Joint Conference
Navigating Challenges:
Industrial Policy, Competitiveness, and Development
January 9-10, 2025
Conference Agenda (Click to View)
The East Asian Institute (EAI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), in collaboration with the National School of Development (NSD) at Peking University and the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School, hosted a high-level conference titled “Navigating Challenges: Industrial Policy, Competitiveness, and Development” on 9-10 January, 2025. The conference aimed to ignite a robust dialogue on the evolving role of industrial policy amid global geopolitical tensions and rapid technological advancements.
Industrial policy has historically played a pivotal role in Asia’s economic development strategies and has recently gained traction in the U.S. and Europe, driven by factors such as competitiveness, transitions to a green economy, technological innovation, and national security.
The conference convened leading experts and policymakers from the U.S., China, Europe, and Southeast Asia, including academics, representatives from international organizations, and government officials, to assess the current and future landscape of industrial policy. Key topics included the effectiveness of industrial policies, mechanisms to enhance their benefits, and strategies to mitigate risks, such as the competitive use of subsidies and tax incentives that could strain public finances and disrupt the global trading system.
Participants also explored the broader impact of these policies on global economic governance and national strategies. The event will feature cutting-edge academic research presentations and policy-focused discussions.
A closed-door fireside chat featuring Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, President of the Republic of Singapore, was held at an opening dinner on January 8, setting the stage for this significant dialogue.
The event was organized in partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore and the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.
Conference Agenda
| Navigating Challenges: Industrial Policy, Competitiveness, and Development | |
| Dates | 9–10 January 2025 |
| Organizers | • East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore • Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University • National School of Development, Peking University |
| Partners | • Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore • School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University |
About the Speakers and Chairpersons (in order of presentation)
9 January 2025 (Thursday)
| Time | Event | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee | |
| 08:30 | Welcome Remarks | Alfred SCHIPKE, Director and Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| HUANG Yiping, Dean and Professor, National School of Development, Peking University |
||
| Anthony SAICH, Director, Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and Professor, Harvard Kennedy School |
||
| 08:50 | Keynote Address Video Recording |
Introduction by: TEH Kok Peng, Chairman, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Lawrence H. SUMMERS, Professor, Harvard University and Former US Treasury Secretary | ||
| Time | Session 1: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
| 09:10 | The Geopolitical Context – Industrial Policy or National Security? | Chair: Alfred SCHIPKE, Director and Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| Correlating Economic and National Security Under Great Power Rivalry: Industrial Policy and Geopolitical Competition | Danny QUAH, Dean and Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore | |
| Subsidy Issue or Size Matter? The Case of China’s Green Energy Sector | HUANG Yiping, Dean and Professor, National School of Development, Peking University | |
| An Unpredictable President and US-China Relations | Anthony SAICH, Director, Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and Professor, Harvard Kennedy School | |
| Industrial Policy and the US-China Economic Security Dilemma | Yeling TAN, Professor, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford | |
| Europe between China and the US: the Dilemmas of Geopolitics, Technology and Trade | Rana MITTER, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School | |
| The False Economy of Economic Security Policies | Shiro ARMSTRONG, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University and Director, Australia-Japan Research Centre | |
| Time | Session 2: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 11:30 | Assessing the Impact of Industrial Policy | Chair: Rana MITTER, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| The Resurgence and Proliferation of Industrial Policy: Explaining the Race to the Bottom | Scott KENNEDY, Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies | |
| Are American Industrial Policies Likely to Boost the US Middle Class? | Robert LAWRENCE, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School | |
| China’s Industrial Policy | Justin Yifu LIN, Honorary Dean and Professor, National School of Development, Peking University | |
| Europe’s Evolving Industrial Policy | Nils REDEKER, Deputy Director, Jacques Delors Centre, Hertie School | |
| Vietnam: Navigating the Geopolitical Tension with a New Industrial Policy | NGUYEN Xuan Thanh, Senior Lecturer, Fulbright School of Public Policy and Management, Fullbright University Vietnam |
| Time | Session 3: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 14:15 | Fiscal and Financial Policies – Benefits and Challenges | Chair: HUANG Yiping, Dean and Professor, National School of Development, Peking University |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| China’s Financial System: The Perils of Modernization | Meg RITHMIRE, Professor, Harvard Business School | |
| Morphing from ‘Helping Hand’ to ‘Grabbing Hand’ – Local Government Fiscal Incentives in the Xi Era | Christine WONG, Visiting Research Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore | |
| China’s Capital Markets and Industrial Policy | MIAO Yanliang, Chief Strategist and Executive Head of Research Department, China International Capital Corporation |
| Time | Session 4: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 16:15 | Role of Business & Government in Economic Development | Chair: Bert HOFMAN, Adjunct Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| Characterizing the US Industrial Policies in the Last 50 Years | Shang-Jin WEI, Professor, Columbia Business School | |
| Strategic Sectors in China and the EU’s Industrial Policies: A Comparative Analysis | YAO Jielu, Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore | |
| China’s Local Governments, Development, and Industrial Policy | ZHANG Bin, Deputy Director, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences | |
| Middle-Income Trap, Thucydides Trap and Industrial Policies | WANG Yong, Academic Deputy Dean, Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University |
10 January 2025 (Friday)
| Time | Session 5: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Industrial Policy and International Trade | Chair: Bernard YEUNG, Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| Fostering Economic Development without Distorting Trade | BAI Chong-En, Dean and Professor, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University | |
| US Industrial Policy and US-China Trade Tensions | Jonas NAHM, Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies | |
| How to Understand the Resurgence of Industrial Policy and Trade Protection | TIAN Jietang, Director General, Department of Industrial Economy, Development Research Center of the State Council | |
| The Rise of China’s NEV Industry and Trade Regulation Reform | CHEN Bo, Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Time | Session 6: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00 | National Industrial Policies & International Governance | Chair: Meg RITHMIRE, Professor, Harvard Business School |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| Trade and Global Governance | Mark WU, Professor, Harvard Law School and Faculty Director Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies | |
| Strengthening the Multilateral System | Kenneth KANG, Deputy Director, International Monetary Fund | |
| Industrial Policy, Multilateralism and MDBs | Ludger SCHUKNECHT, Vice-President and Corporate Secretary, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank | |
| Developing a Methodology to Define the Good or Bad Subsidies | TU Xinquan, Dean and Professor, China Institute for WTO Studies, University of International Business and Economics, China | |
| Industrial Policy and the New Development Bank | P.S. SRINIVAS, Visiting Research Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Time | Session 7: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 13:45 | Industrial Policy & Business | Chair: P.S. SRINIVAS, Visiting Research Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Presentation Titles: | ||
| Getting to the Bottom of China’s Overcapacity: The Income Dynamics | Yasheng HUANG, Professor, MIT Sloan School of Management | |
| Avoid Putting Knowledge at Stake: Selective Sino-Foreign R&D Linkages | XIE Zhenzhen, Professor, Business School, Sun Yat-sen University | |
| Overcapacity: Narratives vs Facts | GUO Kai, Executive President and Senior Fellow, China Finance 40 Forum (CF40) and former Deputy Director General, People’s Bank of China | |
| The Impact of Subsidies and Market Dynamics on China’s EV Industry | XING Jianwei, Associate Professor, National School of Development, Peking University | |
| Navigating Geopolitics, Industrial Policies, and Trade Upheavals | Alfred SCHIPKE, Director and Professor / Frank PIEKE, Visiting Research Professor; East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Time | Panel Discussion: | Speaker(s) & Affiliation |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00 | The Future Direction of Industrial Policy – Post-Third Plenum, U.S. Presidential Elections, and Global Trends | Chair: Alfred SCHIPKE, Director and Professor, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore |
| Panelists: | Ashok Kumar MIRPURI, Head, International Policy and Governance, Temasek International
Prakash KANNAN, Chief Economist and Director, Economics and Investment Strategy Department, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) Paul HAENLE, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co and Visiting Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore Takehiko NAKAO, Chairman, Center for International Economy & Strategy and Former President, Asian Development Bank Han-koo YEO, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics |
|
| 17:30 | Closing Remarks | Anthony SAICH, Director, Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia and Professor, Harvard Kennedy School |
About the Speakers and Chairpersons (in order of presentation)
