EvolutionUS-ChinaEconRelations

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

The U.S. and China are the world’s two largest economies and have had a complex economic relationship based on mutual dependence and competition. This graduate course aims to provide students with an understanding of core issues underlying this consequential and dynamic relationship. It will focus on changes in the Chinese economy that have affected bilateral trade, investment, and competitive conditions in the past four decades, while also addressing how U.S. policy, the modern trade war, and COVID have affected the economic relationship. After providing a brief history of the U.S.-China economic relationship, the course will discuss China’s WTO accession and the special role the U.S. has played in that process. The course will also examine China’s industrialization policies and structural transformations (e.g., state-owned enterprise reform, private sector development, middle class emergence) which have helped shape its economy into one of the fastest growing producer and consumer markets. The course will analyze interdependencies associated with the U.S.-China economic relationship, such as manufacturing offshoring, integration along global supply chains, and the special role U.S. and other foreign firms have played in various sectors of the Chinese economy. Finally, the course will investigate areas of conflict, including issues associated with innovation, intellectual property right (IPR) protection, forced technology transfers, market access, and currency/financial markets. It will conclude with an analysis of current trade war and COVID-19 related conditions, focusing on their developments, implications, and potential solutions.