Keyu Jin


Keyu Jin is a Chinese economist. She graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in 2004 and a PhD degree in 2009, both in economics. She was a lecturer of economics at the London School of Economics from 2009 to 2017 and associate professor from 2017 to 2024. She has been a professor of finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology since 2025.

Early life and education

Jin was born in Beijing, China. Her father, Jin Liqun, is an economist and politician who previously served as the vice minister of finance of China and is the founding president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Jin completed her junior high education at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China in Beijing and her senior high education at Horace Mann School in New York City. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics in 2004 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in economics in 2009, both from Harvard University. Her doctoral dissertation, advised by Kenneth Rogoff, was titled Essays on international trade and macroeconomic dynamics.

Career

Jin is a specialist in macroeconomic and financial policy issues. Her research focuses on global imbalances and global asset prices, drivers of China's growth model, the impact of the one-child policy, and the Chinese saving puzzle.
After receiving her PhD degree, Jin joined the Department of Economics at the London School of Economics as a faculty member in 2009. She served as Lecturer in Economics from 2009 to 2017 and as Associate Professor of Economics from 2017 to 2024.
In 2025, Jin joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as a Professor at the Department of Finance at the School of Business and Management.

Social engagement

Jin was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2014. Jin was also a visiting professor at Yale University on the Cowles Fellowship from September to December 2012 as well as at the University of California, Berkeley from January to May 2015. In 2022, Jin joined the board of Credit Suisse and was a member of the Risk Committee and the Digital Transformation and Technology Committee. She is a member of the China Finance 40 Forum.
Jin has advised and consulted for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She also has had experience at financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley. She is a columnist for Project Syndicate and Caixin Magazine, and has contributed opinion pieces to media outlets such as the Financial Times and the South China Morning Post. Jin also serves as a non-executive director of Richemont Group, the world's second-largest luxury goods company. She served on a working committee for China Banking Regulatory Commission on Fintech and sat on the editorial board of the Review of Economic Studies.

Personal life

In November 2025, emails exchanged between Jeffrey Epstein and Larry Summers between 2018 and 2019 were released in documents published by the U.S. House of Representatives. In the correspondence, Summers referred to a romantic interest in his mentee Jin, whom Summers and Epstein called “peril,” a nickname apparently drawn from the racist “yellow peril” trope. Jin did not publicly respond to the correspondence, and the released emails showed no evidence that she reciprocated Summers’s interest.

Publications

Books

  • The New China Playbook: Beyond Socialism and Capitalism, May 16, 2023. In The New China Playbook, Jin writes that China has achieved significant progress without following the "Western path" and its innovation and technological development challenge the view that China must converge with Western economic systems and political persuasions to continue its development. The book takes a positive view of China's mechanisms of state-led economic intervention.

    Articles

  • China's Economy Is Leaving Behind Its Educated Young People, Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2023