China’s Next Transformation

Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Melbourne

China’s Next Transformation
Bert Hofman, The World Bank

5.30pm-7.00pm Tuesday 18 July, 2017
Prest Theatre, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street, Carlton

Admission is free, but places are limited so registration is essential:
http://alumni.online.unimelb.edu.au/s/1182/match/wide.aspx?sid=1182&gid=1&pgid=11361&content_id=8290

In the past 40 years, China has done exceptionally well in economic growth and poverty reduction. As expected, now that China is a higher middle income country, growth has started to slow down, and has become increasingly dependent on capital deepening, much of it credit financed, which is in the end not sustainable. The authorities are well aware that for the coming decades, they need a different growth model—one that is based more on productivity increases and innovation. This notion has been embedded in policies since the mid-2000, and has gained prominence in the 13th Five Year Plan and China’s “Manufacturing 2025” plan for industrial policy. Mr. Hofman will explore where China is in this next transformation, what China can do to accelerate the process, and what the implications are for the rest of the world of China’s next transformation.

Mr Bert Hofman, a Dutch National, is the World Bank’s Country Director for China, Mongolia and Korea in the East Asia and Pacific Region, based in Beijing since 2014, his 3rd tour of working on China since the early 1990s. He is leading a team that is managing the World Bank’s largest loan portfolio and directs an extensive analytical and advisory program with China and Mongolia, and a growing knowledge partnership with Korea. Prior to his present assignment, Mr. Hofman was the World Bank’s Chief Economist for the East Asia and Pacific Region and Director, Singapore Office from 2011-14. As regional chief economist he led a team to analyze key trends and policy issues across East Asia and the Pacific and as Director Singapore he helped build a partnership that focuses on expanding investment in infrastructure in emerging economies. Before moving to Singapore, Mr. Hofman was the Country Director for the Philippines, responsible for a growing portfolio of projects and advisory services to the Philippines government.

Mr. Hofman has accumulated more than 23 years of experience in the World Bank, 18 of which in the East Asia region. Among others, Mr. Hofman was Lead Economist for China and for Indonesia and country economist for Mongolia and Namibia. He had also worked on Brazil, South Africa, Russia, Zambia, and Namibia in his earlier years with the Bank. Prior to joining the World Bank, Mr. Hofman worked at the Kiel Institute of World Economics in Germany, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, and NMB Bank in the Netherlands (now ING). Mr. Hofman holds a degree in economics of Erasmus University Rotterdam and studied at the Christian Albrechts University, Kiel.