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On its 100th anniversary, the University of Hong Kong (HKU) proudly presents a series of Centenary Distinguished Lectures, bringing eminent scholars and their world-class scholarship to HKU. Professor Wu Jinglian, renowned economist in China, give a Centenary Distinguished Lecture entitled "Prospects for China's 12th Five-Year Plan" at HKU today (March 30). In the lecture, Professor Wu discussed with audience the 12th Five-Year Plan under the theme of "accelerating the transformation of the economic development pattern" and the crucial factors that will lead to the sustainable development of China's economy during the 12th Five-Year Plan period.

The lecture was followed by a panel discussion featuring Dr Victor Fung, Group Chairman, Li & Fung Group of Companies, Professor Michael Enright, Sun Hung Kai Properties Professor, HKU, Professor Richard Wong, Professor of Economics, HKU, and moderated by Professor Eric C Chang, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics, Quoin Professor in Finance, HKU.

Lunch with a Laureate

On March 31, a group of 20 senior secondary school students and undergraduates will meet Professor Wu Jinglian for "Lunch with a Laureate".

As an extension of the Centenary Distinguished Lectures, the "Lunch with a Laureate" aims to foster Knowledge Exchange between university and secondary schools, and help students broaden their horizons by meeting face-to-face with some of the most brilliant minds in the world today.

Date: March 31, 2011 (Thursday)
Time: 12:30pm - 2:30pm
Venue: 1 University Drive, The University Lodge, The University of Hong Kong

For media enquiries, please contact: Ms Trinni Choy (Assistant Director (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2606 email: pychoy@hku.hk or Ms Melanie Wan (Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk .

About Professor Wu Jinglian

Professor Wu Jinglian is a Research Fellow of the Development Research Centre (DRC) of the State Council, Deputy Director of the Advisory Committee for State Informatization, Professor of Beijing University and CEIBS, Chief Editor of Comparative Studies and the Journal of Legal and Economic Studies, and also an Adviser to the Executive Committee of the International Economic Association (IEA).

Professor Wu graduated from the Economics Department at Shanghai's Fudan University in 1954. Since 1984, he has served for the State Council as an Executive Director of DRC and then as a Deputy Director of the Economic System Reform Office, and played the role of a Standing Committee Member in the 9th and 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Deputy Director of the Economic Commission, Executive Committee Member of IEA, Professor of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing University and CEIBS, and Chief Editor of Comparative Studies and the Journal of Legal and Economic Studies. He has been a visiting fellow or visiting professor at Yale University, Oxford University, Stanford University and MIT. Professor Wu received the Sun Yefang Award in Economics-the highest award in China's economic research-in 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1992. He was honoured by the International Academy of Management's (IAM) Award of Excellence in 2003, the China Economics Prize - Outstanding Contribution to China's Economy Award in 2005, and the China Economic Theory Innovation Award in 2010, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa by The University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Baptist University.

Professor Wu is a co-founder of Comparative Institutional Analysis in China. He has made important contributions to the theoretical foundation for the development of a market economy and the transformation of the economic development pattern on the Mainland. He advocates that the reform should target the establishment of a market economy, limit the business territory of state-owned corporations, develop private enterprises, and fulfill the goal that multiple forms of ownership compete and develop simultaneously in an economy with the rule of law and a democratic political system, all of which is very influential to the reform of China.