Ian Wan of SSI speaks with Loren Brandt, Professor of Economics at the University of Toronto and one of the leading scholars on Chinese economic development. Professor Brandt has conducted extensive survey and field research across China and Vietnam, while contributing to academic and policy discussions on economic reform, industrialization, and productivity growth. Professor Brandt has published widely, and was notably the co-editor and major contributor of China’s Great Economic Transformation (Cambridge University Press, 2008), a landmark study for the Chinese economic reforms. His current research focuses on issues of industrial upgrading in China, inequality dynamics, and economic growth and structural change.

In this conversation, we discuss the foundations of China’s post-reform economic rise, the changing drivers behind growth and productivity, and the recent expansion of Chinese outbound investment into Southeast Asia and beyond.

Image credits: Website of Loren Brandt