People

Diana Choyleva

Diana Choyleva

Formal First Name
Diana
Location

Diana Choyleva is the Chief Economist at Enodo Economics. Recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on China, she has been helping business leaders and policymakers make sense of the country's economy and politics and its impact on the world. Choyleva is one of the few economists who really know capitalism, communism, and how the two have come together in China. She has extensive experience engaging with all kinds of audiences and has made regular television appearances, including on BBC’s Newsnight on the day that Lehman Brothers collapsed.

Professional Experience


Academic History

  • Choyleva has covered a wide range of developing and developed economies while at Lombard Street Research
  • In 2007, she was shortlisted for the UK’s annual SBE Rybzcynski Prize in economics.
  • In 2017, she was awarded the Inspiring Leader Award for London and the South at Forward Ladies HSBC Women in Business National Awards.
  • She is a member of the Political Economy Club, founded in 1821.
  • She is a native Bulgarian speaker and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Russian.
  • She writes regular opinion pieces for the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, and many others. 
  • She has appeared as a guest on Real Vision.


CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

  • Choyleva correctly identified China’s expansion as the key global force pointing to a sustained upswing in commodity prices.
  • In 2004, she warned of China’s imminent domestic demand slowdown and anticipated the yuan appreciation that started in mid-2005.
  • In early 2007, she warned of the threat that global inflationary pressures arising from China’s overheating posed for global growth.
  • In 2009 and 2010, she correctly forecasts China’s overheating and the need for policy tightening.
  • In 2011, she argued against the consensus that China is poised for a structural growth slowdown. She forecast that real GDP growth will average 5% a year over the course of this decade.
  • On the back of her prescient growth story, she foresaw the yuan devaluation in early 2014.
  • In 2005, she constructed a UK housing affordability index, which the Daily Telegraph recognized as the best forecast indicator for the UK housing market.
  • She correctly forecasts the upswing of the Japanese stock market in 2003.
  • In early 2007, she anticipated the trouble to befall US banks and the ensuing credit crunch.


“It is increasingly rare to find an economist who eschews the conventional wisdom and is prepared to think for herself. In today’s uncertain world it is a priceless quality. Diana Choyleva is such a person.”

Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England 2003-2013