Yuen Yuen Ang Keynote Speaker

Alfred Chandler Chair Professor of Political Economy, Johns Hopkins University
Global thought leader on adapting to a disrupted, multipolar world
Renowned China expert with two award-winning books

Yuen Yuen Ang's Biography

Yuen Yuen Ang is the Alfred Chandler Chair Professor of Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University. Her work opens new ways of thinking for a disrupted, multipolar world, while also bridging academia, business, media, and policy. She is named among the world’s 100 Most Influential Academics in Government by Apolitical for “research that resonates with policymakers and has the potential to steer the direction of government.”

Her insights are sought by media platforms, companies, and governments worldwide, who have described her work as “game-changing,” “bold and transformative,” and “powerful and fascinating.” At the Summer Davos in 2025, Ang was invited to speak at high-level panels on “Contours of a New Economic Order” and “China’s Belt and Road Initiative.”

Rejecting the paralysis of polycrisis, Ang launched “polytunity” as a counter-narrative, reframing disruption as a generational opening for deep transformation. She advances AIM (Adaptive, Inclusive, Moral) Political Economy as its intellectual foundation, a paradigm long demonstrated in her award-winning books, How China Escaped the Poverty Trap and China’s Gilded Age. Both books are recommended by The Economist and featured in an online lecture series produced by the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET).

Beyond academia, Ang brings her ideas into dialogue with practitioners and leaders. At Johns Hopkins, she directs both The Polytunity Project and The Multipolar World & US-China Roundtables. The latter convenes policymakers and experts across backgrounds in Washington D.C. to explore U.S.-China relations in an age of multipolarity and disruptive technology. She also serves as Trustee on the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, a multinational board guarding the Trust Principles of journalist integrity at Reuters, the world’s largest multimedia news provider.

A Singaporean citizen, Ang received her B.A. from Colorado College and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. Her cross-cultural background grounds her global lens, inspiring her to translate across differences and shape a more creative, inclusive future.

For more details and testimonies, visit her website: yuenyuenang.org

Turning Polycrisis into Polytunity: What Does it Take?

Global Leadership in a Westless World

What the World Can Learn from China’s Rise—and Its Mistakes

Why America and China Are Mirror Images, Not Foes

She is a leading authority on China’s political economy, drawing on award-winning research at Johns Hopkins SAIS to explain how states build capacity, manage corruption and sustain growth.
She translates complex dynamics of development, innovation and governance into practical frameworks leaders can use to assess risk, reform institutions and compete in volatile markets.
She brings rare clarity to debates on China, globalisation and state capitalism, helping executives move beyond headlines to understand how power, incentives and systems actually work.
Her keynotes equip boards and senior teams to stress-test strategy, navigate geopolitical uncertainty and make informed decisions about investment, policy and long-term growth.