Prior to this, he taught economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1997-2013), Oregon State University (1990-1997) and University of Mississippi (1987-1990). He also taught business economics at the joint MBA in Finance program for the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University (2004-2013) at Beijing and Shenzhen, China. His research is on the fields of international trade and economic development. He has published two books related to the trade policies of China.