Readings

Please complete all readings before class.

S01: The Business of China

Monday, Sep 15

• Myths and Lessons of Modern Chinese History (Kirby & Zendell, 2014)

S02: Canton Trade

Wednesday, Sep 17

• MIT Visualizing Culture: Rise & Fall of the Canton Trade System
• Augustine Heard & Co.: Building a Family Business in the China Trade (Kirby, Eby, et al., 2016)

S03: Bureaucratic Capitalism

Friday, Sep 19

• Aligning Capital and Flag: The Steam Shipping Business, 1860–82 (Reinhardt, 2018, Chapter 2, p. 63-93)
• Conclusion: Toward “Bureaucratic Capitalism” (Feuerwerker, 1958, Chapter 7, p. 242-251)

S04: Empire of Debt

Monday, Sep 22

• Financial Networks and Informal Banking in China: From Pawnshops to Private Equity (Koll, 2009)
• Chinese Bonds for European Investors: The Indemnity Loans and the Internationalization of Chinese Public Finance, 1895–1898 (Moazzin, 2022, Chapter 3, p. 109-149)

S05: Homegrown Industrialists

Wednesday, Sep 24

• Enterprise Culture in Chinese History: Zhang Jian and the Dasheng Cotton Mills (Köll, 2010a)
• The Firm in Early Modern China (Zelin, 2009)

S06: Urban Consumerism

Friday, Sep 26

• “Miss China Discovers Her Legs” (Crow, 2003, Chapters 2, 16–27)
• “Sales Without Salesman” (Crow, 2003, Chapters 5, 58–68)
• Visual Politics and Shanghai Glamour (Yeh, 2007, Chapter 3, p. 51-78)

S07: Developmental State

Monday, Sep 29

• Sun Yatsen: The international development of China, Program 1 and Conclusion [Sun (1920), p. 1-14; 160-165]
• Blood, Iron, and the Japanese Empire (Hirata, 2024, Chapter 1)

S08: China’s Destiny

Wednesday, Oct 1

• Economic Principles of the “Min Sheng Chu I” – The People’s Livelihood (Chiang & Jaffe, 2013, Chapter 4)
• Hyperinflation and the Rivalry between T. V. Soong and H. H. Kung (Coble, 2023, Chapter 2, p. 41-79)

S09: Land Reform

Friday, Oct 3

• Fanshen, Preface, Chapter 28-30 (Hinton, 1967, pp. 269–287)
• How to Analyze Class Status in the Countryside, from the Agrarian Reform Law of the People’s Republic of China (Hinton, 1967, pp. 623–626)
• Land: The Triumph of Gardening (excerpt) (Studwell, 2013, Chapter 1)

S10: Capital Flight

Monday, Oct 6

• The Rong Family: A Chinese Business History (Köll, 2010b)
• Capitalist Transplants: Elite Refugees and the First Reorientations of Hong Kong (Hamilton, 2021, Chapter 1, p. 31-70)

S11: Planned Economy

Wednesday, Oct 8

• Who Owns the State-Owned Enterprise? (Hirata, 2021, Chapter 5, p. 163-192)
• Theoretical Reflections (Walder, 1986, Chapter 8, p. 242-253)

S12: Trading with the Enemy

Friday, Oct 10

• More than Just a Soft Drink: Coca-Cola and China’s Early Reform and Opening (Kraus, 2019)
• Introduction: Making “Made in China” (Ingleson, 2024, pp. 1–17)

S13: Rival Partner

Monday, Oct 13

• Introduction: Taishang, China, and the World (Wu, 2022, pp. 1–26)
• Taiyang Company, 1979-94 (Wu, 2022, Chapter 3, p. 144-186)

S14: Market Maoists

Wednesday, Oct 15

• Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company’s Global Strategy (A) (Abrami, 2008)
• Rural Industrialization: Township and Village Enterprises (Naughton, 2018, Chapter 13)

S15: Nailing Jelly

Friday, Oct 17

• Google in China (A) (Quelch & Jocz, 2010)
• Google in China (B) (Quelch, 2010a)
• Google in China (C) (Quelch, 2010b)
• Censored: Introduction (Roberts, 2018, Introduction, p. 1-20)

S16: Mayor Economy

Monday, Oct 20

• The Chinese Mayor (Zhou, 2015)
• The State and the Mayor Economy (Jin, 2023, Chapter 5, p. 108-134)

S17: Profits and Rights

Wednesday, Oct 22

• “Incomparable” Arrogance (McGee, 2023, Prologue)
• Apple, Foxconn, and Chinese workers’ struggles from a global labor perspective (Pun et al., 2016)

S18: Sick Giant

Friday, Oct 24

• Dying to Survive (Wen, 2018)
• China’s Pharmaceutical Sector (Lee & Burns, 2017)

S19: Winged Ambitions

Monday, Oct 27

• HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (A) (Kirby, McFarlan, et al., 2016)
• HNA Group: Global Excellence with Chinese Characteristics (C) (Kirby et al., 2021)
• Introduction, China’s Gilded Age: The Paradox of Economic Boom and Vast Corruption (Ang, 2020)

S20: Shadow Banks

Wednesday, Oct 29

• Ant Financial (A) (Zhu et al., 2017)
• Ant Financial (B) (Zhu et al., 2018a)
• Ant Financial (C) (Zhu et al., 2018b)
• Ant Financial (D) (Zhu et al., 2021)
• The Power of Informal Institutions (Tsai, 2002, Chapter 1, p. 1-23)

S21: Belt and Road

Friday, Oct 31

• Chinese Infrastructure Investments in Sri Lanka: A Pearl or a Teardrop on the Belt and Road? (Rithmire, 2019)
• Fragmented Motives and Policies: The Belt and Road Initiative in China (Ye, 2021)

S22: New Productive Forces

Monday, Nov 3

• Huawei: A Global Tech Giant in the Crossfire of a Digital Cold War (Kirby et al., 2020)
• The Rise of the Investor State: State Capital in the Chinese Economy (Chen & Rithmire, 2020)

S23: Contentious Water

Wednesday, Nov 5

• China’s Richest Person Made Billions Bottling Pristine Water (C. Liu et al., 2023)
• Why Are China’s Nationalists Attacking the Country’s Heroes? (Dong & Wang, 2024)
• Chinese water bottling company subsidiary appears to be new owner of NH building (Briand, 05-31-2025 9:00 AM)

S24: Attention Economy

Friday, Nov 7

• ByteDance: TikTok and the Trials of Going Viral (Kirby & McHugh, 2021)
• Home or Exile in the Digital Future (Zuboff, 2019, Introduction)

S25: When More Is Less

Monday, Nov 10

• Pinduoduo (Zhu et al., 2019)
• Introduction: From Click to Boom (L. Liu, 2024, Chapter 1, p. 1-24)

S26: Price Wars

Friday, Nov 14

• Racing for Pennies: A Day in the Life of a Chinese Food Delivery Worker (Xiao & Chang, 2025)
• Meituan Dianping: China’s Super Service App (Van Den Berg et al., 2020)
• China’s Low Human Rights Advantage (Qin, 2009)

S27: Future of China, Inc

Monday, Nov 17

• The Real China Model (Wang & Kroeber, 2025)
• The New Economic Geography (Posen, 2025)

Bibliography

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