LIU Wei holds his PhD in economics and is professor, PhD supervisor, and president of Renmin University of China. He serves as a member of the State Council Academic Degrees Committee, chair of the Theoretical Economics Evaluation Group under the State Council Academic Degrees Committee, and member (director-level) of the Steering Committee for Economics Teaching in Higher Educational Institutions of the Ministry of Education. Other positions he holds include: member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).
LIU's main research areas include socialist political economy with Chinese characteristics as well as economic development and economic growth theory. He has published more than three hundred academic articles and dozens of books. LIU has also won a number of academic awards. He has been a recipient of the special government allowances from the State Council since 1992. He was selected to the Trans-century Talent Nurturing Program in humanities and social sciences (one of the first candidates) supported by the Ministry of Education in 1997 as well as the national New Century Talent Project co-organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Academy of Sciences and other ministries in 2004. LIU was appointed Chang Jiang Scholar (special-term professor) in 2005.