The Research Center for International Trade and Firms (CITF) is home to outstanding academics at the forefront of scholarly and policy-oriented research in international trade and firm development. We are a thriving research community within the IESR, Jinan University.

CITF is devoted to rigorous research on international trade, industrial organization and related fields. Our research team includes scholars from Duke University, Harvard University and Jinan University, conducting research on issues affecting the development of firms in emerging economies. CITF is directed by Daniel Xu, Professor of Economics at Duke University.

Every year, CITF organizes the "Firms in Emerging Economies Workshop". The annual Workshop brings together world-class academics to put international trade, industrial organization and related fields at the forefront of research and policy. Click here for more information about the 2017 and the 2018 annual workshop.

CITF aims to enhance the quality of economic policy-making within China. At CITF, we believe investing in rigorous research is essential to promoting sustainable growth in developing countries. We conduct high quality and policy-relevant economic research, drawing upon the expertise of our researchers. We disseminate the results of the research quickly and effectively to a wide audience in the private and the public sectors.

CITF makes efforts in the collection and analysis of Chinese data, in particular firm-level micro data. In 2017, we initiate the Guangdong Manufacturing Enterprise Survey. The survey samples about 600 manufacturing enterprises across 15 cities in Guangdong and focuses on topics about financial management, quality control, human capital, production, industrial robots, information and digital business.