An interdisciplinary path
Bo Chen is Director of the CUFE Institute for AI & Digital Finance, a researcher and doctoral supervisor at the National Academy of Financial Strategy, Central University of Finance and Economics, holder of dual master's degrees in engineering and science, a PhD in economics, and a Chevening Scholar. His academic trajectory spans three disciplines: undergraduate and master's training in control science and engineering at Shandong University and Zhejiang University, which built his skills in systems modelling and optimisation; a subsequent PhD in network economics at Renmin University of China, which brought engineering thinking into digital-economy analysis; and a master's in carbon finance at the University of Edinburgh Business School, which added expertise in green finance and international carbon-market rules. Together, these three phases of training gave him an unusual combination of capabilities at the intersection of artificial intelligence, financial technology and carbon finance — an understanding of both the technical boundaries of models and algorithms and the operating logic of financial markets and international rules.
Education
| Period | Institution | Degree and field |
|---|---|---|
| 2010–2013 | Renmin University of China | PhD in network economics |
| 2011–2012 | University of Edinburgh Business School | MSc in carbon finance (Chevening Scholar) |
| 2005–2007 | Zhejiang University | MSc in control science and engineering |
| 2001–2005 | Shandong University | BEng in control science and engineering |
Professional experience
| Period | Institution | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–present | Institute of Finance and Economics / National Academy of Finance and Economic Strategy, CUFE | Researcher |
| 2008–2011 | CDM Centre, Energy Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission | Research assistant |
| 2007–2008 | SK E&S, Republic of Korea | Senior engineer |
Academic and international experience
China lead for an international sustainable digital finance network; member of the UN/CEFACT Traceability and Transparency Project; executive member of the Open Source Development Committee of the China Computer Federation; and lead of the Data Assetisation Working Group at the Open Islands open-source community. He also serves as a review expert for Ministry of Finance PPP projects, a member of the Shenzhen Financial Standards Technical Committee, a senior expert at the Beijing Finance Research Base, and a distinguished researcher at the Minmetals Capital Research Institute. He has previously served as Deputy Director of a Bay Area international fintech laboratory and Deputy Secretary-General of the Shenzhen Fintech Association, and reviews for multiple SCI/SSCI journals.
Academic impact and policy contribution
He has published two monographs, edited one textbook, and authored more than 20 articles in SSCI, SCI, CSSCI and EI journals; his first-authored work has been named an ESI highly cited paper, with a single article cited more than 122 times on Web of Science. His work has been included by international platforms such as the OECD and UNEP's Green Digital Finance Alliance, and he has written columns and given interviews for national media including the Global Times. More than ten of his policy proposals and research findings have been endorsed or adopted at or above provincial-ministerial level, including by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee, People's Reference, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Education. He received a Chevening Scholarship from the UK Foreign Office (2011/2012), a CUFE Chengxin Fund award for outstanding applied research (2014), and a Shanghai SME Technology Innovation Fund award (2014).
Research projects
He has led one project each under the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Social Science Fund of China and the Beijing Social Science Fund, three ministry-commissioned projects, five international cooperation projects and more than twenty commissioned projects, spanning digital finance, artificial intelligence, green finance, carbon finance and industry applications. His books include Introduction to Financial Technology (editor, China Machine Press, 2020), Design Principles and Practice of Carbon Emissions Trading Markets (China Economic Publishing House, 2014) and The Great Low-Carbon Transformation (Petroleum Industry Press, 2012).
Teaching and recruitment
Courses include international investment and financing, green finance, artificial intelligence and large models. He recruits doctoral and postdoctoral researchers working across artificial intelligence and green finance with programming and AI foundations.
From research to applied systems
His team has extended academic work into searchable, updateable specialist agent systems: the Longma Shujuan expert-level large-model agents organise financial domain knowledge with Content-Enhanced Knowledge Slots (CEKS) for exchanges, customs and shipping tasks spanning carbon border measures, ESG and financial risk control. The team's work has also reached industry through platforms such as DIGICARBON, whose international shipping carbon compliance service covers more than 20 EU countries and 200 ocean-going vessels, and whose specialist agent platform serves dozens of universities and think tanks.
Center history
The CUFE Institute for AI & Digital Finance was renamed from the Digital Finance Research Center.