Bai Chongen is a prominent Chinese economist and government adviser. He is the dean of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management and serves concurrently as vice-chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. From 2015 to 2018, he was a member of the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy committee.

This interview took place during the “two sessions” – the annual meetings of China’s top legislature and advisory body – which Bai was attending as a member of the...