Dr. Qian Liu is as the acting head of the analysts’ team based in Beijing, London, New York, Singapore and Hong Kong, and is an expert on economic analysis and econometric forecasting on China’s provinces and 287 key prefectures. Qian is responsible for adopting econometric models, a combination of economic and statistical techniques, to analyse economic data and produce short- and long-term macro-economic forecasts.
She also leads key industry forecasts and responsible for generating bespoke research and forecasts for clients in China. She has designed and led modeling and scenario analysis in China across the industry spectrum including education, the consumer goods market and construction, for multi-national companies as well as government agencies to cast insight on regional economic disparities and market growth forecasts.
Qian has also been responsible for a broad range of projects for the The Economist Group, including leading CQ Roll Call report in China, overseeing EIU Chinese translation service etc. She has also been a guest lecturer at New York University, Tsinghua University, Chinese Academy of Social and Fudan University. Her past research focuses on Labor Economic, and her fields of interest include education, gender and employment. Qian’s research articles appear in regarded publications as the Oxford Economic Papers, and the B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy (produced by Berkeley Electronic Press)and China Economic Review. Before joining the EIU, Qian obtained her Ph.D. in Economics from Uppsala University, in Sweden, and spent one year as a visiting researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.
Qian is based in Beijing. She speaks English, Mandarin and Swedish and her country expertise is China. She is a regular commentator at media outlets including the BBC, CNBC, CNN, HBO and CCTV.
Andrew Polk is a senior economist at The Conference Board China Center for Economics and Business in Beijing. Previously, Polk worked at the Institute of International Finance, where he conducted macroeconomic analysis on emerging markets in the Asia/Pacific region. His research focus has included monetary policy, capital flows, and financial market development throughout East and Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on China.
Polk is co-author of The Long Soft Fall in Chinese Growth released by The Conference Board in October 2014. He frequently contributes Conference Board analysis to international media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Reuters and Time Magazine among others.
Polk has held research positions at the East Asia Desk of the U.S. Treasury Department, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Foreign Policy magazine. He earned his BA in American studies and communication at Texas A&M University and holds an MA with distinction in economics and China studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
To mark the occasion of YCW Beijing’s 4 year anniversary, we hosted a lively debate between two expert economists: Andrew shared his findings from The Conference Board’s recent report “The Long Soft Fall in Chinese Growth,” while Qian updated us on the EIU’s latest work on Chinese outbound investment, and what she argues will be a new defining theme for China.
