Pathways in China - Stefan Dercon speaks at Tsinghua University

Professor Stefan Dercon, Pathways’ Academic Director, gave a talk at Beijing’s Tsinghua University on “The Global Digital Economy: risks and opportunities for the poorest countries, and the emerging role of China”. In the lecture, held on December 12th, Professor Dercon discussed some of the emerging opportunities and risks of new technologies in the developing world, not least in the poorest settings in Asia and Africa.

The discussion, which was informed by the findings of the Commission's recently published reports, delved into the following questions: will job destruction through automation threaten trade and other economic opportunities for poorer countries? What new economic opportunities may emerge for these countries? What will be required from national and global economic governance? What will all this mean for poverty and the Sustainable Development Goals? How can countries including China help to ensure the opportunities outweigh the risks for these countries?

The lecture took place in the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University. It was moderated by Dr Zheng Liang, Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, and Deputy Director of the China Institute for Science and Technology Policy at Tsinghua University.

(Photo credit: Institute for Sustainable Development Goals, Tsinghua University (TUSDG))