Wei Xinghua
Simplified Chinese卫兴华
Traditional Chinese衛興華

Wei Xinghua (Chinese: 卫兴华; October 1925 – 6 December 2019) was a Chinese economist and educator. He specialized in the study of capital and contributed to the "sinicization" of Marxist political economy. He served as professor and chair of the Department of Economics of Renmin University of China and was awarded the national honorary title of "People's Educator" in 2019.

Biography

Wei was born October 1925 into a peasant family in Wutai County, Shanxi, Republic of China, and grew up during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[1][2] He joined the underground Communist movement in 1946 and became a member of the Chinese Communist Party a year later.[2] He and two colleagues were once arrested by the Kuomintang government, but were released due to lack of evidence. He subsequently fled to Beijing, whereas his two colleagues were later rearrested and executed.[3]

Wei studied at North China University (later renamed as Renmin University of China). Upon graduating from Renmin University's graduate program in economics in 1952, he stayed at the university as a faculty member.[2] He later became professor and chair of Renmin University's economics department.[1][4] He specialized in the study of capital and was credited for his contributions to the "sinicization of Marxist political economy".[1][5] In 1986, he advocated giving enterprises more freedom to determine their own objectives, which won the support of many other economists.[6]

Wei published more than 40 books and over 1000 research papers and other articles.[3] He was the chief editor of the textbook Principles of Political Economy (政治经济学原理), one of the most widely used textbooks in China. He proposed influential theories regarding the commodity economy and multiple elements of productivity. He was twice awarded the Sun Yefang Economics Prize for Outstanding Research Papers.[1] Although Chinese media often described him as an "authority" or "master" in economics, he rejected such accolades and proclaimed that China did not have any world-class "authority" or "master" in economics.[3]

During the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, President Xi Jinping awarded Wei the National Honorary Title of "People's Educator" on 29 September 2019,[4][5] although Wei was unable to attend the award ceremony due to poor health.[1]

Wei died on 6 December 2019 in Beijing, aged 94.[1][4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Liao Jin 廖瑾 (6 December 2019). "经济学家、"人民教育家"卫兴华逝世，曾主编政治经济学原理". The Paper. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Yang Na 阳娜, Ma Xiaodong 马晓冬 (26 September 2019). "立学为民、治学报国——记经济学家卫兴华-新华网". Xinhua. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Wang Jun 王俊 (8 December 2019). "逝者︱卫兴华 珍重"人民"的经济学家". The Beijing News. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 Ren Min 任敏 (6 December 2019). ""人民教育家"卫兴华逝世，曾提出商品经济论". China Education News. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Recognizing the heroes of 70 years of the PRC". China Daily. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  6. ↑ Hsu, Robert C. (1991). Economic Theories in China, 1979–1988. New York, New York, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-521-36567-3.
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