ECO3310:  ECONOMY OF CHINA
 

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Instructor: Tsui Kai Yuen, Fung King Hay Building, Rm 226
  26097058

  b040785@mailserv.cuhk.edu.hk
T.A.: To be announced

 

Course Description

The course is an overview of the Chinese Economy after 1949 with special emphasis on the reform era. While China encounters economic problems similar to those in other developing nations and transitional economies of the former Soviet Bloc countries, fifty years of communist rule have engendered a set of institutions, some of which are specific to China. As China moves gradually towards a market economy, the interaction of the pre-reform institutions and the market mechanism has resulted in many puzzling phenomena, some of which hinder while others promote economic development. The course will inter alia highlight some of these phenomena and will find out the extent to which they may be explained by conventional economic theory.
 
 

Readings

Lecture notes will be distributed in class and will be supplemented by academic papers reserved in the University Library. Students may also consult the following books for a general overview of the Chinese economy after 1949:

World Bank (1997). China 2020.Development Challenges in the New Century. China 2020 series. Washington, D.C.: the World Bank.

Walder, Andrew, ed. (1996). China¡¦s Transitional Economy. Oxford University Press.

Lin, Justin Yifu, Cai, Fang and Li, Zhou (1996). The China Miracle: Development Strategy and Economic Reform. Hong Kong : Published for The Hong Kong Center for Economic Research and The International Center for Economic Growth by The Chinese University Press
 

 The China Review, an annual publication of the Chinese University Press, is a good source to keep in touch with the latest developments.
 

The University Service Center (www.usc.cuhk.edu.hk) on the 8th floor of Tian Ka Ping Building is a world-renown center with a superb collection of materials on contemporary China. With hundreds of newspaper from the mainland and thousands of magazines, this is the place where you can find out more on the Chinese Mainland beyond those references listed in the course outline.
 

The Chinese economy has been experiencing very rapid changes. To keep track of the latest developments in the Chinese Mainland, mainland websites are included under the various topics in the course outline. Lately, there has been an increasing number of government agencies having their own sites under the so-called Government Online Project (zhengfu shangwang gongcheng). You are strongly encouraged to visit the site www.usc.cuhk.edu.hk of the University Service Center (on the 8th floor of Tian Ka Ping Building) with links to those sites.
 
 

Course Evaluation
 
Mid-term Exam
40%
Final Exam
60%

 
 
 


 
 
 
 

Course Outline





1. The Next Asian Giant? Long-Run Economic Growth of China

Lecture notes

Krugman, Paul (1997). ¡§What Ever Happened to the Asian Miracle?¡¨ Fortune, August 18; the paper may also be found in Krugman's web page:  http://web.mit.edu/krugman/OldFiles/www/

Interesting websites:

  http://web.mit.edu/krugman/OldFiles/www/ -- Krugman's official web page with all his articles and links to other                              interesting sites.
  http://www.worldbank.org/html/prdmg/grthweb/growth_t.htm ¡V the web page is part of World Bank's website on            economic growth research. Though not specifically on China, the web page touches on many interesting issues                relevant to this topic.
 
 

2. Structure and Disparities

Lecture notes
 
 

3. Fortress in the Eye of A Financial Hurricane? China and the Asian Financial Crisis

Lecture notes

Lardy, Nicholas (1998). ¡§China and the Asian Contagion,¡¨ Foreign Affairs. 77, 4:78-88, July-August; also available in http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/form/academic/univ_gennews.html in the University Library's website.

Interesting websites:

  http://www.stern.nyu.edu/~nroubini/asia/AsiaHomepage.html ¡V this is a home page on the Asian financial crisis              prepared by Prof. Nouriel Roubini with tons of articles on the crisis.
 
 

4. Government in Transition: Redefining the Role of the State

Lecture notes

Walder, Andrew (1995). ¡§China's Transitional Economy: Interpreting Its Significance.¡¨ China Quarterly, 963-979, December; also in Walder (1996).

Interesting websites:

  http://www.mof.gov.cn/cpage1.htm ¡V this is the official website of the Ministry of Finance
 
 

5. Market-Preserving Federalism or the Warring States? Central-Local Fiscal Relations in          Transition

Lecture notes

Qian Yingyi and Barry R. Weingast (1997). ¡§Federalism as a Commitment to Preserving Market Incentive.¡¨ Journal of Economic Perspective, 11, 4:83-92.
 
 

6. The Last Frontier of Economic Reforms I: Money and Banking

Lecture notes

Interesting websites:

  http://www.pbc.gov.cn : the official website of the People's Bank of China
 
 

7. The Last Frontier of Economic Reforms II: State-Owned Enterprises

Lecture notes

Interesting websites:

  http://www.setc.gov.cn/ -- the official website of the State Economic and Trade Commission with information on              policies regarding reform of state-owned enterprises
 
 

8. Integration with the Global Economy

Lecture notes

World Bank (1997). China 2020. Chapter 7, 83-96.

Interesting websites:

  http://www.moftec.gov.cn/ -- website of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation