Daniel Din-Yu Poon

Bio

Daniel spent 2007 as an intern with the Embassy of Canada in Beijing, assisting in information gathering, analysis and reporting of China’s evolving foreign affairs and economic policies, as well as in official bilateral meetings with government and other members of the policy community. Daniel also spearheaded research on the changing nature of Chinese state ownership and interactions with officials from China’s State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), and conducted site visits to leading state-owned enterprises.

Prior to this, Daniel worked as a policy consultant with various civil society organizations including: the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), the North-South Institute (NSI), the Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW), the Canadian Foundation of the Americas (FOCAL), and the Institute for Population Health (IPH). These collaborations produced policy papers and workshops covering issues from World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round negotiations, globalization and labour markets, East Asian development strategies, and China’s engagement in Latin America.

Daniel has a BA (Honours) in Political Science from McGill University, and a MA in Public Administration (Development stream) from Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. In 2003-2004, he was a recipient of the China-Canada Scholar’s Exchange Progamme and attended the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, China. Daniel speaks English, French, and Mandarin.

Issue of Investigation

As a 2008 recipient of the Gordon Global Fellowship, Daniel will strive to better analyze and evaluate the ongoing mechanisms and tools of industrial policy in China in achieving sustained rapid economic growth and poverty reduction in recent decades. In contrast to reforms in many other developing countries, the Chinese experience has effectively shown the state’s ability to adopt foreign ideas, know-how, and technologies, largely on its own terms. Relevant lessons, especially for other developing economies, and the opportunities and challenges of China’s growing international presence will be a key focus of his work.