Overview

In 2013, Finance Professor Zhiwu Chen, then at Yale University, initiated the annual Quantitative History Summer School cum International Symposium in China, alongside LSE economic historian, Professor Debin Ma, and Professor Denggao Long from Tsinghua. Since its inception, the 9-day summer school has hosted around 120 participants each year, carefully selected from over 450 applicants from mainland China, Hong Kong, and overseas. Over 10 years, the team has established itself as a leading educational force in the field of quantitative history in China. Pictured at the 2nd QH Summer School in Tsinghua University in 2014: (Top left) Centre Director Professor Zhiwu Chen; (bottom left) Co-PI Professor Debin Ma; (top right) Collaborator Professor Denggao Long; (bottom right) Co-PI Professor Cameron Campbell.

Professor Zhiwu Chen and Professor Zhan Lin from Renmin University of China, supported by a team of high-flying postgraduate students, launched a WeChat journal, Quantitative Historical Studies in 2016. Initially funded by private donations on the Mainland, this social-media journal publishes two review articles each week, introducing new quantitative history papers to a subscriber base of over 84,000 (2022 data). To date, the journal has published over 750 articles, accumulating over one million reads. 

In Hong Kong, Professor Zhiwu Chen, Co-PI Professor Debin Ma and Collaborator Professor James K. S. Kung founded the International Society for Quantitative History (Registered Charity Number: 91/15784) in 2017. This led to the creation of the pan-Hong Kong economic history group. In 2018, the group was selected to host the Sixth Asian Historical Economics Conference (AHEC), a top academic forum in the field of Asian economic history. 
More than 100 participants of enthusiastic minds gathered at Cyberport, exploring the economic history of all regions of Asia, as well as those comparing Asia with other regions.  

Photographed at AHEC 2018: Keynote speaker Professor James K. S. Kung giving a keynote speech on the Origins and Persistence of Meritocracy.

The Quantitative History (QH) Webinar Series aims to provide researchers, teachers, and students with an online intellectual platform to keep up to date with the latest research in the field, promoting the dissemination of research findings and interdisciplinary use of quantitative methods in historical research.  
Professor Zhiwu Chen and Professor Chicheng Ma decided to start the QH Webinar Series during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. The series has garnered strong community support and has become a prominent platform for presenting ongoing work when in-person events were not possible.  The series, now entering its fifth year, is co-organized by the Centre for Quantitative History at the HKU Business School and the International Society for Quantitative History in partnership with the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Series is now substantially supported by the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. [AoE/B-704/22-R]).

Professor Hongbin Cai (second right), Dean of HKU Business School, shared the joy with some research team members, including Professor Zhiwu Chen, Project Coordinator, Chair Professor and Cheng Yu-Tung Professor of Finance (second left), Professor Chen Lin (first right), Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Exchange) and Professor Chicheng Ma (first left), Assistant Professor in Economics.

The QH community has expanded its presence within the University of Hong Kong by joining the independent research institute, HK Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, bringing it closer to the humanities and social sciences. Leveraging the Institute's network in humanities and social sciences, the QH Research Cluster at IHSS aims to expand beyond the scope of the AoE grant and dedicate additional efforts to pre-modern Chinese history and Chinese archaeology. The Cluster strives to offer fresh insights into enduring challenges and innovative concepts within both fields. The goal is to foster international collaborations and interdisciplinary studies. Since then, the QH Research Cluster at IHSS has launched the QH Lunchtime Reading Group (closed door meetings) and QH Lecture Series.

With funding from the Areas of Excellence Scheme (Tenth Round), the HKU Business School has established a new Centre for Quantitative History (CQH). This Centre serves as a focal institution for coordinating and conducting research on the "Quantitative History of China", leading to significant advancements in understanding the historical development of both Mainland China and Hong Kong. It aims to enhance teaching and learning, provide valuable insights for policymakers, and improve business practices.