1999 Report from Chinese Chapter of the System Dynamics Society

Wellington, New Zealand

Qifan Wang
President of the Chapter
Professor, School of Management
Fudan University
Shanghai, 200433, China
Email: [email protected]

I have several things to report to our society.

First is about the members. The Chinese Chapter has kept running well and normally in the past year. The Chapter has its domestic society - the SD Society of China, and still has about 500 members and 40 society officers, among whom half are full professors. Most of our members are doing teaching and engaged in research works. In addition, 6 new member applicants, who are studying at University of Bergen from China, are applying for international memberships.

Second is about our main activities.

     

  1. My academic team at Fudan University and I, the head of the Chapter, are putting forward several important proposals and advises to Central & Local Government - Shanghai Municipal to improve their decision making and planing work.

     

    As we know, China has made great achievements in the past 20 years. The average GDP growth rate was above 10% and even faster in the coastal areas, but many shortcomings also existed.

    Putting forward our advice on macro-economy to Central & Local Government. We argued that the economy in China is impossible to keep a very high speed at above 10% for another 30-40 years. Considering the impact of the western economic long wave and its own economic long wave, the high speed growth period will be interrupted within the next 15 years, when it is the end of the 1st decade of new century. In the next century the high speed rate will drop down to about 7%, and the lower speed will be about 5%. The future economic behavior modes will take the ways of including high speed & relatively low speed periods alternatively.

    Reporters visited me on May 10th. Our opinion was reported in main news paper "Business News" on May 14th, broadcast in the same morning, spread widely and was reprinted in China through more than 15 local news papers. The mayor of Shanghai enjoyed our idea and asked his secretary to inform me.

     

    Since late 1996 when our idea on state-owned enterprise reforming was announced by "Business News", it has been broadcast and reprinted by more than 20 local newspapers.

     

    A news briefing was held in early July 1998 on knowledge-based economy and learning organization.

     

    A new suggestion on how to set new Shanghai's economic goal in 21st century was submitted to mayor in July, 1998.

     

  2. An advanced seminar on "Knowledge-based Economy and Learning Organization" will start on August, 21st.

     

  3. We have started a fostering young academic team since last year. With the help of Prof. Paal Davidsen and David Ford from the University of Bergen, 6 students were sent to Bergen in 1997. After finishing their master degree in System Dynamics, they will return to china for the Ph.D. major in SD. And another 4 were sent there also in 1998. Moreover, there are 4 other students waiting to be enrolled in this program this year. In the next 5-7 years at least about 25 students will be sent to the same university.

     

  4. Some important papers are published in famous journal and some forthcoming drafts are coming out.

    Such as:

     

    "A Dual Industry SD Model on Economic Growth Study" (published in Chinese Journal)

     

    "The Theory of Sustainable Development in Hebrew Culture" (Forthcoming)

     

  5. We strongly insist on hosting and organizing another SD Conference in cooperation with Japanese Chapter in Shanghai in 2002.

In summary, I would say that a powerful academic team with about 30 people who have Ph.D major in SD will appear in early of next Millennium.

I believe that System Dynamics will play a more important role in China in the next century!