During the semester, students need to submit three written assignments: 

1) Position paper for the first seminar, at least 3 norm pages in length.

Before writing the position paper, please register for the topic in the following topic list:

2) Document for the second seminar, written in groups, at least 5 norm pages long.

3) Final essay, at least 4 norm pages long.

There are two possible topics for the essay. The first one is described in the syllabus, it entails imagining the perfect way forward for China until 2050 from a partisan Chinese perspective.

The second topic is a more traditionally academic one, although also speculative: "How will China's rise change the world economy during the next 30 years?" In it, you should attempt to answer questions such as: 

Will China succeed in attaining leadership in advanced digital technologies? What will it do if it fails? Will it be able to become the center of important global value chains and outsource low value-added activities abroad, in the way that developed countries do? Will the Belt and Road Initiative prove helpful or harmful for developing countries? Will rich countries be able to sustain China's competition, or will they withdraw into protectionism? Will China experience more major trade wars? Will important states decide to keep out Chinese investment? How will China's position in international economic organizations (WTO, IMF, WB) change?

It is fine if you chose a part of the world and describe how China's rise might economically effect it - you can for example only focus on Europe, or the United States, or Southeast Asia, or developing countries as a whole.

As with the first topic, success will rated not according to your predictions, but according to how well you can use relevant concepts (FDI, exchange rates, value added etc.) and how well you understand the current situation, which should be your starting point.

Detailed information about the organization of the course can be found in the following syllabus: