China's Digital Revolution

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

With record-breaking speed, China has transformed itself over the past forty years from a backward economy into a high-performing industrial power, second only to the United States in the digital technologies driving current global growth. China leads the world in e-commerce, fintech, electronic surveillance, 5G, and social media super apps. It is neck and neck in the race for first place in quantum computing and AI applications, industrial, commercial, and defense-related. But China faces a huge challenge going forward: closing a serious gap in the production of advanced semiconductors, the core technology behind all future innovation. Can China keep up the momentum in its pursuit of digital dominance? “China’s Digital Revolution” (BLHV 3106-01) helps explain how China achieved its present competitive ranking and points to possible outcomes in the digital race over the next few decades. The course provides students with basic knowledge and evidence-based material essential for informed discussion of alternative scenarios. Study units include the initial, Internet-building stage of the digital revolution, China’s Internet businesses as engines of connectivity and e-services, the rationale behind Chinese-style digital governance and surveillance, American versus Chinese cyber capabilities, and Beijing’s new initiatives to reduce dependence on foreign technology through concerted investments in domestic high-tech manufacturing.