with Yiping Huang and Shusong Ba). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press, 2017.
      • “A Preliminary Study of Chinese Interest Rates from the Early Qing to the Twentieth Century Based on an Examination of the Historical Database of Chinese Interest Rates (1660 – 2000),” (with Kaixiang Peng, and Weipeng Yuan) Qing History Journal 清史研究, 104(4), 2016, 36-52.
      • “Research on Debt Homicide Cases in mid Qianlong and mid-late Daoguang Reigns,” (with Zhan Lin and Kaixiang Peng) Qing History Journal 清史研究, 102(2), 2016, 75-86.
      • “On the Past and Future Prospects of Quantitative History Research,” Qing History Journal 清史研究, 0(4), 2016, 1-16.
      • “The Asset Management Industry in China: Its Past Performance and Future Prospects,” (with Peng Xiong and Zhuo Huang) Journal of Portfolio Management, 41(5), 2015, 9-30.
      • The Logic of Finance 2: Path to Individual Freedom金融的邏輯 2:通往自由之路. Xi’an: Northwestern University Press (China), 2015.
      • Quantitative History Research, Vol. 2《量化歷史研究 (第二輯 )》, co-edited with Debin Ma and Long Denggao, Zhejiang University Press, 2015.
      • “Violent Conflicts in Private Lending: A Research Based on Qing Dynasty’s Homicide Reports,” (with Zhan Lin and Kaixiang Peng) Economic Research Journal經濟研究 (9), 2014, 162-175.
      • “Discounts and Investment Performance of Chinese PIPEs,” (with Jinhui Luo) Portfolio Management, 41(2), 2014, 41-56.
      • Quantitative History Research, Vol. 1《量化歷史研究 (第一輯 )》, co-edited with Debin Ma and Long Denggao, Zhejiang University Press, 2014.
      • “Financial Strategies for Nation Building,” In Joseph Fan & Randall Morck (Eds.), Capitalizing China. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013, pp. 313-333.
      • “Liquidity as an investment style,” (with Roger Ibbotson, Daniel Kim and Wendy Hu) Financial Analysts Journal, 69(3), 2013, 30-44.
      • “Option Pricing and Hedging Performance Under Stochastic Volatility and Stochastic Interest Rates,” (with Gurdip Bakshi and Charles Cao) In C. Lee & J. Lee (Eds.), Handbook of Quantitative Finance and Risk Management.  Boston, MA: Springer, 2010, pp. 547-574.
      • “A Valuation Study of Stock Market Seasonality and the Size Effect,” (with Jan Jindra) Journal of Portfolio Management, 36(3), 2010, 78-92.
      • The Logic of Finance金融的邏輯 : 當代中國創富之道. Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 2010.
      • The Logic of Finance金融的邏輯. Beijing: Modern Press, 2009. Korean version published in 2010.
      • “The Mechanisms of Rural Credit Market in Modern China –  A Research Based on Raw Documents,” (with Kaixiang Peng and Weipeng Yuan) Economic Research Journal 经济研究 (5), 2008, 147-159.
      • Irrational Overconfidence?非理性亢奮》. Beijing: CITIC Press, 2008.
      • Why Are Chinese Hard-Working and yet Poor?為什麼中國人勤勞而不富有 . Beijing: CITIC Press, 2008.
      • “Development Prospects of Chinese Industries,” In Subhash C. Jain (Ed.), Emerging economies and the transformation of international business: Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs) (New horizons in international business). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2006, pp. 155-182.
      • “China’s Stock Market in Historical Perspective,” The PB Newsletter, Issue No. 5, July 2006, 29-40.
      • “Informational Content of Option Volume Prior to Takeovers,” (with Charles Cao and John Griffin) The Journal of Business, 78(3), 2005, 1073-1109.
      • “Stock valuation in dynamic economies,” (with Gurdip Bakshi) Journal of Financial Markets, 8(2), 2005, 111-151.
      • “A free press could help China’s economy,” Financial Times, September 20, 2005.
      • “Pricing and hedging long-term options,” (with Gurdip Bakshi and Charles Cao) Journal of Econometrics, 94(1), 2000, 277-318.
      • “Do Call Prices and the Underlying Stock Always Move in the Same Direction?” (with Gurdip Bakshi and Charles Cao) The Review of Financial Studies, 13(3), 2000, 549-584.
      • “Empirical Performance of Alternative Option Pricing Models,” (with Gurdip Bakshi and Charles Cao) Journal of Finance, 52(5), 1997, 2003-2049.
      • “Equilibrium Valuation of Foreign Exchange Claims,” (with Gurdip Bakshi) Journal of Finance, 52(2), 1997, 799-826.
      • “An alternative valuation model for contingent claims,” (with Gurdip Bakshi) Journal of Financial Economics, 44(1), 1997, 123-165.
      • “The spirit of capitalism and stock-market prices,” (with Gurdip Bakshi) The American Economic Review, 86(1), 1996, 133-157.
      • “Portfolio Performance Measurement: Theory and Applications,” (with Peter Knez) The Review of Financial Studies, 9(2), 1996, 511-555.
      Awards and Honors
      • Awarded “Economist of the Year 2023” by South Reviews Magazine, a leading politics and economics magazine in China.
      • Awarded HK$67.32 million (over US$8.5 million) under the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme for the Quantitative History of China project in 2022, marking a new record high for government funding raised for the HKU Business School since its establishment.
      • Conferred the title of Chair Professor of Finance in recognition of his contribution to finance (2019).
      • Received numerous research rewards including the Top Graham and Dodd Award for the Best Paper of 2013 in Financial Analyst Journal, the Pacesetter Research Award (1999), the Merton Miller Prize (1994), and the Chicago Board Options Exchange Competitive Research Award (1994).
      • Listed with one of the top 50 “Most Cited Articles of All Time” of the Journal of Finance (ranked #42, Empirical Performance Of Alternative Option Pricing Models, with Gurdip Bakshi and Charles Cao, published in December 1997).
      • Listed in 2012 “G20 Influencers” report by Burson-Marsteller as one of the top ten political influencers in China.
      • Named one of the “10 Public Intellectuals” who influenced China in 2010, by Times Weekly, a national newspaper based in Guangzhou, China.
      • Received 23 “Best Books of the Year” awards in various categories and for 2009 in China for his book, The Logic of Finance 《金融的邏輯》.
      • Received the First Prize, Hexun Best Books of 2008, for his book, Why Are Chinese Hard-Working and yet Poor?《中國人為什麽勤勞而不富有》.
      • Named one of the 20 People of the Year in defending “Public Interest”, 2006, by Nang Feng Cuan magazine in China.
      • Professor Chen’s Chinese blog was named one of the Top 10 Blogs in China in the topic area of “Public Interest”, 2006.
      Recent Media Articles/ Interview

       

      Feb 27, 2024 Xi Crackdown on ‘Hedonistic’ Bankers Fuels Industry Brain Drain
      “I see a new Chinese economy coming into shape soon in which the financial sector will have only two types of players: government-run banks and government-run insurance companies,” said Zhiwu Chen, a professor in finance at University of Hong Kong. “While it will not totally go back to its pre-1978 planned-economy mode, it will be close. Thus, China’s financial sector will not need so many professionals and many will have to find jobs elsewhere, whether there are other options or not.”

      Feb 26, 2024 China’s Quant Clampdown Risks Damaging Fragile Markets for Years
      “The A-share market is so micro-managed, monitored and controlled by the administrators,” said Zhiwu Chen, a finance professor in Hong Kong and a former member of the international advisory board of the CSRC, referring to the domestic market.

      Feb 15, 2024 China Revives Socialist Ideas to Fix Its Real-Estate Crisis
      Zhiwu Chen , a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong, was more skeptical. He compared China’s new housing strategy to the way Beijing uses its so-called “national team” of state funds to buy equities to try to prop up the depressed stock market. Such eff orts have often failed to sustainably bolster the market. Using government money to buy up distressed real estate would be no different, he said, given the country’s demographic challenges and supply glut. Government interventions could also raise uncomfortable questions about social fairness, he said. Buying properties from existing homeowners or developers when the market is weak would amount to using national resources to subsidize owners who have the flexibility to sell, when others don’t, he said. “It turns into an issue of wealth distribution,” he said. “Not everyone in China owns multiple apartments, nor are they ready to sell.”

      Feb 6, 2024 China could boost demand and ease deflation with cash payments, analysts say
      “The biggest deflation factor is the high sense of insecurity among businesspeople, private firms and officials,” said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. “No one feels really secure about tomorrow.”

      Jan 17, 2024 China’s economic ‘recovery is still shaky’ as Beijing looks to get it back on solid footing in 2024
      Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said restoring confidence would be key, but that it would take much more than just talk.
      “The really useful and meaningful way to boost household and private business confidence is to depoliticise both economic policymaking and the business sector,” he said. “Otherwise, the ‘3D’ challenges – deflation, debt and deleveraging – will continue.”

      Jan 17, 2024 China’s hi-tech manufacturing faces ‘extraordinary pressures’ as 2023 output stalls
      Chen Zhiwu, a chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said headwinds such as risks of a global recession and US-China tensions would continue to exert “extraordinary pressures” on China’s hi-tech push.
      “The US tech war has largely thwarted Chinese tech companies’ [initial public offering] opportunities. Even if these tech manufacturers succeed in going public, the potential sanctions would affect their market valuations,” said Chen.
      He added China’s weak economic momentum is also weighing on the market’s overall willingness to invest, with hi-tech manufacturing just one element.
      “The rapid development of hi-tech industries over the past 20 years has provided China with a massive boost to its economic boom, this was partly due to the impact of a stable external environment on investor confidence,” Chen said.
      “Many hi-tech companies I’ve surveyed recently said that market demand for tech products is relatively low, and with uncertain market sentiment, consumers are tightening their wallets so much that companies have to cut back on production.”

      Jan 16, 2024 陳志武回來了,決定做一件有趣的事
      出書,演講,評論,他觀察中國,也參與中國,溶金融邏輯於中國水土。 在資本的海洋中,他俯身細看數字背後的人文,用簡潔的經濟學語言,解釋文明演進與社會建構。 他談理想宏願,唯萬家燈火,是其經濟學思想的倒影,仍未倦,且駐講台,傳道授業解惑。 在東西方思想交會處,他篤定,做兩者的橋樑。

      Dec 15, 2023 China wants to build ‘first-class’ investment banks – but isn’t telling the industry how
      China only entered the investment banking and fund management game in the 1990s, more than two centuries after Wall Street, said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong.

      Dec 14, 2023 Fed interest rate stance could help ‘pummelled’ yuan, China could feel ripple effects of 2024 cuts
      Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said the pause by the US Federal Reserve, and possible cuts, could be positive for China’s exports but not its financial markets.
      “The news means more US stock market and bond market upsides in the coming years, possibly luring more capital out from China,” said Chen, adding the US economy could continue to cool further but is unlikely to slip into a serious recession.

      ​Dec 5, 2023 Xi Jinping Is Asserting Tighter Control of Finance in China
      “Politics will for sure further dictate China’s finance, effectively moving China even closer to how it was before the reforms started in 1978,” said Chen Zhiwu, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong.​

      Dec 1, 2023 China’s economic data again under the microscope, local authorities warned over falsifying statistic
      ​"It’s definitely in the government’s interest to ensure maximum data reliability" Chen Zhiwu​

      Nov 16, 2023 China's not-so-special economic zone embodies a harsh new reality
      The last 10 years have not been about real reforms and open doors," said Zhiwu Chen, professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. "Instead, reversals of past reforms have carried the day," he said, adding this has stifled Qianhai's progress.
      "In the old days, officials in Qianhai would have been encouraged and incentivised to experiment with creative policy innovations. In the current political environment, officials put much higher priority on minimising risk."

      Nov 8, 2023 Is China's geopolitics scaring off Western firms?
      Zhiwu Chen from the University of Hong Kong says foreign businesses are also being deterred by an increasingly aggressive Chinese government. In this interview with DW Business, he says Beijing has taken on a ‘warfare’ mentality where geopolitics takes precedence over economic considerations.

      Nov 3, 2023 Has Beijing secured Hong Kong’s status as an international finance hub?
      Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, was less optimistic. He said the mention of Hong Kong this week was “vague and general”, suggesting “there’s nothing specific coming up” in the way of changes. The city is unlikely to add infrastructure, expand capital markets or enact new laws in response to Xi’s statement, at least not right away, he said.

      Nov 2, 2023 ​China cements party control over finance, clamping down on risk but making investors sweat
      ​Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said tightening party control over finance is “simply a formal acknowledgement of the practice over the past 10 years.”
      “No surprise here, as the revised Chinese Constitution of 2018 says the Party must control everything. So, the financial sectors cannot be an exception.”​​

      Oct 4, 2023 Refreshed China-Germany deal helps Beijing keep economic foothold in West amid US-led decoupling
      “I’m pretty sure the [US] State Department people and national security staff must be paying attention to this,” said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong.

      Aug 29, 2023 China’s Economic Outlook: Pep Talks Up Top, Gloom on the Ground
      “That sense of insecurity is almost universally shared within China now, across all walks of life,” said Chen Zhiwu, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. “And that is why the government has been using all the official media and all other tools to convey a positive, optimistic message.”

      Aug 25, 2023 How expanding China-led economic bloc Brics adds to the yuan’s global clout
      However, it is already used for payments between China and five countries that will be in Brics from next year, said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, pointing to Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
      “All of these bilateral trade relations are going up,” Chen said.

      Aug 10, 2023 China’s Economy Isn’t Ailing—It’s ‘Evolving’: IPO Lawyers Told to Watch Their Language
      “As long as stock issuers lay out the good and the bad, they will not be held accountable if these bad things—which hopefully will never happen—do happen,” said Zhiwu Chen, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong who sat on the CSRC’s international advisory council from 2012 to 2019.

      Aug 1, 2023 China syndrome: open and closed for business at the same time
      “The regulators have introduced a lot of ambiguous steps that must be followed around winding down, and winding out, of foreign investments in China,” Professor Zhiwu Chen, chair of Finance at Hong Kong University, told FinanceAsia.

      Jun 30, 2023 Asia’s Former Richest Man Struggles To Raise Cash Amid Mounting Debts
      “His (Wang’s) challenges are only bigger now,” says Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. “IPOs, bond issuance, bank loans … all these funding opportunities are now first and foremost reserved for SOEs [state-owned enterprises] and strategic industry players. It is definitely not easy for real estate developers and companies in not so strategically important sectors.”

      May 17, 2023 Wall Street’s Biggest Banks Face a Harsh Reality Check in China
      "Wall Street banks should have factored in geopolitical risks a long time ago," said Chen Zhiwu, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong Business School. “Over the next five years, the best case scenario for them is that China reverses direction and goes back to real open-door policy and market reforms, revitalizing the business environment. This is an extremely unlikely scenario but not impossible.”

      Apr 6, 2023 專訪經濟學家陳志武:中國經濟的復甦困境,與未來發展方向的結構性轉變
      我們對此專訪了經濟學家陳志武教授。他是香港大學金融學教授,香港人文社會研究所所長、量化歷史研究中心主任。陳志武1990年獲得美國耶魯大學金融學博士學位,2000年代開始在中國財經媒體上撰寫專欄,發表對中國宏觀經濟和金融市場的評論。在中國媒體環境還寬鬆的年代,他曾公開呼籲中國須進行政治制度改革,才能實現經濟的不斷增長。
      在和端傳媒的訪談中,陳志武談論到中國經濟的復甦困難,和在目前地緣政治局面與國家管制的情況下面臨的雙重困境,以及在接下來的發展過程中會出現的方向變化:我們在過去二三十年目睹的中國經濟增長與普通人生活改善的路徑,在未來也許會發生徹底的轉變。

      March 26, 2023 How China Keeps Putting Off Its ‘Lehman Moment’
      HONG KONG — Remember the Evergrande crisis?
      It was little more than a year ago that Evergrande Group, the Chinese property developer, was about to collapse under more than S300 billion in debt. There were warnings of a catastrophic default that would ripple through China’s economy, maybe even set off a global depression. China, it was said, faced its Lehman Brothers moment — when a corporate failure like that which felled the once-venerable Wall Street investment bank in 2008 finally forces Chinese Communist Party policymakers to reckon with systemic financial weakness.

      March 19, 2023 Chinese Tech Feels the SVB Effect
      Chinese companies that did business with SVB in the U.S. also have plenty of options as they join the rush to find a new bank. But SVB’s collapse may make firms think twice before relying on smaller, regional banks. “There is a shift going on,” says Chen Zhiwu (https://www.hkubs.hku.hk/pflop1e/zhiwu-chen/). a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong. “Everyone I know has been moving money from small banks into big ones.” Chen says that some of the companies he advises are concerned about this transition, fearing that they may not get the sort of specialized or preferential service from large banks that they enjoyed with SVB.

      March 18, 2023 China's M&A Star Told His Employees to Be Bold — Then He Disappeared
      “Confidence has been very much shattered,” said Zhiwu Chen, a professor and chair of finance at the University of Hong Kong’s business school. “The government’s desire to haveprivate equity and venture capital invest more is very much undermined,” he added.

      March 16, 2023 Hong Kong's wealth managers braced for a bumpy ride
      But other voices believe the cards are stacked against Hong Kong’s long-term revival and continued prosperity. “The Hong Kong government people try pretty hard,but they are going against headwinds,” says Zhiwu Chen,professor offinance and director of the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong.

      March 8, 2023 China's Financial Regulators Face Deep Pay Cuts After Revamp
      Since CSRC and CBIRC had been categorised differently from government organizations in the past, the regulators had more discretion in setting salaries and employees typically received higher pay than public servants, said Zhiwu Chen, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong Business School. “With this new definition for their positions, some of them may have to accept a pay cut of 50% or more. They will not be happy,” he said.

      February 22, 2023 China pitches belt and road to ‘illiberal’ Hungary as Beijing's links with Moscow sow suspicion in Europe
      “I don’t think there is much of a future for the belt and road in the pro-Western countries, though China would like to have both camps in the fold,” said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. “The world is being divided into two blocs again.”

      February 17, 2023 China Set to Name New Chiefs at Banking, Market Regulators
      Zhiwu Chen, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong Business School, expects that Yi, given his experience in banking, will work well with He Lifeng, the incoming vice premier in charge of financial and fiscal matters, as well as incoming Premier Li Qiang. Both Li and Yi are from Wenzhou in the eastern Zhejiang province, he said, adding they have “some appreciation of practicality.”

      February 8, 2023 Chinese Consumers Hoard Cash After Confidence Takes a Hit
      “Confidence has plummeted in the past year,” said Zhiwu Chen, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, referring to both individuals and businesses in China. “When people are uncertain about the future, their first reaction is to save money.”

      January 26, 2023 Exodus of Wealthy Chinese Accelerates With End of Covid Zero
      “If several million people go out and travel this year, that may still amount to tens of billions of dollars of downward pressure on the foreign exchange reserves that China has,” said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at Hong Kong University.

      January 13, 2023 Can China's Billionaires Breathe A Sigh Of Relief In 2023?
      That’s because analysts are predicting the government’s latest market-friendly policies could fade as soon as this year. “Once the economic conditions stabilize, I would expect a return to whatever was happening prior to November 2022,” says Chen Zhiwu, a professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong.