Editor’s Note
On November 8, 2025, the first batch of books from SUFE’s Discipline History series was released. The developmental journey of the School of Economics embodies the dedication and academic inheritance of generations of economists. A Discipline History of the School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics systematically traces the school’s academic lineage and vividly records the evolutionary logic of economics in China. While carrying forward academic traditions, it also nurtures immense potential for future innovation. Against this backdrop, the School of Economics launches the column Jinghong · Academic Heritage. The column will sequentially introduce the development trajectories and features of each discipline within the school. Through these focused vignettes, we gather momentum from the past, stimulate innovative thinking by sustaining academic legacies, and contribute SUFE’s insights to building an independent knowledge system for Chinese economics.
With more than forty years of academic inheritance and the dedicated work of successive generations of scholars, the discipline of quantitative economics at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics has consistently upheld the academic tradition of targeting international frontiers while grounding itself in China’s realities, forming distinctive educational characteristics and profound disciplinary accumulation. Its development falls into four successive stages: initial founding (1984–1989), system improvement (1990–2004), international reform and rapid growth (2005–2019), and new‑era development rooted in China (2019–2024).
Initial Founding (1984–1989)
From Modern Applied Statistics to the Quantitative Economics Research Office The origins of SUFE’s quantitative economics discipline can be traced back to the 1980s. The university resumed operations in 1978, and the Department of Economics was formally established in 1980. In 1984, to cultivate high‑level statistical talents, the university set up the Research Office of Modern Applied Statistics (colloquially known as “Western Statistics”) under the Department of Statistics. The National Bureau of Statistics allocated a special fund of 2.24 million yuan to support this reform. The research team adopted a philosophy combining broad international vision with respect for China’s historical realities. Core postgraduate courses were delivered by top domestic and international experts: Sampling Surveys by Professor Leslie Kish from the University of Michigan, Time Series Analysis jointly by Professor Ching-Fan Tiao from the University of Chicago and Professor Xie Zhongjie from Peking University, and Multivariate Statistical Analysis by Professor Zhang Yaoting from Wuhan University.
Mainstream media outlets including Wenhui Daily and China Daily reported on SUFE’s statistical teaching reforms. After visiting the university, leaders of the American Statistical Association and the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau wrote to the National Bureau of Statistics to speak highly of SUFE. In a report prepared for the World Bank, Professor Ching-Fan Tiao noted that under the strong leadership of Professor Huang Shuyan, the Department of Statistics delivered remarkable teaching reform outcomes and set an excellent example for statistical education reform across China.
In 1989, the former Applied Statistics Research Office was restructured. Some members formed the Quantitative Economics Research Office, with Professor Jiang Guolin as its director and Professor Huang Shuyan serving as advisor, continuing to fuel disciplinary progress.
System Improvement (1990–2004)
From Master’s Program Establishment to Internationalized Education In 1990, the Ministry of Education formally approved the launch of the master’s program in quantitative economics. Professor Huang Shuyan and Associate Professor Zhang Haixiong became the first master’s supervisors. Former director of the Institute of Quantitative Economics, Professor Huang Shuyan was one of the pioneers and founders of quantitative economics in China. He received the Guo Bingwen Award at SUFE’s centenary celebration. Professor Zhang Yaoting, author of works including Introduction to Multivariate Statistical Analysis, joined Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 1994 and made indelible contributions to disciplinary development. In 1996, the discipline began admitting doctoral students, with Professor Zhang Yaoting as its first doctoral supervisor.
In 1998, the original Department of Economics and the Quantitative Economics Research Office merged to form the Preparatory Committee for the School of Economics, whose leadership team comprised Cheng Enfu, Xu Heli, Jiang Guolin, He Yuchang and Zhu Pingfang. The School of Economics was officially founded in April 2000. Professor Huang Shuyan served as the first director of the Institute of Quantitative Economics, followed successively by Professor Jiang Guolin and Professor Zhu Pingfang. During Professor Zhu Pingfang’s tenure, the institute undertook numerous national research projects and published nearly 20 papers in top journals such as Economic Research Journal. Professor Zhu Pingfang later served as Director of the Center for Quantitative Economic Research at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Vice President and Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the Chinese Association of Quantitative Economics, and editorial board member of The Journal of Quantitative & Technological Economics.
The quantitative economics program hosted SUFE’s first Ministry‑of‑Education‑approved international joint education project in economics, in partnership with the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. It offered courses including Mathematical Analysis, Advanced Algebra and Econometrics. Undergraduate students for the quantitative economics track were admitted starting in 1998. From 2000 onward, the university recruited undergraduates for the China‑foreign cooperative quantitative economics track in partnership with the University of Southampton, and appointed Professor Lu Maozu from the University of Southampton as an adjunct professor.
Rapid Growth (2005–2019)
International Reform and Academic Leadership In July 2004, Professor Tian Guoqiang of Texas A&M University assumed the deanship of the School of Economics and launched a comprehensive economics education reform initiative focused on recruiting world‑class faculty and strengthening academic research. In 2005, the Economics Innovation Platform proposed by Professor Tian Guoqiang received joint approval from the Ministry of Education and other authorities, and by the end of 2006 it was incorporated into China’s first batch of 985 Project “Innovation Platforms for Key Disciplines”.
Supported by this platform, the quantitative economics discipline carried out internationalized reform. In 2005, the school recruited a large cohort of overseas PhDs; among the first 11 returnee scholars hired by the School of Economics, five joined the quantitative economics group. Nearly two‑thirds of the discipline’s faculty hold degrees from renowned overseas universities. The Department of Quantitative Economics was founded in 2011 with a dual domestic‑overseas chair system. Professors Zhu Dongming and Zhou Yahong (later Dean of the School of Economics) successively served as domestic chairs, while Professor Fan Yanqin overseas took the role of co‑chair. Former Institute Director Professor Zhu Pingfang remained committed to the discipline’s development and offered continuous support for junior faculty growth and postgraduate training.
Between 2005 and 2019, faculty of the discipline published 227 papers in top domestic and international journals such as Economic Research Journal and Journal of Econometrics, and secured 27 national research grants. Notably in 2018, the econometrics team led by Professor Zhou Yahong obtained the NSFC Key Project Innovative Research on Semiparametric Econometrics, marking the first such key project for the School. For talent cultivation, the discipline built a trinity curriculum framework integrating “history, logic and quantification”. It independently launched the master’s program in econometrics in 2005, added a big‑data economics track in 2015, and a master’s track in financial econometrics in 2017. Distinguished overseas scholars were flexibly recruited to deliver frontier summer courses. On academic exchange, the discipline hosted an annual international econometrics workshop starting in 2011, greatly lifting its global visibility and deepening international academic engagement.
New‑Era Development (2019–2024)
Rooted in China Since 2019, Professor Zhou Yahong has served as Dean of the School of Economics and Professor Zhang Zhenyu as Chair of the Department of Quantitative Economics. In early 2024, the Department of Quantitative Economics was renamed the Department of Econometrics.
The past five years have witnessed distinctive disciplinary development. Responding to the explosive advancement of data science and the arrival of the big‑data era, and following the intrinsic laws of departmental and disciplinary growth, the Department of Econometrics has gradually established three major research clusters: microeconometrics and micro empirical analysis, macro and financial econometrics, and econometrics for big data, high‑frequency data, spatial and network data, with corresponding sub‑disciplinary teaching and research sections.
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the quantitative economics discipline upholds the conviction of “conducting academic research grounded in China”. It carries out in‑depth research on public social policies, develops frameworks for scientific modelling, quantitative evaluation and analysis of macroeconomic, industrial and financial policies, and vigorously advances econometric theories and methods for empirical economic analysis and policy evaluation with Chinese characteristics. The Department of Econometrics takes a lead role in curriculum and textbook development for the Economics Project 101. Professor Zhou Yahong (jointly with Professor Hong Yongmiao from the Chinese Academy of Sciences) led the compilation of the undergraduate econometrics textbook for Project 101, introducing cutting‑edge content such as causal identification and big‑data statistical methods into undergraduate econometrics teaching and advancing the modernization of econometrics curricula nationwide. Phased progress has also been made in textbook development for financial econometrics, including the publication of volumes such as Essentials of Financial Econometrics.
Over this period, faculty of the discipline have published more than 80 papers in leading domestic and international journals and won 11 national research projects. Since 2019, the department has recruited Professor Lung‑fei Lee as a full‑time faculty member, a Fellow of the Econometric Society. The discipline now boasts one national‑level distinguished scholar (Professor Zhou Yahong) and one Fellow of the Econometric Society. Professor Lung‑fei Lee previously held tenured professorships at the University of Minnesota and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, with over 160 publications in top international journals including Econometrica, and has made pioneering contributions to spatial econometrics. For talent training, big‑data courses for undergraduates have been offered since 2019, and the annual intake of professional master’s students in financial econometrics reached 150 by 2024. Doctoral students have published more than 70 papers in authoritative journals during their studies. On international exchange, the discipline has repeatedly hosted high‑level academic conferences including the China Econometricians Forum.
Discipline Outlook
More than forty years of academic inheritance have passed. From the pioneering work of founders such as Huang Shuyan and Zhang Yaoting, to the advancement led by core scholars including Zhu Pingfang and Zhou Yahong, and onward to the enterprising new generation of researchers, SUFE’s quantitative economics discipline has always pursued academic excellence that “reaches for the sky while standing firmly on the ground”: targeting international frontiers and rooted in China’s realities. It strives unremittingly toward building a world‑class discipline with Chinese characteristics.
