WHEN? February 3, 2025 – December 18, 2026
Visit the DigiCampus website for a listing of ReConnect courses. You can enroll in this course once the course period has started.
This course offers a comprehensive introduction to China’s economy. It is designed for learners seeking a foundational understanding of the key factors that influence China’s domestic economy within a global context. By the end of the course, participants will have gained essential knowledge about the drivers behind China’s remarkable growth as well as the reasons for its current challenges. Participants will also become familiar with primary sources of information on the Chinese economy, enabling them to continue their engagement and learning even after completing the course.
COURSE MODULES
- Essentials of the Chinese economy
- Overview of China’s domestic economy
- Investments, trade and consumption
- Economic geography and demography
- Role of the Party-state in economy
CONTENTS
This course consists of five thematic modules providing a comprehensive understanding of China’s domestic economic landscape. It begins with history and legacies, offering essential background on the economy’s development since 1949, including the Maoist period and post-1980s growth. Key concepts such as “dual circulation” and “common prosperity” are also decoded. The second module presents an overview of China’s current economy, addressing topics like trade surplus, fiscal policies, and local government debt, while comparing China with other countries on key indicators. It also explores China’s expanding platform economy and its goal of achieving a carbon-neutral economy.
Building on this foundation, the subsequent modules delve deeper into the principal drivers of China’s economic growth and the challenges it faces. The third module elucidates the strengths and challenges of the “troika” of China’s economic growth: investment, trade, and consumption. It explores central issues necessary for understanding the changing dynamics of China’s economic engine. The module also scrutinizes the challenges with a case study on the real estate sector.
The fourth module, explores structural issues like an aging population, labor market constraints, and regional economic disparities. It also deciphers the diversity within China’s regional economies.
The final module addresses the fundamental question of how the Communist Party tries to manage the economy to achieve its goals and objectives. It covers mechanisms and tools for steering local economies, the national strategic planning system and political micro-management of the private sector.
MATERIALS
The core materials consist of short (20 min) recorded lectures and slide decks that are prepared by leading experts on China. In addition, the versatile learning materials include timelines, infographics, podcasts and open access online materials. Learners will also get acquainted with central sources of information about China, including selected Chinese webpages. The learning experience is enriched by various types of automatically graded assignments.
TAKEN AS
Asynchronous learning allows students to customize their study schedules and progress independently. Each module consists of learning materials, assignments and an exam. The assignments vary in length and difficulty, and have limitless attempts. The exams consist of six randomly selected multiple-choice questions. There are three attempts for each exam. In order to complete the course and receive a course certificate, students need to pass all assignments and exams within the course period.
The course is graded pass/fail. When students have successfully completed all assignments and exams, they may produce an automatically generated course certificate of completion. The certificate can be digitally verified. The course is worth 3 ECTS credits (ca 80 hours of work). The courses are run on the DigiCampus learning platform. Students can sign up on this page https://digicampus.fi/course/index.php?categoryid=247.
For more information, please contact Dr Outi Luova at outi.luova@utu.fi, CEAS, University of Turku