China and Global Financial Markets: New Risks and Challenges

Summer schools
Global Academic Engagement
Application code LPS-EC210
Starting TBC
Short course: Open from October
Location: Beijing

Video: Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth discusses his 杏吧论坛-PKU Summer School course.

This course provides a rigorous analysis of the most critical political, economic, and strategic risks and challenges facing China’s financial system and global financial markets. It explores how and why these risks and challenges will reshape Chinese society and the global financial system, and how they will impact the climate for policymakers and the business community inside and outside China in the 21st century.

China’s financial system has advanced in size and sophistication in recent decades. Yet now it faces new risks and challenges in an uncertain global economy. China seeks to manage its on-going credit boom, the growth of shadow banking, and potential financial fragility, while it aims to rebalance its economy, project its financial power abroad, promote internationalization of the Yuan in the context of rising tensions with the West over concerns about cybersecurity and Beijing’s financial influence. China’s engagement with the global financial system and institutions also continues to shape its domestic financial regulatory framework and its domestic financial reforms. Understanding how these risks and challenges shape China and impact the broader world economy is crucial for understanding the future of global financial markets. This course enables students to develop a coherent approach for thinking about the many disparate manifestations of risks as well as new analytical and conceptual tools for navigating a rapidly changing and uncertain global financial environment.

ec210 tianhao liu 2019

Photo: "I pursued my undergraduate and master degree in the US, and as a Chinese citizen I need a deeper understanding of China in order to work in its special system. Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth’s class is truly astonishing. The program gave us a broader and deeper view of the Chinese monetary system in a global perspective both economically and politically. During the summer school, the interactions between professors, TAs, and students enabled not only networking, but also the opportunity to acquire valuable insight from both teachers and colleagues. This spectrum of knowledge and insight enabled me to rethink our global financial system, and establish a life-long career goal of a global systematic monetary reform. I would truly recommend the course if you are interested in the global/Chinese monetary system." Tianhao Liu, Rutgers University, USA

Click here to see the full course outline

Programme details

Professor Jeffrey Chwieroth is currently a Professor of International Political Economy in the at the London School of Economics, where is he also co-investigator of the . He is the author of (Cambridge University Press, 2019, with Andrew Walter, University of Melbourne) and Capital Ideas: The IMF and the Rise of Financial Liberalization (Princeton University Press, 2010), as well as numerous articles on the political economy of global finance. His research has previously been supported by grants from the Australian Research Council, the AXA Research Fund, the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Economic and Social Research Council

"The course was amazing! It was such a life-changing experience attending the classes. Professor Chwieroth combined critical, structural, and historical analysis and provided wonderful lectures. It was great, I would definitely recommend this course! PKU and Beijing were also a great part of that amazing experience. The diversity of nationalities and backgrounds of my peers was really enriching." Gabriella Guimeres, University of São Paulo, Brazil

Click here to read more of our alumni testimonials.

Key learning outcomes include achieving a deep understanding of the relevant debates and differing perspectives on the key issues below, as well as developing the analytical skills and building in-depth empirical knowledge to formulate independent and coherent views on these issues.

• Can China avoid a financial crisis following its ongoing credit boom?

• How does “shadow banking” operate in China? What opportunities does it create? What risks does it pose?

• Why does the world economy continue to rely on the U.S. dollar despite the risks associated with such a system?

• Will the Chinese Yuan (RMB) replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s leading currency?

• Why has the practice of central banking changed in China and elsewhere since the crisis?

• How can China and other emerging and developing economies best respond to the perils and opportunities arising from international financial integration?

• What are the origins of banking crises and systemic risk?

• In what ways has financial regulation changed in China and globally since the financial crisis?

• How effective will these new regulatory measures be in containing systemic risk and preventing crises?

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Assessment will be based on a mid-term essay (worth 50% of the final mark) and a final exam (worth 50% of the final mark).

The list below provides an indication of some of the main recommended texts for the course, but a full reading list and electronic course pack will be provided to registered students approximately six weeks before the beginning of the programme.

Douglas J. Elliott and Kai Yan. (2013). . Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
Song, Zheng and Wei Xiong. (2018). . NBER Working Paper No. 24230. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Huang, Yukon, and Canyon Bosler. (2014). . Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Cerutti, Eugenio, Gita Gopinath, and Adil Mohammad. (2019). IMF Blog.
Rey, Héléne, 2013, .
Blinder, A. and Zandi, M. (2015). .
Gita Gopinath (2017, Video):
Wenjie Chen, Mico Mrkaic, and Malhar Nabar (2018).

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