Cheng Lu Email & Phone Number

Silly and naïve as it may sound, I have a dream that one day the social economy law will be enacted and implemented across China, of which I am privileged to be a part. The dream, back in the fall of 2015, was inspired by a speech given by Professor Yunus when he visited Peking University, during which he shared his story of becoming a ‘banker to the poor’; this was also the very first time I heard the concept of ‘social business’. Since then, my interest in studying social entrepreneurship and innovation, which subsequently drove me to pursue a variety of research experiences in the many years after, has been at the core of my academic journey throughout my postgraduate and doctoral studies.Given the fact that neither the UK nor the US, who have a long history of modern philanthropy dating back centuries, commenced social entrepreneurship legislation until the 2000s, I remain optimistic about the growth of China's social entrepreneurship market and its future flourishment. Recursive political and institutional struggles will, nevertheless, accompany and complicate the legitimation of social enterprises in China, inevitably and understandably.“A single spark can start a prairie fire.” Wishing I could be a dazzling cluster of sparks and light up the vast landscape of China's social economy development.