Zhu Yunlai: Supporting Financial Innovation for High-Quality Development (Full Speech)

Source: Finance ThinkTank

On March 23, the 2026 Annual Conference of the China Development Forum was held in Beijing, with Tsinghua University Management Practice Professor Zhu Yunlai attending and delivering a speech.

Zhu Yunlai suggested that compared to GDP and other output data, the capital flow data released by the National Bureau of Statistics also has significant research value. By deeply analyzing comprehensive data such as capital flow tables, we can not only see common current flow indicators like consumption and investment but also gain insights into stock and liability conditions such as total assets and savings, providing a more complete analytical perspective.

“From an economic principle standpoint, asset efficiency has always been a key variable we must pay close attention to,” Zhu Yunlai said. “Improving asset efficiency per unit can significantly reduce input while maintaining GDP output. The resources and benefits released by efficiency gains can further translate into driving consumption and boosting domestic demand.”

Using new energy and wind power equipment manufacturing as examples, Zhu Yunlai explained that “through technological progress and management process improvements, it is fully feasible to effectively reduce investment costs and enhance asset efficiency.”

“Creating higher income through efficiency improvements, and then supporting consumption growth with higher income—that is the fundamental path to expanding consumption,” Zhu Yunlai summarized.

Subsequently, Zhu Yunlai compared the asset scales of China, the U.S., and Europe. Although the U.S. GDP and total assets are both growing, the growth rate of U.S. assets is significantly lower than that of China. In terms of fixed assets, China’s net fixed assets are about 400 trillion yuan, while the U.S. is approximately three-quarters of that, around 300 trillion yuan. Europe’s total assets are about half of the U.S. level. “China’s asset scale accounts for a higher proportion of the global total than China’s GDP does in the world,” Zhu Yunlai said.

From a historical perspective, Zhu Yunlai noted that nearly 90% of wealth accumulation in the 2000-year history of human economy has occurred during the explosive growth of the past 200 years. “This vividly demonstrates the value and significance of efficiency for economic growth. Long-term continuous investment may not be the only key; seizing critical opportunities and managing them skillfully are equally essential.”

Zhu Yunlai emphasized that only by comprehensively understanding more economic variables can we grasp the economy more systematically and thoroughly, enabling financial support for the economy to be more systematic, precise, and effective.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

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