The Report on the Development of Economics Research 2022 (hereinafter the Report), written by the Editorial Department of Economic Sociology of Social Sciences In China Press, was released recently. It was pointed out in the Report that in 2022, China’s economic theorists scientifically answered the questions of China, the world, the people and the times to reply and respond to major theoretical and practical problems in the new era with the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought. They provided solid theoretical and intellectual support for promoting China’s economy and building a modern socialist country, and strove to accelerate the innovation of economic theories with Chinese characteristics and the construction of an independent Chinese knowledge system. In 2022, as the depth, breadth and dimension of China’s economic research continued to expand, a number of significant academic achievements emerged.
In the Report, domestic scholars’ economics research in the last year was divided into three areas, namely the research on theoretical interpretation of Xi Jinping’s Economic Thought, the deepening of basic economic theories, and the solutions to major realities in the economic field. Among them, the third area includes nine aspects, namely the promotion of common prosperity, rural revitalization in all aspects, coordinated regional development and high-standard opening up, the acceleration of the construction of a unified domestic market, the development of the digital economy, the ensuring of the autonomy and control of the supply and industry chain, the safeguarding of the supply of primary products, and the promotion of green, low-carbon and circular development.
In “the promotion of high-standard opening up” of the Report, the research results of three Chinese scholars, including Professor Qian Xuefeng of the SBA, on opening up based on rules and related institutions were introduced. It was mentioned that “Qian Xuefeng emphasizes that the international division of labor has deepened to the stage of production integration characterized by factor division of labor, and opening up based on rules and related institutions is the form compatible with international production integration.” In recent years, after conducting a series of researches on opening-up based on institutions and other issues of building a new system of open economy, Professor Qian Xuefeng and his team have made a range of achievements, including major projects supported by National Social Sciences Fund, high-quality papers published in journals such as China Social Sciences in China and Economic Research Journal, as well as information and administration reports adopted by the central and local authorities.
In addition, A Ten-Year Overview of the Development of Applied Economics, written by Prof. Qian Xuefeng and Associate Prof. Mao Haitao, was previously published in China Social Sciences Net and Chinese Social Sciences Net Journal. In the article, the development of applied economics since the 18th CPC National Congress is introduced from the perspective of the Five Major Development Concepts respectively. It is underlined that since the 18th National Congress, applied economics, as the science for governing and benefiting the people, has gone through a “golden decade” when the research paradigm of applied economics has moved from focusing on theoretical models and econometric methods to China’s problems. As General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed, “To endow philosophy and the social sciences with Chinese characteristics, we need to learn from abroad in light of Chinese realities, grasp at contemporary trends with lessons from history, concern for the human and be future-oriented. In this way, Chinese characteristics, Chinese manner and Chinese style will be embodied in the guiding ideology, discipline system, academic system, and discourse system”. The economists, taking the role of “Great Educator” as their responsibility, have contributed to the development of applied economics. They have told China’s story and spread China’s voice with the terminology of economics, and made suggestions for major national strategies with paradigm for economic analysis to make a contribution to China’s economic and social changes and development. Increasingly complex developments both in and outside of China in the future require much more theoretical research of applied economics as it can provide more solid theoretical support and policy recommendations for socialist modernization drive.