Annual Report from Chinese Chapter of the System Dynamics Society

at the 1998 Quebec SD Conference

23 July 1998

I have several things to report to our society and everybody at this meeting.

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 them half are full professors. Our most members are doing teaching and engaging in research works.

Second is about our main activities.

     

  1. As a head of the Chapter, I and my academic team at Fudan University 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 coastal area, 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, that is the end of the 1st decade of new century. In the next century the high speed rate will drop down to about 7%, the lower speed will be about 5%. The future economic behavior modes will take the ways of including high speed & relative low speed periods alternatively.

    Reporters visited me on May 10th. Our opinion was reported in main news paper "Business News" on May 14th, and had broadcast in same day morning, and spread widely and 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 our idea on state-owned enterprise reforming was announced by "Business News", it had broadcast and reprinted by more than 20 local newspapers.

     

    A news briefing was held in early July 1998 on knowledge based economics & learning organization.

     

    A new suggestion on how to set new Shanghai's economics goal in 21st century was submitted to mayor just a day before I came here.

     

  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 4 students will be there in coming August. In the next 5 - 7 years at least about 25 students will be sent in the same program.

     

  4. Some important papers are published on famous journal and some forthcoming. Some drafts are coming out. "A Dual Industry SD Model on Economic Growth Study." "The Theory of Sustainable Development in Hebrew Culture."

     

  5. We strongly insist on hosting and organizing another SD Conference in Shanghai in 2002.

In summery 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 more important role in China in next century!

Qifan Wang
President of the Chapter
Professor, School of Management
Fudan University
Shanghai, 200433, China
E-mail: qfwang@fudan.edu.cn