Contemporary China:

Continuity and Change

(SOSC1350)

Welcome
 Objective

Ÿ To help students grasp and understand the basic facts

about contemporary Chinese history (past & legacies),
politics (public authority), economy (livelihood &
material conditions), society (human relations) and
culture (values & meanings).

Ÿ Focus on mainland China (Hong Kong & Macau not

covered despite being Special Administrative Regions
of the People’s Republic of China)
 Topics

Ÿ Overview (geography, people, economy, politics, modern

history, origins of the post-1949 system)

Ÿ Post-revolution transformations

Ÿ Government and politics

Ÿ Economic change (I)

Ÿ Economic change (II)

Ÿ Society

Ÿ Culture
 Requirements

Ÿ Class attendance (lectures & tutorials): 10%

Ÿ Participation in Q&A period & tutorials: 5% (for 3

questions / comments – i.e., 1.5 + 1.5 + 2 = 5)

Ÿ Mid-term exam (October 18): 35%

Ÿ Final exam (TBA): 50%

Ÿ Format of both exams: multiple-choice questions, open

book (no electronic devices / gargets), non-cumulative
 Tutorials

Ÿ About two hours.

Ÿ Biweekly (a total of 6 during the semester).

Ÿ Schedule (CANVAS download)

Ÿ Videos relevant to topics discussed in regular classes will be

shown in the first half of each tutorial.

Ÿ Discussions will be held after the videos.

Ÿ Opportunity to learn & to earn grade points.

Readings
Contact information

Instructor: y.lin@ust.hk

Instructional Assistant:
sovlau@ust.hk

Teaching Assistant:
kaa@connect.ust.hk
 Topic One: Overview

1. Basic facts about (mainland) China

2. Snapshot of modern history

3. Cultural & historical legacies

4. Origins of the post-1949 system

1. Basic facts (I): Geography

Ÿ 9.6 million square kilometers of surface area (ranking 3rd/4th in the

world)

Ÿ Administrative divisions under the central government

- 22 provinces 省 (not including Taiwan 台灣)

- 5 autonomous regions 自治區 (equivalent to province)

- 4 centrally administered municipalities 中央直轄市 (with the

same status as province)

- 2 special administrative regions 特別⾏政區 (with a status

similar to province)

- 5 special economic zones 經濟特區 (one is a province and the

other four are under joint control of central & provincial
governments)
autonomous regions
autonomous regions

minority prefectures/counties
centrally administered
municipalities
1. Basic facts (II): Population

Ÿ There were 1.39 billion people in 2017 (distribution:

58.5% in urban areas & 41.5% in rural areas), ranking
1st in the world (21% of the world’s population).

Ÿ ~92% of the population are Han (漢族) Chinese, the

remaining portion consists of 55 ethnic minorities (少數
民族).

Ÿ Over 90% of the population reside in about one third

of the surface area, mostly in the eastern part of the
country.
 Total Population (million persons)

1339.7
1400 1265.8
1200 1133.7
1008.2
1000
800 694.6
594.4
600
400
200
0
1953 1964 1982 1990 2000 2010

Source: 中國統計年鑑
1. Basic facts (III): Economy

Ÿ Before 1978

- Public ownership
- Central planning
- Autarky (closed economy)

Ÿ Since 1978

- Marketization
- Internationalization
- Privatization
 7 largest economies in terms of total nominal gross
domestic product (GDP) (billion of US$), 2017

19391
20000
18000
16000
14000 12238
12000
10000
8000
4872
6000 3671
2622 2598 2583
4000
2000
0
US China Japan Germany UK India France

Source: World Bank

 7 largest economies in terms of total
PPP-adjusted GDP (billion of US$ as international $), 2017

23301
25000
19391
20000

15000
9449
10000 5563
4194 3749 3241
5000

0
China U.S.A. India Japan Germany Russia Indonesia
(75) (11) (119) (25) (16) (52) (94)

Notes: PPP stands for purchasing power parity; figures in parentheses are rankings in terms of PPP-
adjusted GDP per capita.

Source: World Bank

PPP-adjusted GDP as % in World Total

Source: IMF
 Gross domestic product (GDP) (information item)

Ÿ Total amount of value added to an economy

Ÿ Hypothetical example

- A restaurant owner spends RMB 1.5 million on the purchase

of various food ingredients, drinks, electricity, and fuel in a
given year. The total amount of money paid by his customers
in that year is RMB 2 million. The difference of RMB 0.5
million between material costs and revenue is the value added
by the restaurant to the economy. (Out of this RMB 0.5
million, the owner pays wages to his employees, rent to the
landlord, interest to the bank from which he borrows money;
and any remaining amount is his profit, which is subject to
government taxation.)

- The sum of such net gains from various participants in

economic activities is gross domestic product.
 Purchasing power parity (PPP) adjustment of GDP
(information item)
Ÿ Purpose: to make GDP of different countries comparable on the basis
of the domestic purchasing power of different currencies.

Ÿ Hypothetical example

- The exchange rate between the Chinese yuan & the US dollar is
RMB6=US$1. In China 6 yuan can buy 3 kilograms of rice, but
in the US 1 dollar can only buy 1 kilogram of rice. Average
housing cost is 600 yuan per square foot in China, but $300 in the
US. The total GDP for the year is $10 trillion for the US and
RMB12 trillion or $2 trillion for China. At the current exchange
rate, the nominal GDP of the US is five times of that of China.
But because of the differences in price for the same items of
consumption, a direct comparison of the output levels of the two
countries may be misleading.

- Assuming that people in both countries only spend money on rice

and housing and that the average share of spending on these
items is 50-50% in both countries. An adjustment of the real
purchasing power of the two currencies is made to account for
the price differences. The result is a three-fold increase of the
size of China’s GDP (to $6 trillion) in terms of PPP.
 Index of GDP Per Capita, 1952-2017 (1952=100)
7000
6000
5000
4000 starting point of
3000 economic reforms
2000
1000
0
1952 1955 1958 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015

Source: 中國統計年鑑
 Hong Kong's GDP as % equivalent of mainland
China's: 1997 vs 2017
20 18.5
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4 2.8
2
0
1997 2017

Source: World Bank

 Leading Players in Global Trade (US$ trillion), 2017
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
Imports
2
Exports
1.5
1
0.5
0
US China Germany Japan France UK South
Korea

Source: WTO
 Transformation from a centrally planned (blue)
to a market-oriented (purple) economy
(output value)

late 1970s mid-1980s early 1990s turn of the century

 Transformation from total dominance of public
ownership (blue) to predominance of private
ownership (purple)

late 1970s mid-1980s early 1990s 2017

 Foreign direct investment in China, 1985-2017 (US$ 100 million)
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

Note: Figures from 2006 onward include investment in capital markets & financial institutions.

Source: 中國統計年鑑
 Inbound vs outbound FDI (US billion): 2002-2017
250

200

150

100

50

0
2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017
Inbound Outbound

Source: Ministry of Commerce

 Number"of"mainland"Chinese"companies"on"
Fortune(Global(500(
120"

100"
31"
80"

60" Other"
SOEs"
40"
74"
1"
20"
25"
0" 3"
1996" 2006" 2017"
Ramifications of economic change (more on this later)…

Mao as god: Then and Now (from

spiritual god to $ god)
1. Basic facts (IV): Political system

Ÿ Its nature is defined as “people’s democratic

dictatorship” under the leadership of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP).

Ÿ Core of the government system: People’s Congress (at 4

levels)

- Created through direct / indirect elections, where

truly independent political parties other than the
CCP are banned

Ÿ Controlling the People’s Congress holds the key to the

CCP’s control over the government
 Party (CCP) versus State

Xi Jinping
習近平

Li Keqiang Li Zhanshu
李克強 栗戰書

Since November 2017 Since March 2018

 Four levels of government administration

Ÿ Central government

Ÿ Governments of provincial entities (including

provinces, autonomous regions, centrally administered
municipalities, special administrative regions)

Ÿ Governments of cities (650~), counties (1,570~), &

urban districts (860~)

Ÿ Governments of townships (40,500~) & urban sub-

districts (7,200~)
2. Snapshot of modern history
Ÿ 1800-1911
- Decline of the Qing (Ch’ing) Dynasty 清王朝 (1644-1911)
- Wars & encounters with Western powers
- Early process of industrialization

Ÿ 1912-36
- Republic of China (1912-), political division & reunification
- Rise of CCP (1921-) & conflict with Kuomintang 國民黨
(KMT)

Ÿ 1937-45
- Japanese occupation
- CCP-KMT alliance in war of resistance against Japan

Ÿ 1946-49
- Civil war & defeat of KMT
- Founding of People’s Republic of China (October 1 1949-)
 Estimates of China's share (%) in World GDP
(1990 Int. Geary-Khamis $ million), 1820-2006
35 33
30
27
25
22
20
20
16 17
China
15
USA
11
10

5 4 5
2
0
1820 1900 1950 1978 2006
($228,600) ($218,154) ($244,985) ($935,082) ($7,928,475)

Source: Angus Maddison (2009), “Statistics on World Population, GDP and Per Capita GDP, 1-2006 AD” (http://www.ggdc.net/maddison/)
China’s purported maritime capabilities in the 15th Century
 China’s War-torn Century, 1840-1950 (information item)
Ÿ 1st Opium War 第⼀次鴉片戰爭 (1840-42)
Ÿ Taiping Rebellion 太平天國起義 (1850-64)
Ÿ Nien Rebellion 捻軍起義(1853-68)
Ÿ 2nd Opium War 第⼆次鴉片戰爭 (1856-60)
Ÿ Panthay Rebellion 杜⽂秀起義 (1856–1873)
Ÿ Hui Rebellion in Gansu and Shaanxi 陜甘回變 (1862–1877)
Ÿ Yaqub Beg Uprising/Invasion 阿古柏之亂 (1865-78)
Ÿ Sino-French War 中法戰爭(1884-5)
Ÿ 1st Sino-Japanese War 甲午戰爭 (1894-5)
Ÿ Boxer Rebellion 義和團運動 (1900-1)
Ÿ 1911 Revolution 辛亥⾰命 (followed by close to 600 battles throughout 1912-27)
Ÿ “Second Revolution” ⼆次⾰命 (1913)
Ÿ National Protection /Anti-Monarchy War 護國戰爭 (1915-6)
Ÿ Constitution Protection War 護法戰爭 (1917-8)
Ÿ Zhili–Anhui War 直皖戰爭 (1920)
Ÿ Guangdong–Guangxi War 粵桂戰爭 (1920-1)
Ÿ Zhili-Fengtian Wars 直奉戰爭(1922, 1924)
Ÿ Anti–Fengtian War 反奉战争 (1925-6)
Ÿ Northern Expedition 北伐戰爭(1926-8)
Ÿ KMT-CCP Conflict 國共衝突 (1927-36)
Ÿ Central Plains War 中原⼤戰 (1930)
Ÿ Mukden Incident & Japanese Invasion of Manchuria 九⼀⼋事變及日本侵佔東北 (1931)
Ÿ Shanghai War 淞滬戰爭 (1932)
Ÿ 2nd Sino-Japanese War 抗日戰爭 (1937-45)
Ÿ Chinese Civil War 內戰 (1946-9)
Ÿ Korean War 韓戰/朝鮮戰爭 (1950-3)
The 1st Opium War (1840-2)
Aisin Giorro Pu Yi (1906-67), Sun Yat-sen Chiang Kai-shek
last emperor of Qing Dynasty (1866-1925) (1887-1975)
Mao Zedong
(1893-1976)
3. Cultural & historical legacies
Ÿ Confucianism, ancestral worship, & worldly-oriented religious beliefs

- Limited toleration, suppression, & resurgence (since 1978)

Ÿ The Chinese diaspora

- Seeds of future change

Ÿ Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as separate political & socioeconomic

entities

Ÿ Cold War & growing external hostility from the late 1940s onwards

- Economic autarky

Ÿ Peasant economy

- Post-revolution industrialization at the expense of agriculture &

consumption
Confucian doctrines on human relations
Chinese people in the world

Ÿ Mainland China has a population

of ~1.4 billion

Ÿ Taiwan’s population is about 23

million

Ÿ Hong Kong & Macau have nearly

8 million people

Ÿ The Chinese diaspora outside the

above is estimated to have 35-40
million people

Ÿ 70-75% of the Chinese diaspora

live in Southeast Asia
The “Cold War” (1947-1991)
 Underdevelopment of the Chinese economy, 1949

100
90
90

80

70

60

50

40

30
22
20

10

0
farmers per 100 working people Per capita GDP gap with US (China=1)

Source: 中國統計年鑑
4. Origins of the post-revolution system (I)

Ÿ Ideology: a set of beliefs, ideas or values that guide social

action - especially the use of public authority.

Ÿ Communist ideology provided the blue-print for the design

of China’s post-revolution system.

– Karl Marx’s ideas constitute the core of communist

ideology.

– Mao Zedong ⽑澤東embraced but modified Marx’s

ideas; so did Deng Xiaoping 鄧小平, who went further to
modify Mao’s ideas as well.

– Maoism prevailed during 1949-1978, whereas Deng’s

ideas have been influential since 1978.
資本論

共產黨宣⾔
4. Origins of the post-revolution system (II)

Ÿ Early CCP leaders were mostly nationalistic 民族主義

intellectuals seeking to lead China out of poverty and
humiliation.

Ÿ They were exposed to communist ideology mainly through

translated works, & immensely impressed by what
happened in Russia in 1917.

Ÿ They were attracted to the prospect of a society of shared

prosperity & equality with minimal or no trade-offs.

Ÿ China’s political and economic conditions in the 1st half of

the 20th century provided opportunities for the early leaders
of CCP to pursue their ideals through revolution.
Karl Marx Fredrick Engels Vladimir Lenin Joseph Stalin
4. Origins of the post-revolution system (III)
Ÿ What did Karl Marx say?

– History evolves in a linear fashion through five stages: primitive society 原

始社會, slavery 奴隸制/社會, feudalism 封建制/社會, capitalism 資本主義
社會, & communism共產主義社會 (an eventuality).

– Private ownership is the main source of all the evils in “class society” and
must be eliminated.

– Violence must be used to overthrow the capitalist system.

– The revolution to establish communism can only succeed in an advanced

capitalist economy and cannot succeed without the leadership of a well
organized communist party.

– After a brief period of transition (which he called “socialism”, hence

adding to the confusion about the term) after the fall of the capitalist
system, the state will gradually fade away & people will self-govern the
society where private ownership of both the means of production and the
means of living will be eliminated (in contrast, during the transitional
period, the latter remains).
 Karl Marx on private property & use of violence

Ÿ According to Marx capitalism is unfair

because private owners of capital are able
to exploit workers by paying them wages
less than the values that workers produce,
resulting in economic inequality. Also, free
competition in a private economy
inevitably leads to wastage (e.g.,
abandoned facilities and laid-off workers
from companies that have failed in
competition), resulting in economic
inefficiency. Inequality and inefficiency in
turn give rise to many social problems
(e.g., crimes), which increase governance
cost of the society. To remove these
phenomena, it is necessary to eliminate
private ownership.

Ÿ Yet, law and government in capitalist

society protect private property rights.
Efforts to eliminate private ownership are
bound to be suppressed by the state
through the use of coercive force (e.g.,
police, court, army). Only a violent
revolution can destroy the old state system
and pave the way for the removal of
private ownership.
馬克思(斯) 關於私有(財) 產權(利)及暴⼒⾰命必要性的論
述 (Karl Marx on private property & use of violence)

Ÿ 他認為私有產權使得財產多的⼈可以
憑藉其財產剝削無產者(即僱佣無產者
作為⼯⼈,但不付給相當於他們的勞動
所創造的價值的⼯資),因⽽是不公正
的.同時私有制經濟無法避免由於自由
競爭所導致的浪費(如倒閉企業所廢棄
的設施,失業⼈員),因⽽使資源不能得
到最優利用.不平等和資源浪費又導致
許多社會問題(如犯罪).要根除這些現
象,就要消除私有制.

Ÿ 但是,資本主義社會中政府和法律都是
維護私有產權的.消除私有制的努⼒因
此必定受到國家機器(警察,軍隊,法庭
等)的壓制.唯有通過暴⼒⾰命,打碎舊
的國家機器,才能消除私有制.
4. Origins of the post-revolution system (IV): Maoism
Ÿ Mao (1893-1976) shared Marx’s
ideas of linear progression of
history, use of violence, and
elimination of private ownership.
But he claimed that

– Communist revolution could

succeed in a country where
capitalism was underdeveloped.

– After this revolution there would

be a long period of transition
(called “socialism”, as termed by
Marx) that would eventuate in
communism.

– The state, under the guidance of

the communist party, should
play a leading role in economic
development during the long
transition toward communism.
 Maoism (continued)

Ÿ Mao further argued that the success of socialism (as a long

transitional process toward communism) would necessitate

– Containing the size and complexity of the state bureaucracy (so

as to prevent it from becoming a hotbed for a new elite class);

– Making people true believers of communism (through

internalization of such “good values” as asceticism 苦⾏/禁欲
主義 (refraining from material pursuits) & altruism 利他主義)
& de-emphasizing material incentives;

– Achieving (national & regional) self-reliance in economic

development (so as to cope with international economic
isolation and to reduce the need for a huge, complex state
bureaucracy which could become the hotbed for the rise of a
new bureaucratic elite class).