Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR) of Wuhan University, which was founded in 1990, focuses on her researches into the theories and performance of economic development. The founder of CEDR is Professor Tan Chongtai, a Chinese well-known development economist and the first scholar who had introduced development economics into China. CEDR has been keeping her lead in the field of research on development economics in China.

　　On the basis of her specific fields of research, CEDR is divided into three groups: the Research Group of Theories of Economic Development , the Research Group of Chinese Industrialization and Urbanization and the Research Group of Newly Industrializing Economies ( NIEs ). The faculty of CEDR consists of 19 members: there are 13 full professors (of which 10 doctoral advisers) with 90% among them having their experience of studying or researching abroad more than one year. In addition, there is one person who was honored the Title of Trans-Century Elite by the National Ministry of Education , one person who won the Grant of the National Outstanding Youth , one person who was award the Huoyingdong Youth Research Grant , one person who was titled with A Young-or- Middle-Aged Specialist with Outstanding Contributions of Hubei Province , and a person who was listed as the High-Rank Talented Persons of Hubei Province.

　　The prominent achievements made by the CEDR in the research area of development economics have been highly affirmed and appraised by the academic circle and by the National Ministry of Education. Accompanying the progress of CEDR , in 1997 the research program Development Economics and International Economic Development was appointed to be Key Discipline of the National 211 Projects , in1999 the department of economics was chosen as A National Training Base of the Talented Undergraduates as Economists , in 2000 CEDR was approved to be one of the “ 100 Centers For Humanities and Social Sciences Researches of The Ministry of Education”, and in 2002 the discipline of western economics of Wuhan University was elected to be the National Key Discipline . Now CEDR is initially built up into a national center for development economics research, a center for teaching graduates, a center for academic exchange, a center for information and data, and a center for policy consultancy. At present in the CEDR six major research programs are making good progress and have gained a set of results. CEDR annually holds a nation-wide symposium or conference on development economics as well as on China's economic development and conducts a series of seminar of Growth and Development Forum, inviting famous economists at home and abroad to give their talks to the faculty and graduates or to do their short-term studies. CEDR annually publishes a monograph of Research on Development Economics and run an electronic journal, titled Forum on Development Economics . In addition, CEDR has an attached library with a special collection of books and journals which are related to economic development.