China - Understanding the Fundamentals

This course is a part of Global Impact of China's Economy, Politics and Markets, a 4-course Professional Certificate series from edX.

China is one of the most misinterpreted countries in the world, yet one of the most important to understand. Through its sheer size and integration into international supply chains, China impacts everything. Its meteoric rise and unique development model have transformed the global economy and financial markets in the past two decades.

The Chinese economy is the second largest in the world, with ambitions to be the largest. Over the past couple of years Beijing, under Xi Jinping, has finally started to open China’s financial markets more widely to foreign investors. With the Middle Kingdom home to a large proportion of the world’s savings, financial liberalisation will lead to more dramatic changes in the decades to come.

By the end of this course, you will have learned the basics of how China’s economy, political system and financial markets, (including their stock and bond market), work, and how they affect the rest of the world.

You will understand where China’s GDP growth target comes from, how China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, operates, why China’s real estate market is so important, and many more aspects of the fundamentals of how China works.

You will gain the China knowledge needed to make better-informed investment, business and policymaking decisions, to uncover investment and business opportunities, while guarding against idiosyncratic risks.

Unbiased analysis, real-life examples and practical guidance will equip you with the analytical frameworks and tools to apply to your investment decisions, risk assessments or policymaking. You will learn directly from Enodo Economics’ team of experts, who together have more than 250 years of experience focusing on the economics, politics, markets and culture of China.

We make use of bespoke online teaching videos of a high professional standard. The material, carefully tailored to bring to life the content of each course, includes interviews with relevant figures whose personal stories illuminate the concepts being taught. Imaginative visual aids and animation are designed to enhance the learning experience – and make it fun.

What you'll learn

• How China views its role in the world and how that drives policymaking
• How top-down direction melds with market forces to form a unique hybrid economic model
• What drives economic growth and shapes its social development
• How China’s financial markets are changing rapidly, under the careful watch of the state
• How the Communist Party is navigating turbulent waters both at home and abroad