Keyu Jin Speaker Biography
Harvard-Trained Global Economist and Bestselling Author of The New China Playbook
Dr. Keyu Jin is a leading Chinese economist, professor, and global thought leader celebrated for her incisive analysis of China’s economic ascent and its implications for the world order. Bridging Eastern and Western perspectives with clarity and rigor, she challenges entrenched myths about China’s development model—neither purely socialist nor a replica of Western capitalism—while illuminating its unique drivers of innovation, growth, and global integration. A sought-after keynote speaker at forums like Davos, J.P. Morgan conferences, and elite policy roundtables, Jin offers audiences rare, evidence-based insights into US-China relations, technological competition, and the future of macroeconomics in a multipolar era.
Education
Born in Beijing in 1982, Jin moved to New York at age 14 for high school. She earned a B.A. in economics from Harvard University in 2004 and a Ph.D. in 2009, with her dissertation on international trade and macroeconomic dynamics advised by Kenneth Rogoff. She joined the London School of Economics in 2009, rising to tenured Associate Professor of Economics and serving until 2024. In 2025, she was appointed Professor of Finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where she chairs the Institute for Geoeconomics.
Global Economist
Jin’s research centers on international macroeconomics, global imbalances, asset prices, and the Chinese economy. Key themes include the drivers of China’s growth model, the long-term effects of the one-child policy and demographics, capital flows, the “Chinese saving puzzle,” and optimal government policies amid rapid technological advancement. She also examines the international transmission of U.S. monetary and fiscal policy and US-China tech competition. Her academic work has appeared in top journals including the American Economic Review, and she has consulted for the World Bank, IMF, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and China Banking Regulatory Commission on fintech.
Book
In 2023, Jin published the widely acclaimed book The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism, a Financial Times Must Read and Best Summer Book. Praised by Tony Blair as the work of “a brilliant thinker,” it dispels misconceptions about China’s economy, highlights its decentralized innovation mechanisms, and charts a pragmatic path forward without requiring convergence to Western systems. Her op-eds regularly appear in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Time, Project Syndicate, and Caixin.
Honors and Keynote Speaking
Honors include selection as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2014 and academic membership in the China Finance 40 Group. She serves as non-executive director on the boards of Richemont Group and Jardine Matheson (and previously Credit Suisse). Fluent in English and Chinese (with additional languages), Jin is based between London and Hong Kong. Her presentations combine scholarly depth with accessible storytelling, making complex global economic shifts actionable for business leaders, policymakers, and investors alike.
Keyu Jin Speaking Topics
China and the World: A Geopolitical Overview
Dr. Keyu Jin first became a bridge between China and the world as a high school exchange student explaining her country to her American hosts. Today, as one of the world’s leading economists specializing in China, she continues on her mission to break down barriers with knowledge and greater understanding. In this essential talk, she outlines a nation that has risen from developing nation to world power in less than one lifetime. And yet, many still view China through the lens of the past. Dr. Jin shatters old perceptions to provide a fascinating portrait of the nation that’s not only writing the financial history of the 21st century, but leading in technology and scientific innovation. From demographic shifts to technological transformation, Dr. Jin covers the factors behind China’s rise—providing a customized briefing for a range of audiences and interests.
The New Chinese Consumer
Over the past 50 years, China has transformed from a population shaped by the Cultural Revolution and the Great Famine to a new generation that has known nothing but prosperity. This ascending generation of Chinese is confident, prosperous, highly educated, and has travelled and studied abroad and in the West. As consumers, they are coveted spenders—setting national and international trends in fashion and other industries. As Chinese, they are proud of their history and country, understand Western liberal values, but don’t necessarily embrace them. And while China has become more economically liberal, the new generation is increasingly conservative, ensuring that the political system is more secure than ever before. In this fascinating talk, Dr. Keyu Jin provides an eye-opening overview of a consumer that companies ignore at their own peril—and a cultural force that is rapidly transforming China and the world.
The Rise of Techno-Nationalism
At a time when technology companies are being reigned in and regulated in the West, China is mobilizing all of its national resources to drive innovation and achieve global technological supremacy. This massive national program, on a scale not seen since Maoist days when China pushed to become a nuclear power, has built an ecosystem that links universities, national labs, tech incubators, local governments, and private investors, and is providing all with the resources to collaborate and accelerate innovation and success. Understandably, the scale of this push—modeled after the Manhattan Project and Apollo program—has raised alarm in the U.S. But according to Dr. Keyu Jin, it could transform the planet with technological innovations inspired by a renaissance of healthy global competition. Dr. Jin takes audiences behind China’s unprecedented internal mobilization and explains how it will impact the U.S. and the world.
From Imitator to Innovator: What the World Can Learn from Chinese Innovation
Once upon a time, the world looked down upon Chinese technology. They were perceived as nothing but copy cats— imitators and appropriators rather than innovators and originators. But while the world sneered, China evolved. Today, with only 25% of the GDP per capita of the US., China is at the cutting edge of technology. Of the top 10 unicorns, seven are Chinese. Its digital payments market is 50 times that of the U.S. And Huawei is now the largest issuer of new international patents. Dr. Keyu Jin examines China’s journey from imitator to innovator, debunking the myths and misconceptions and telling the story of a “gladiatorial” competitive environment in which only the most resilient entrepreneurs and robust business models survive. What can Western companies learn from China’s evolution? How will China’s rise impact America’s tech giants? And what must they know to compete in an arena that all of China has been nationally mobilized to dominate? Dr. Jin provides an economist’s overview of the Chinese tech landscape, sharing insights for a wide array of audiences.
Keyu Jin Books
The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism
Purchase BookKeyu Jin Videos
Keyu Jin Speaker Testimonials
Dr. Jin was a phenomenal guest on the call today. She provided a unique, and much more optimistic view of China than we have heard from others. She did a good job of coming at it from a global perspective but interjected some great nuggets for EMEA and APAC members - particularly Singapore, which is where a lot of our members operate.
- | World 50, Inc.
