Tao Yitao
Ideas can't change the society, but they can change people who then can change the society.
[Major Achievements]
An expert enjoying Special Government Allowance from the State Council
Chief expert of major projects of the National Social Sciences Fund
Third “Outstanding Social Scientist of Guangdong”
[Representative Works]
China’s Path, History of China's Special Economic Zones
Why Does Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Shenzhen Stand Out? Special Economic Zones (Blue Book)
[Personal Profile]
Prof. Tao Yitao, Manchu people, was born in Harbin in April 1958, and studied in the Department of Economics of Heilongjiang University from 1979 to 1983. She was admitted as a doctoral student majoring in the History of Chinese Economic Thought in the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 1987, following Mr. Hu Jichuang, a well-known scholar, and received her Ph.D. in Economics from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 1989. She served successively as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of SZU, Party Committee Secretary and Dean of the College of Economics SZU, and presently, Director of CCSEZR (a key research base of humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education), President of the Belt and Road Research Institute of SZU, and President of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development.
[I have expanded my research space thanks to Shenzhen]
Prof. Tao Yitao received a Ph.D. in Economics from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, and is the second female earning a Ph.D. in the History of Chinese Economic Thought. Since she was transferred to the Shenzhen University in 1993, Prof. Tao Yitao has lived and worked in this migrant city with youngest population for 26 years. Shenzhen, the most successful SEZ of China, is the first pilot zone for crucial matters such as state-owned enterprise reform and the transformation of government functions during the reform and opening-up, which have then been applied nationwide. Against the backdrop, Prof. Tao Yitao began to study the realistic problems in reform and opening-up and the role of SEZs in China's institutional transition and social transformation, and then study the history of China's SEZs and the reform and opening up. Prof. Tao Yitao has published History of China's Special Economic Zones and Special Economic Zones and China’s Path in this respect. Prof. Tao Yitao said, “I have expanded my research and innovation space and imagination thanks to Shenzhen, which helps me achieve academic transformation.”
[Academic research is a part of my life]
Prof. Tao Yitao is occupied in administrative work and scientific research. But in the last 20 plus years, she has still been active in writing and publishing books, research reports and journals including the Annual Report on the Development of China’s Special Economic Zones (Blue Book), the Annual Report on the Development of China's Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Blue Book), and the Journal of the Belt & Road Studies. As for how to maintain a work-life balance, Tao Yitao had her own set of “Happiness Principles”.
Prof. Tao Yitao said that academic research is a part of her life. After work, she is accustomed to reading and writing in weekends and at nights. She is trying to find her own pace of life and writing. For example, she gets used to writing on plane very efficiently. Prof. Tao Yitao enjoys writing late at night. She has a sense of achievement each time after she finishes writing an article. “You will gain the joy when you treat academic research as a way of life and love and enjoy it.”Prof. Tao Yitao said the key to happiness is to learn how to trade things off and make choices, and adjust your time and life pace.
▼New book press release of the Annual Report on the Development of China's Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2018~2019) (Blue Book)
Li Youwei, Secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee (second from left), Wang Jingsheng, State Council Counselor (second from right), Tao Yitao, Director and Professor of China Center for Special Economic Zone Research (CCSEZR) (first from right), Xie Shouguang, President of the Social Science Academic Press (SSAP) (first from left)
[A cultural messenger to introduce Chinese concepts to the outside world ]
Prof. Tao was invited to give development planning and consultation on the SEZs and FTZs by a lot of institutions, countries and regions including African Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, Vietnam, Russia, South Africa, Rwanda, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, and Kazakhstan. Increasing appearances in the economic and cultural exchanges among different countries has made her a messenger to introduce Chinese concepts to the outside world as a spreader of the BRI.
As the Deputy Party Committee Secretary of SZU, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Party Committee Secretary and Dean of the College of Economics, SZU, and a teacher and advisor of graduate students, Prof. Tao Yitao is equally occupied in administrative work, scientific research and teaching. However, she not only finds her life pace with happiness, but is also active in writing and publishing books, bringing about a large number of academic fruits. Prof. Tao Yitao is now keeping her faith and shouldering her missions that she once mentioned about: “Chinese scholars need to go international and build our own academic discourse system with a broad and open mind, and seek after to achieve value inclusiveness, deepen understanding, and eliminate confrontation for a Community with a Shared Future.”
▲Prof. Tao Yitao wins the “Outstanding Social Scientist of Guangdong” award
Stay tuned! Alumni from Afar at 22:00 on Dec.22 on GDTV for more wonderful stories of Prof. Tao Yitao.
