Staff profile

Xian joined Durham University Business School in June 2020 as an Associate Professor in Finance. Prior to this, she was an Associate/Assistant Professor in Finance at School of Finance of Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE) in Beijing (2015-20), Visiting Lecturer at Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania (2017-20). She received her Ph.D. from Beijing Normal University Business School in Financial Economics and Master in Law from University of Pennsylvania Law School. She was a post-doctoral research fellow at the Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania from 2013-15. She also served as an economist at the Research Department of CITIC Securities International from 2011-13.

Xian’s research interests are corporate finance, financial intermediation, FinTech, law and finance. She has published academic papers in Journal of International Economics, Annual Review of Financial Economics, Journal of Banking and Finance, among others. Her working papers have been presented at conferences including Western Finance Association (WFA) Annual Meetings, American Finance Association (AFA) Annual Meetings, etc. Her papers have won the Best Paper Awards at AsianFA (2019); CFRC (2019); CICF (2021); CFRC (2021).

Academic Services

Ad Hoc Referee

Journal of Finance; Journal of Financial Economics; Review of Finance; Journal of Corporate Finance; Journal of Banking and Finance; Journal of Financial Stability; Journal of International Money and Finance; Journal of Empirical Finance.

Editorial Service

Editorial Board, Review of Business (2020- )

Guest Editor, Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Special Issue on FinTech, 2020.

• Corporate Finance
• Financial Intermediation
• FinTech
• Law and Finance

• Centre for Banking, Institutions and Development (CBID)
• Economics & Finance Department

• Economics & Finance Department

Chapter in book

• Allen, Franklin, Carletti, Elena & Gu, Xian (2019). The Roles of Banks in Financial Systems. In The Oxford Handbook of Banking: Third Edition. Berger, Allen N., Molyneux, Philip & Wilson, John O. S. Oxford University Press.
• Allen, Franklin, Gu, Xian & Qian, Jun “QJ” (2018). The People’s Bank of China: From 1948 to 2016. In Sveriges Riksbank and the History of Central Banking. Edvinsson, Rodney, Jacobson, Tor & Waldenström, Daniel Cambridge University Press. 418.
• Allen, Franklin, Gu, Xian & Kowalewski, Oskar (2018). Financial Structure and Economic Development. In Handbook of Finance and Development. Beck, Thorsten & Levine, Ross Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Allen, Franklin, Carletti, Elena & Gu, Xian (2014). The Roles of Banks in Financial Systems. In The Oxford Handbook of Banking, Second Edition (2 ed.). Berger, Allen N., Molyneux, Philip & Wilson, John O. S. Oxford University Press.

Journal Article

• Gu, Xian, Hasan, Iftekhar & Lu, Haitian (2022). Institutions and Corporate Reputation: Evidence from Public Debt Markets. Journal of Business Ethics
• Allen, F., Gu, X. & Jagtiani, J. (2021). A Survey of Fintech Research and Policy Discussion. Review of Corporate Finance 1.
• Allen, Franklin & Gu, Xian (2021). Shadow banking in China compared to other countries. The Manchester School 89(5): 407-419.
• Gu, Xian, Hasan, Iftekhar & Zhu, Yun (2019). Political influence and financial flexibility: Evidence from China. Journal of Banking & Finance 99: 142-156.
• Gu, Xian, Kadiyala, Padma & Mahaney-Walter, Xin Wu (2018). How creditor rights affect the issuance of public debt: The role of credit ratings. Journal of Financial Stability 39: 133-143.
• Allen, Franklin, Bartiloro, Laura, Gu, Xian & Kowalewski, Oskar (2018). Does economic structure determine financial structure? Journal of International Economics 114: 389-409.
• Allen, Franklin & Gu, Xian (2018). The Interplay between Regulations and Financial Stability. Journal of Financial Services Research 53(2-3): 233-248.
• Allen, Franklin, Qian, Jun “QJ” & Gu, Xian (2017). An Overview of China's Financial System. Annual Review of Financial Economics 9: 191-231.
• Gu, Xian & Kowalewski, Oskar (2016). Creditor rights and the corporate bond market. Journal of International Money and Finance 67: 215-238.
• Qian, Jun “QJ”, Gu, Xian & Allen, Franklin (2015). China’s Financial System: Growth and Risk. Foundations and Trends® in Finance 9(3-4): 197-319.
• Allen, Franklin, Gu, Xian & Kowalewski, Oskar (2012). Financial crisis, structure and reform. Journal of Banking & Finance 36(11): 2960-2973.