Tuesday, October 18, 2011 | 12:00 PM EDT - 2:00 PM EDT

The National Committee and G+, Gerson Lehrman Group’s new online community for sharing expertise, co-hosted a breakfast and panel on the current state of China’s labor market on Tuesday, October 18. The event coincided with the National Committee’s 45th Anniversary Gala.

Leading experts Professors Albert Park and Kam Wing Chan engaged the audience in an interactive discussion covering a variety of topics related to Chinese labor including rising wages, the dwindling supply of migrant labor, the impact of labor regulations, and the continued competitiveness of Chinese manufacturing.

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

Albert Park
Chair Professor of Economics
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Professor Park is a development economist whose research focuses on the Chinese economy. He has published widely on topics related to poverty and inequality, labor and migration, education and health, aging, and firm performance in China. He has directed or helped direct several large-scale social surveys in China, including the Gansu Survey of Children and Families, the China Urban Labor Survey, and the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS); and has consulted frequently for the World Bank and other international organizations. Professor Park is a research fellow of the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), the International Growth Centre (Oxford-LSE), and the Institute of Labor (IZA). Previously, he was professor of economics at the University of Oxford, and associate and assistant professor at the University of Michigan. He received his PhD from Stanford and AB from Harvard.

Kam Wing Chan
Professor of Geography
University of Washington

Professor Chan’s research focuses on the impact of social and political institutions on migration, urbanization and the urban labor market in China. He specializes in China’s cities, migration, employment, the household registration system, and related statistics. In recent years, he has served as a consultant for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, United Nations, and McKinsey & Co. on a number of policy projects related to China’s cities and economy. His recent commentaries and interviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, BBC, China Radio International, CBC Radio, PBS, Caixin and other media in Asia and the U.S. He received his BA from the University of Hong Kong and PhD from the University of Toronto.