From July 7 to 8, the “2018 International Academic Conference on Quantitative Economics” was held by the Research Center for Quantitative Economics at Jilin University in Changchun, northeast China. Domestic and foreign scholars discussed the new progress, opportunities and challenges of quantitative economics research.

One tool for analyzing the source of economic growth is total factor productivity (TFP), which is also an indicator of economic vitality in the long-term view and more importantly, a reference for the government to formulate policies for sustainable growth.

At the moment, the biggest shortcoming China needs to overcome is the relatively low TFP, said Wang Tongsan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and former director of the Institute of Quantitative and Technical Economics under the CASS. China’s economic growth should be transformed from input-based to efficiency-driven, thereby ensuring the growth is sustainable.

The global economic history shows that financialization is a universal trend as the result of the market economy sophistication and financial deepening. Chen Shoudong, a professor from the Research Center for Quantitative Economics at Jilin University did research from the perspective of the sources of systemic risks and constructed a financial index containing key risk factors. He used this index to formulate a financial economic indicator system and gave a forecast of China’s financial situation. In his view, the positive long-term trajectory of China’s financial situation has not changed, but the economic growth will continue to face uncertainties. More attention should be paid to the prevention and control of systemic risks.

Sun Wei, a professor from the Business School at Jilin University, analyzed the investment and production capacity allocation mechanism by using empirical and quantitative methods. He proposed establishing a market-based mechanism.

(Edited and translated by Shao Yijia)