Professor Gao Shangquan is one of China's most prominent economists, a key figure in think-tank on economic reform in China. He is a senior research fellow, professor, and former vice-minister of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economic System (SCRES), the central agency that had played an essential role formulating and carrying out economic reform policy. He is also an appointed member of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy and senior consultant for the World Bank.

Professor Gao was born in Shanghai in September 1929. In 1952, he graduated from the Department of Economics at St. John's University. After graduation, he held various positions in the Ministry of Machine-Building Industry and the State Commission of Machine-Building Industry (1952-1982). From 1985 to 1993, he was vice-minister of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economic System. During the same period, he was the head of the State Council Office for the Economic System Reform, vice chairman of the Housing System Reform Leading Group of the State Council, a member of the Council of People's Bank of China. He was also a member and the head of the Economic Subgroup of the Preparatory Committee for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1993-1997). A large part of his responsibilities lay in drafting policy proposals and conducting respective policy research. He was deeply involved in the overall design of state policies that guided the economic reforms in China for the past 20 years. The Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party adopted some of his economic theories and policy proposals in major policy documents.

Now, Professor Gao is a member of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He is president of the China Society for Research on Economic System Reform, president of the China Research Society on Enterprise Reform & Development, Chairman of China Reform Foundation, president of the China (Hainan) Institute for Reform & Development, and senior advisor for the China International Institute of Strategic Studies. He is a professor and Ph.D. supervisor at Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, professor and dean of School of Management at Zhejiang University. He is also an advisor for the MBA Program of the Australian National University, a senior visiting scholar of Harvard University and Stanford University, and awarded the "Snow Professor" of Missouri University recently.

Professor Gao conducts his research on economic system reform, macro-economic theory, policy and guidelines. As early as in 1956, Professor Gao suggested that enterprises should have their own autonomous rights in production and management (Published in the 2nd page of People's Daily, Dec.6, 1956). In 1987, he indicated that "plan and market are both the means of the measure for resources allocation, therefore do not reflect the nature of a certain social system.'' "Given defects of the highly centralized traditional planned economy, we must abandon such rigid management method as governmental commands, and allow market to exert a more active role in the economy.'' (Originally published in the People's Daily, Nov. 6 1987). In 1993, he began to advocate the establishment of labor force market, which was later incorporated in the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Issues Concerning the Establishment of a Socialist Market Economy". In 1997, Professor Gao participated in drafting the report of the 15th CPC National Congress. Some new terminology of China economic reform reflected his contribution, such as the following expressions in the final report: "more efforts must be concentrated on reforming the ownership structure and undertaking the strategic reshuffle of State-owned sectors". Obviously, all these theoretic breakthroughs not only require the theoretic insight but also great courage. In 1996, Professor Gao served as the head of the economic group of Hong Kong SAR's Preparatory Committee. With the acute sense of an experienced economist, he foresaw that the international "hot money" might take the advantage of the economic globalization and the international financial integration to attack the financial market in Hong Kong. Professor Gao warned that "the huge current accounts deficit and the unsound political environment in the Southeast Asian countries may render their currencies sieged by the international speculation that are powerful and well-prepared." The central authorities showed deep solicitude for this report, and laid out corresponding measures timely. In September 2000, Professor Gao illustrated his opinion in Deepening Recognition on Labor and Labor Value Theory on the relation between distribution by essential production factors and labor value theory, and problems of why the science and technique work and operation management are also the main form of labor, whether the operation management of private-owned enterprises is labor and so on, which attracted attention of the theory community and leaders concerned.

Professor Gao's works are widely published in China and overseas. His main books include: Collections of Gao Shangquan (Volume 1-6,2001), Articles on Innovation of Economic System (2001), Two Decades of Reform in China (1999), Market Economy and China's Reform (1999), China's Second Revolution (1998), China's Market Economy (1998), China's Economic Reform (1995), Introduction to Socialist Market Economy (1994), From Planned Economy to Market Economy (1993), On Planning & Market (1992), China Economic Systems Reform (1991), On the Road to National Power (1991), Selected works of Gao Shangquan (1989), Economic Reform of the Last Nine Years (1987), The Road of Hope (1987) and Our Own Road to Agricultural Modernization (1982). He is also the chief editor of more than 30 books.