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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) recently presented the Wei Lun Public Lecture on ‘Understanding Inequality in China’ by Prof. Xie Yu, Otis Dudley Duncan Distinguished University Professor of Sociology and Statistics at the University of Michigan. The lecture attracted over a hundred CUHK teachers, students and alumni, and members of the education, business and public sectors.

At the lecture, Professor Xie drew on recent research to advance the following propositions: (1) inequality in China has been largely mediated by collective agencies, such as locales and work units; (2) traditional Chinese political discourse promotes merit-based inequality, with merit being defined as improving the collective welfare for the masses; and (3) many Chinese people today regard inequality as an inevitable consequence of economic development. Thus, it seems unlikely that social inequality alone would lead to political and social unrest in contemporary China.

Professor Xie is also a Research Professor at the Population Studies Center and the Survey Research Center of the Institute for Social Research, and a Faculty Associate at the Center for Chinese Studies. His main areas of interest are social stratification, demography, statistical methods, Chinese studies, and sociology of science.

His recently published works include: Women in Science: Career Processes and Outcomes (Harvard University Press 2003) with Kimberlee Shauman, A Demographic Portrait of Asian Americans (Russell Sage Foundation and Population Reference Bureau 2004) with Kimberly Goyette, Marriage and Cohabitation (University of Chicago Press 2007) with Arland Thornton and William Axinn, and Statistical Methods for Categorical Data Analysis with Daniel Powers (Emerald 2008, second edition). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Academia Sinica, and the National Academy of Sciences.

The Wei Lun Visiting Professorship / Fellowship Scheme of CUHK was established through a generous donation by the Wei Lun Foundation Limited with the aim to invite eminent scholars from around the world to visit and give lecture at CUHK.