Programme overview

Home to nearly a quarter of the world's population with one of the fastest growing and largest economies in the world, China's rise to Great Power status is one of the most important issues in our time.

However, while the focus on China's international interactions might point to China's increasing power and strength, an analysis of domestic politics reveals a ruling communist party facing continued challenges in justifying its continued monopoly of power, and dealing with the economic and social dislocations that rapid economic development has brought.

Programme content

This module examines the complex political, economic and social transformations in China from the times of Mao Zedong to the present.

It links the study of both the domestic politics and the international relations of contemporary China, in order to identify exactly what type of Great Power China is becoming, and what this means for the nature of the global order.