Justin Yifu Lin

About Justin Yifu Lin

Justin Yifu Lin (Chinese: 林毅夫; pinyin: Lín Yìfū; born 15 October 1952) is a Chinese economist and professor of economics at Peking University. He served as the chief economist of the World Bank from 2008 to 2012, and was also the World Bank's senior vice president during that time. He has served as a State Council Counsellor of China since September 2013. Born in Yilan County, Taiwan, Lin was a ground force captain and company commander of the Republic of China Army on the Kinmen Islands, where he swam across the channel and sought refuge in Xiamen of the People's Republic of China in May 1979. After settling in mainland China, Lin became an economist after graduating from Peking University and earning a PhD from the University of Chicago, where he studied under Nobel Prize laureate Theodore Schultz. After completing his postdoctoral studies at Yale University, he returned to Beijing and became a professor of economics at Peking University in 1987. He founded the China Center for Economic Research (currently the Peking University National School of Development) and was later appointed Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of the World Bank where he served from 2008 to 2012.