Cui Zhiyuan

Who is Cui Zhiyuan?

Cui Zhiyuan, born in Beijing in 1963, is a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management, Beijing. His father was a nuclear engineer in Sichuan province. He is a leading member of the Chinese New Left through his work on alternatives to neo-liberal capitalism.

Cui first gained notoriety as a post-graduate student in 1993 when he published an article calling for a 'second liberation of thought'. Cui then went onto publish a book on the socialist market economy of Nanjie village, this along with his previous publications cemented his reputation as one of the founding members of China's New Left movement. Cui is an admirer of James Meade's work on liberal socialism.

More recently Cui has become known for his work on and as a proponent of the Chongqing model as a model for development. A model that he argues could end China's dependence on exports and savings; reduce the growing economic divide between rural and urban areas as well as use public ownership and state planning to stimulate private business. Cui is close to Chongqing's mayor Huang Qifan and the city's now disgraced Party Secretary Bo Xilai prior to his political downfall and was seconded to the local government as an official.