Annotation
This course aims to acquaint students with the development of China’s
economy since the beginning of pro-market reforms in 1978. It will lay out the
logic and aims of the main reforms, explain the resulting changes in China’s
economic performance and finally describe the contemporary Chinese economic
system and analyze its advantages and shortcomings. Special attention shall be
given to the increasing role of industrial policy and state interventionism
under Xi Jinping, as well at to the contemporary trade war and technological
rivalry between China and the United States. Moreover, the course will account
for the China’s role in international economic organizations and depict the
growing impacts of its economic rise on third countries, both via both trade
and political projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative.
Seminar:
At the end of the course, students should be able to explain what makes China’s economy distinct from both Western liberal capitalism and Soviet-style central planning, to have gained a grasp of China’s growing global commercial clout and to possess an understanding of the main causes and nature of the current US-Chinese economic and technological rivalry.
During the 8th week of the semester, a seminar will take place. This seminar will be concerned with the following question: “Which country is to blame for the US-Chinese trade war and technological competition?”
Students shall be divided into two equally large groups, one of
which will advocate for the position that the cooling of relations is the fault
of the United States, whereas the other group will attempt to prove that it is
in fact China who caused the dispute. In order to stake out this position, each
student is going to write a position paper, at least 3 norm pages long, and submit
it at least 2 days before the seminar.
It is recommended to explain
your position on issues such as: China’s compliance with WTO agreements, its
alleged theft of intellectual property and mistreatment of foreign investors,
the costs of the trade war for consumers in the US and for American companies,
the national security implications of China’s growing GDP and America’s
dependence on China, or the relevance of human rights considerations (Honk
Kong, Xinjiang etc.). However, it is not necessary to cover all of these topics
and in fact it is allowed to focus on topics that favor your side of the
argument.
In total, a student
can obtain at most 5 points for the seminar.
The evaluation will take into account both the quality of the position paper
and the student’s active participation in discussion.
Even though a student
is supposed to advance his or her side of the argument, the text should not
be outright biased, propagandistic or dishonest! It is welcome for students
to include counter-arguments against their position and persuasively refute
them, it is on the other hand not recommend to use half-truths or otherwise
distort reality.
Exam:
The course shall be
concluded by a written exam comprising four open-ended questions. Each
answer will be given up to 5 points, therefore, the maximum possible
amount of points a student can obtain from the exam is 20.
Evaluation:
In order to
successfully complete the course, a student needs to acquire at least 10
points. Points are going to be translated into grades as follows:
25-22,5 points - „A“
22-19,5 points - „B“
19-16,5 points - „C“
16-13,5 points - „D“
13-10 points - „E“
9,5-0 points - „F“
• XU, Chenggang. The Origin of China’s Communist Institutions. In: MA, Debin. The Cambridge Economic History of China. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2022, s. 531-564. Dostupné z: doi:10.1017/9781108348485 • DARWIN, John. After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000. London: Penguin Group, 2007. ISBN 978–0–141–90468–9., pages 430-435