Zhou Jun (1928- ) is a well-known Chinese financial economist. He graduated from Renmin University of China in 1953 and serves as a professor and doctoral supervisor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. In 2012, he received a lifetime achievement award for finance in China for his contributions to the development of finance theory and fostering talent.

From the early 1950s to the mid-1960s, Zhou Jun combined Marxist theories with China’s practical circumstances and attempted to probe into the nature of currency and the law of monetary circulation. He published Discussions on the Nature of Currency under the Socialist System, How to Calculate the Volume of Money Demanded and Currency Storage and Circulation in journals such as Economic Research, which paved the way for tentative exploration in Chinese finance.

Zhou’s extensive experiences have meant that he has a strong practical capacity to analyze and solve real problems, as demonstrated by his research. Most of his treatises and papers are closely connected with China’s real situation. For example, his work Marx’s Monetary, Financial Theories and Construction of Four Modernizations was the first book to systematically introduce Marx’s monetary and financial theories to China, and it utilized relevant Marxist theories to analyze and solve the nation’s practical problems, which earned him a reputation in the fields of theoretical finance and business.

Zhou often thinks about China’s actual financial situations, and many of his recommendations have been adopted by policymakers. In the early 1980s, China’s financial industry began to plan for structural reforms. Zhou raised a proposal for the People’s Bank of China to promote the dual banking system and multiple credit forms to distinguish the central bank from commercial banks, which meant that the People’s Bank of China has to independently exercise the functions of the central bank as well as promote the development of multiple financial institutions, such as joint-equity commercial banks and trust companies.

In Zhou’s 60-year career, monetary policy and financial regulation have been his research focuses. Entering the 21st century, the Chinese economic situation has changed and Zhou indicated that monetary policy should correspond with this change. He said: “The ultimate objective of monetary policy should be realizing multiple goals.”

Zhou’s innovative contributions to monetary circulation, Marxist monetary and financial theories, capital markets, and other fields have exerted a great impact on studies of Chinese finance.

Ming Haiying is a reporter at the Chinese Social Sciences Today.