(Correspondent: Wang Tianjian) On May 9^th, Center for New Structural Economics of Nankai University was established and unveiled in Xingshen Building. The center was co-founded by School of Economics of Nankai University and Institute of New Structural Economics of Peking University, with the aim of enhancing the collaboration and contact among Nankai University and China's other first-class universities, improving scientific research and talent cultivation in the field of economics, and further promoting the innovative development of China's contemporary economic theories.

New structural economics is a theoretical system guided by Marx's thought on historical materialism, which systematically researches on the structure and dynamic change of economic development, based on China and other developing countries' experience of development as well as the mistakes they made in this process. It emphatically focuses on the endogeneity, otherness and dynamicity of the economic structures of economic entities on different stages of development, aiming at further enriching and developing modern economics while making amends for its drawbacks caused by its dependence on the experience of developed countries.

At the founding ceremony, Cao Xuetao, President of Nankai University, and Lin Yifu, Dean of Center for New Structural Economics of Nankai University, inaugurated the research center together.

Cao Xuetao expected the research center to carry forward the school motto of Dedication to public interests, acquisition of all-round capability, and aspiration for progress with each passing day and the discipline of Know China and Serve China, keep on striving for excellence, root in China's national condition and make full use of the advantages of both sides. He also hoped the center to continuously deepen self-dependent innovation around the significant issues in China's economic reform and development, cultivate innovative talents and promote high-quality collaborations, in order to better serve the national development strategy and make contribution to comprehensively building a modern socialist country.

Lin Yifu also extended his congratulations on the founding of the research center. He quoted President Xi's saying in 2016 that We are in an era which needs theories and will certainly generate theories, we are in an era which needs thoughts and will certainly generate thoughts to explain that the establishment of the center could be seen as a response to President Xi's appeal and a chance to seize the opportunities of the age. Lin Yifu said he was very glad to join hands with Nankai University to make more contribution to Chinese economics. He believed that the center would serve as a platform for Nankai University to strive for the construction of a world-class university with world-class disciplines.

The creation of new structural economics is a significant achievement of Dr. Lin Yifu and other Chinese economic scholars' frontier researches and innovation, which is based on the past and present of China and other developing countries. It offers great theories and thoughts to the development of contemporary economics, while bringing about possible structural changes to neoclassical economics. It provides new methods of analyzing the economic structure and structural changes of a country from the perspective of factor endowment and its structure, making new strategic contributions for China's economy to face the challenge of transiting from high-speed growth to high-quality growth.

After the unveiling ceremony, Lin Yifu delivered a keynote speech with the theme Great Changes Unseen in a Century and the Theoretical Innovation of New Structural Economics.

By analyzing the data of developed countries' processes of economic development, Lin Yifu pointed out that China still got high potential for future growth. He predicted that if China's economy keeps growing at the rate of 6% per year, China will surpass the U.S. to become the largest economic entity in around 2030; and if the growing rate stabilizes at 4%, China's GDP per capita will reach the half of America in around 2049, realizing the historic goal of Chinese nation's great rejuvenation.

Lin Yifu pointed out that new structural economics was created to explain and guide the transformation and upgrading of developing countries' economy, which made up for the drawbacks of current mainstream economics. New structural economics got bright future of future development, for it was able to remedy the structural distortion of China's economy and help other developing countries to better develop. Lin Yifu deemed that the 21st century would be a century for Chinese economists, a century where masters of economics keep springing up from China, and Chinese economists would make significant contribution to the world's economic development. He encouraged our students to seize the opportunities in the age of reform and opening-up, and grope for the diamonds in the field of China's economic development.

Professor Sheng Bin, Dean of School of Economics, presided over the unveiling ceremony and the following lecture. Professor Chen Zongsheng commented on Professor Lin Yifu's lecture.

Parallel symposiums were hold later on that date, where experts and scholars from Peking University, Nankai University, Beijing Normal University, Sun Yat-Sen University, Shandong University, Minzu University of China, Zhengzhou University, Shanghai university, Liaoning University and Nanchang University had in-depth discussions around the topics of governmental and industrial policy, digital technology, inclusivity and revenue allocation, development strategy, enterprise investment, targeted poverty alleviation and so on.