Chinese Economy – English Taught Master（EMA）Program Course

A 3-Fudan-credit course

Shanghai Model English Course Awards, Shanghai Ministry of Education, 2021 

Video:  A Brief Introduction to the Chinese Economy Course

Words from the Instructor—Prof. Dan Li

My dear students, I am Dan Li- a professor in the School of Economics, Fudan University. My research fields include Economic History, Development Economics and Regional Science and Urban Economics. My research focus is Chinese Economy. I started to teach this course since Fall 2017. I like to share my understanding of Chinese economy, society, politics and culture in the class. I also like to discuss some most recent developments in China with my students since this country is a fast-developing economy with lots of ongoing changes. I hope through my class, you will not only get a better understanding of China but also build an appreciation for different cultures from your own since this course will usually have students from more than 15 countries. Guest lecturers are often invited to the course to share thoughts in their expert fields. I am looking forward to seeing you in class!   

Course Description:

China is expected to outrun U.S. as the world’s largest economy in the 21st century. It is regarded as one of the most disruptive events to the global order. For anyone who wants to be globally literate, a basic familiarity with this most dynamic and enormous economy is a must. What factors contribute to the rise of China? How to profit from this growing and huge market? How did/will the rise affect the rest of the world? What are the challenges threatening the sustainable development of China? This course is designed to answer above questions from multiple perspectives of economy, business, culture, and politics. We will first investigate the historical legacy and its impact on current economic development. Next, we will study the major economic players (governments, various types of firms and the financial market) and their interactions. Then, we investigate human capital development and technology progress, which are believed to be the keys to future growth. In the fourth part, we identify the challenges undercutting its economic performance with emphasize on the unbalanced economic development pattern. Finally, we look at how China interacts with the rest of the world.

   

Course Objectives:

After you finish the course, you are supposed to

Understand the economic, political, social and cultural characteristics of China

Tell the differences in economic development strategies adopted by China and other transitional/developing economies

Be able to analyze the business culture of China

Be aware of the obstacles and difficulties besetting the economic growth and their roots

Be able to write effectively in essay exams and develop research topics related to this course for your future thesis

Prerequisites:                                                                                                    

Introductory micro- and macro-economics or above

Basic Econometrics or above

Textbook:

Naughton, Barry, The Chinese Economy: Adaptation and Growth, 2nd Edition, MIT Press, 2018.

Contents: 

The course includes 6 broadly defined topics covered important issues in understanding Chinese economy. Each module will be covered in one to three sessions. Each session consists four credit-hour lecture time (45 mins/credit hour). You will have two homework, one midterm-essay and one final-essay. The modules are as follows:

Module 1: The past (2 sessions)

Module 2: The Government and other economic players (3 sessions)

Module 3: Finance (1 session)

Module 4: Education, Labor and Marriage (2 sessions)

Module 5: Inequality and poverty reduction (1 session)

                                                                                                                                       Module 6: China, the World and the future (3 sessions)

Some Endorsements from Previous Classes

Class Fall 2017：40 participants  Course Evaluation：4.86/5.00

-        I am actually retaking Chinese economy course. I find that the last course and this course are extreme opposites. In this course, the professor made the class material very interesting, the papers assigned were contemporary and interesting. The class was never boring and I can say I paid 100% attention in all classes because the class was so interesting and I always left with many things I learned.

-        Very well structed, good choice of literature. Good mix of historical and more recent topics, valuable discussions with open atmosphere. Best course!

-        The wide span of topics, the discussions, the quiz reviews. It’s also really good to have a pro and con view, a balanced view on China. Which I believe was given quite well by our teacher.

-        The highest workload of all EMA courses I took but also the most interesting. This made up for the workload. This is the course I am the most satisfied with at Fudan, great job!

-        I enjoyed the field trip to Baosteel to have a direct impact to Chinese state-owned company. I found very informative to be able to ask question to a retired worker from the company and learning from her experiences.

                              

Class Fall 2018: 58 participants  Course Evaluation：4.83/5.00     

               

-        Very informative overview of the Chinese economy, society and history, especially if one has as little background knowledge as me. The professor´s presentation was very good: the professor´s speaking was clear and easy to understand, the content was well-structured and evenly distributed across topics and classes, and the professor presented the information well and keep up interest; for those reasons, to me, this was the best course this semester.

-        I enjoyed the course in every aspect, in its every little detail. Although the course was scheduled very early in the morning, its content was worth getting up as early as 6:00 am. In particular, the pedagogical approach to relatively complex concepts and mechanisms was highly appreciated, especially for the students who have little / no background in econometrics, micro or macro. I believe the professor’s teaching experience contributed to it.

-        I really enjoyed that we got to know so many different insights into different parts of Chinese culture and economy to get a great overview about China in just one semester. I also liked the fact that we watched some Ted Talks related to the topics which provided you further arguments to the topic. I liked the creative video projects since we had to analyze the topic by ourselves, so we became ‘specialists’ on one important topic. Also, I liked the fact, that the groups were set up by our teacher so that we could get to know new classmates. It is great that our teacher reviewed the homework and midterm results with us in order to get feedback on our work

-        I would like to thank professor Dan Like for her course. Probably one of the best I have had in a really long time. Thanks to the course I have gained a better understanding of China's economy, social, political environment. Also, I really enjoyed the invited lecture about the US-Trade war because the guest lecturer was able to explain really clearly the arguments used by the US to impose tariffs on Chinese goods.

-        I liked the professor’s teaching style, which was really inspiring but still the course structure and requirements were really clear (we got a syllabus and exact dates for exams etc. first lesson). I liked the course topics and interesting practical examples.

Class Fall 2019: 49 participants  Course Evaluation：4.81/5.00

-       Great, historical insights gained for understanding modern China, great incorporation of actual academic papers, & graphs that satisfied the scientist within me.

-        Best course I took in Fudan, thanks professor & Kevin!

-        In the end of the course I have a good general view of China’s economy and how it developed throughout the years. I enjoyed studying for the course and expanding my knowledge on the subject, especially because most papers were super interesting to read.

-        Definitely the best course I had in Fudan during this semester. Professor Li Dan presented the concepts really clearly. I especially enjoyed when she made quick summaries at the beginning of the class and when she gave examples of her personal experience. Professor Li Dan is also very open to discussion and a good listener when we participate in class. One surprising thing which I think won’t be mentioned by a lot of people but I really enjoyed the way we were graded for this course as it was really diversified (2 homework, 2 exams and a group video). The exam questions were really interesting as they really invited us to think and use what we learned instead of having to write things we learned by heart.

-        The perfect mix between interaction, listening and assignments.

Online Class Fall 2020: 33 participants    Course Evaluation：4.21/5.00

               

-        I loved everything about this course. But especially the in-class discussions. This course as a whole was very fun, very engaging and I learnt a lot especially through in class discussions. Even the assignments made me think more thoroughly about the concepts that we learnt which makes me appreciate it all the more. The professor is also very passionate, her teaching style is very positive and easy to learn from her. It's also very clear that she is very knowledgeable and I appreciate her efforts in teaching us, she is also very funny.

-        Every single theme that we talked about in class was very interesting. I now have a better comprehension of why and how is china a powerful country with a strong economy. Having the point of view of a Chinese person was a must as it was not tainted with the occidental point of view.

-        Prof Dan Li delivered great information and taught the lecture very well. She knows the material and allow us to deeply think about each aspects of Chinese economy. I like her lecture a lot because her lecture is always fun and informative.

-        I really enjoyed the parts on poverty and inequality, but also the historical approach that the lecturer used. I also like learning about the Chinese perspective on their own history and place in the world

-        This is actually one of my favorite courses throughout my entire career as a student, from undergraduate to postgraduate, and I am not choosing my words carelessly. It was very enjoyable and I highly recommend the course. Typically, in my experience as a student, core courses within programs are usually the worsts courses and tend to be the most dry, most difficult courses. But this course was highly enjoyable. The TA also did a great job.

 

Awards for this course:

Shanghai Model English Course Awards, Shanghai Ministry of Education, 2021

The Best Teacher Award for the EMA Program in the School of Economics, Fudan University 2018

The Best Teacher Award for the EMA Program in the School of Economics, Fudan University 2019