Since Deng Xiaoping initiated the process of 'reform and opening up' in the late 1970s, China has emerged as the second largest and one of the most dynamic economies in the world. China's domestic economic reforms and growing integration into the global economy have raised countless questions about the nature of China's economic growth and development process in the past, present and future:  Has China's transition from central planning to an increasingly market-based economy been successful? What kind of capitalist system is China becoming, if it is even becoming capitalist at all? What are the major challenges facing the current generation of leaders under President Xi Jinping, and what are the prospects for economic growth in the future? How has China been transformed by, and in turn transformed, the global economy and how are other nations responding to these twin transformations?

This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills to address these questions and more, through a series of lectures and tutorials that begin with China under Mao, before exploring the major features of the reform period, from gradualism, experimentalism and fiscal decentralisation, to industrial sector reforms and unbalanced export-led growth. The course will then focus on the key challenges facing China today, including demographic change and an ageing population, income inequality, pollution and the need for low-carbon green growth and the Australia-China economic relationship.

Student-led Panel Discussions based on recent books will be held in Weeks 6 and 12, and will enable a deep exploration of some of the major themes presented throughout the course: themes that continue to be hotly debated both within and outside of China and which make the Chinese economy such a fascinating topic of study.