He served as professor and chair of the Department of Economics of Renmin University of China and was awarded the national honorary title of "People's Educator" in 2019.
Wei was born October 1925 into a peasant family in Wutai County, Shanxi, Republic of China, and grew up during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
[1][4] He specialized in the study of capital and was credited for his contributions to the "sinicization of Marxist political economy".
[1][5] In 1986, he advocated giving enterprises more freedom to determine their own objectives, which won the support of many other economists.
[3] During the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, President Xi Jinping awarded Wei the National Honorary Title [zh] of "People's Educator" on 29 September 2019,[4][5] although Wei was unable to attend the award ceremony due to poor health.