This course will provide an overview of China’s political, economic and social reform over the past four decades. The course traces and articulates a narrative of transformation and reform that will contextualize students’ understanding of China in the present and in the foreseeable future. Lectures and reading first review the starting points of the reform, structural reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping since the late 1970s as a turning point in China’s trajectory and then further explore and evaluate the evolution and recent reforms in political, economic and social realms.

On completion of this course, students will be able to: (1) Understand the origin, evolution and future prospects of China’s political, economic and social reform since late 1970s. (2) Examine how institutional continuities and changes have shaped both policy making and individual lives in China. (3) Form a deeper understanding of the political, economic and social challenges within the Chinese context.