Dr. Tao Yitao is a professor and a Ph.D. supervisor in economics at Shenzhen University. Prof. Tao is the former vice chairman of the University Council and currently serves as the director of the China Center for Special Economic Zone Research of Shenzhen University, dean of the Belt and Road Institute of Shenzhen University, as well as the dean of the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development. She also holds numerous other titles such as a Special Allowance Expert of the State Council, an Excellent Social Science Scientist of Guangdong Province, a National Academic Leader of Shenzhen, vice president of the Institute for History of Chinese Economic Thoughts, vice president of the Guangdong Economic Association, distinguished professor of Nankai University. Prof. Tao received her doctorate from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in 1989, under the supervision of famous scholar Professor Hu Jichuang. She has been engaged in the study of Chinese and Western economic thoughts and theories, dedicated to the research on the history of China’s reform and opening up, the development history of China’s Special Economic Zones, the comparative studies of Chinese and foreign special economic zones, the Chinese and foreign free trade zones, and the Bay Area. Her representative papers titled “Special Economic Zones and Path Choices for China’s Institutional Changes” and “From Special Economic Zones to Free Trade Zones: The Special Mission of China’s Free Trade Zones” were reprinted in full by Xinhua Digest, with the former as the main article appearing on its cover. The representative work “History of China’s Special Economic Zones” was listed as one of the 35 key book series “Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Reform and Opening-up” by the Central Propaganda Department and the State Administration of Press and Publication. She has won the “Chinese Academic Foreign Translation Project” of the National Social Science Fund, published in English by the British Pass International Publishing Company, as well as the first prize of the Guangdong Provincial Social Science Outstanding Achievement Award in 2011. The book “Special Economic Zones and Chinese Roads”, a key project of the National Social Science Fund, was selected by the Frankfurt Book Fair and published in English by the Springer, Germany; It was selected as one of the National “Two Projects”, published in Arabic by Sfosafa Publishing House, Egypt; It was listed in the Russian Academy of Sciences Nestor Press Publication Plan published in Russian; It was selected into the "Silk Road Literary Project" of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and published in Mongolian. The book won the first prize of Guangdong Social Science Outstanding Achievements in 2019. Over the past three decades, Professor Tao has put forward many valuable and influential thoughts and opinions on special economic zones, especially in theoretical research on the internal logic between the special economic zones and Chinese roads, as well as the essence and connotations of the Chinese roads. At the same time, she has made outstanding contributions to providing Chinese solutions to the problems for emerging market economies. She was also named by the Vietnamese leader as the first person to introduce the successful experience of China's special economic zones to Vietnam