The 100th Economic Forum of Shantou University Business School was held in the new library on 11th October. With assiduous efforts, the Business School has been promoting the forum to be a prominent label to the school and to the university. Professor Chen Chunsheng, Vice President of Zhongshan University, was invited to be the guest lecturer. The forum was chaired by CPC Secretary to Shantou University Mr. Song Yaozhen, with the participation of Dean Xu Zongling and professors of the Business School.Mr. Song gave the opening speech to express welcome to Professor Chen and complemented the Business School for the results the Forum has achieved.
The speech was followed by a film which reviews the 100 forums that have been held. The review film drew close attentions of the attendees.
Professor Chen started his lecture with a prelude story that took place in Guizhou Province. He then went on to present his arguments in four topics, including the relationship between American silver and the restructure of the Chinese tax system during the 1600s and 1800s, the reason inflation did not occur in 19th century China, the report of food price and exchange rate between silver and currency, the causal relations between the outbreak of the Opium War and the tax system, and the logistics of timber.
Professor Chen’s reference to historical stories in presenting his ideas drew close attention of the attendees. The supposedly complicated and intricate substance of the circulation of American silver in 19th century China was expediently and cleverly simplified by putting forward a correlation between the operation of tribute economy, system and material life. In the last session of the lecture, attendees discussed the relevant subjects of the topic with Professor Chen.
In the conclusion of the forum, Secretary Song, on behalf of Shantou University, gave Professor Chen a ‘red fore boat’ as a present in thanking his attendance and the splendid lecture. The 100th Economic Forum was announced to be concluded successfully.
