International Symposium on Personal Finance

The International Symposium on Personal Finance was held on 25 April 2025 at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), with support from the Jiangsu – Hong Kong - Macao Universities Alliance. Prof. Lee Chi Kin John, JP, President of EdUHK, delivered the welcome speech to the participating scholars and audience. Prof. Li Wai Keung, Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (FLASS), and Dr Fox Hu Zhiyong, Acting Head of Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS) were on hand to welcome the participants.

The symposium provided an invaluable collaborative platform for participants to exchange knowledge, research findings, and best practices in the field of personal finance. Distinguished scholars presented their research on a variety of critical topics, including financial literacy, consumer behavior, investment strategies, and regulatory frameworks. This event highlighted the importance of integrating diverse perspectives to advance understanding and practices in personal finance.

Two experts in finance delivered keynote speeches at the symposium. 

• Professor Pablo Brañas Garza, Professor of Economics and Director of Loyola Behavioural Lab at the Loyola Andalucia University of Spain, spoke on the topic “Developmental meritocracy: Evidence from experiments in the lab”. 

• Professor Steven Dellaportas, Professor of Accounting at the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University also conveyed a keynote speech on the theme of “Committing fraud of professionals: Stories from jail”.
   

International scholars from universities in Beijing, Nanjing, Hong Kong, and Australia also engaged in comprehensive academic discussions on various topics, including financial literacy, consumer behavior, investment strategies, and financial regulation. They were as follows:

• Professor Chen Fuzhong, Professor at School of Economics, University of International Business and Economics, on “Consumer financial knowledge and purposive credit card behaviour”.

• Professor Susan Thorp, Professor of Finance in the Business School, the University of Sydney, on “Decoding home loan decisions”

• Dr Yu Jin, Researcher at School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, on “Opinion boldness in online investment communities”.

• Dr Tan Weiqiang, Associate Professor at Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS), EdUHK, on “Financial literacy and online shopping behavior”.

The symposium was conducted in a hybrid mode, attracting staff members, students from EdUHK, and members of the public.