Yongjun Chen received his Ph.D. in economics in 1992 and taught at Xiamen University and Renmin University of China. After working at these two universities for nearly 30 years, he is currently a special-term professor at Guangdong University of Finance and Economics and the Director of the Institute of Double-Cycle Development in the Greater Bay Area at this University. He is an expert with a special allowance from the State Council (1999) and a senior Fulbright visiting scholar (2004). His research areas are focused on market economy theory and reform practice, industrial economy and regional development theory, enterprise strategic management practice, and so on. He has presided over more than twenty research projects either funded by the Chinese government funding sources or entrusted by corporations. He has also won several major awards. Since 2015, he has been studying the "Belt and Road" initiative and has given more than 300 lectures at home and abroad introducing the innovative ideas and the theoretical system proposed in his research. His contributions have been widely welcomed by audiences worldwide and highly valued by the relevant departments of the Chinese central government. The "Belt and Road" Economic Reader (2017) has been translated into six languages, including English, Russian, French, and Arabic. In 2019, he was appointed as the chief expert of the "Belt and Road" special research project of the National Social Science Foundation of China, titled "The Path to Actualization of a High-Quality Development of the 'Belt and Road'".