Project Overview

CIGI’s contacts with Chinese scholars and think tanks go back many years but were first formalized in January 2006. The Program is led by John Whalley, a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, and includes researchers from the University of Western Ontario, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Xiamen University, Beijing Normal University, and Warwick University, among others. The China Program focuses both on China’s growing role and profile in the global economy, and on the implications of Chinese integration into the global economy. In the process, it seeks to both provide a greater understanding of developments in China and contribute to internal policy debate within China.

In 1976, China took its first steps to towards liberalization with the responsibility system in agriculture. Later, it began to open to the outside world and, since then, the country has grown at rapid rates. Income per capita has increased four-fold since 1978. If 10% annual growth persists, per capita income will increase 30 times by 2050. China now dominates global markets for manufactured consumer goods, and is expanding into new technologies, challenging established developed economies. China, however, remains a fragmented economy with large regional disparities and widespread state ownership. Urbanization has still not progressed to the level of an OECD economy, and many rural markets have yet to be fully influenced by the developments that have irreversibly changed the coastal cities. What remains to be seen are the potentially major impacts of this and future growth experience, both on China and the world. Work must still be done on better understanding and evaluating the many challenges to its sustainability, including China’s financial structure, growing inequality, environmental problems and demographic change.

CIGI’s work under the China Program explores a number of topics related to economic growth and income distribution in China. In addition to studies of aggregate economic performance, CIGI has undertaken research on technological standards, foreign direct investment, poverty and redistribution, higher education and “distinctive Chinese economics” in conjunction with its many partners in China and throughout the world. These endeavours are aided by CIGI’s collaboration with the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada on a Policy Modelling Laboratory, where sophisticated techniques are used to evaluate the effects of policy changes on China’s economy and the world.

Upcoming Publications

In October 2009, CIGI Distinguished Fellow and China Expert John Whalley embarked on an ambitious project to examine the impact of the global liquidity crunch and ensuing global recession on China's economy. His work, which is being conducted in cooperation with CIGI's partners in China, will provide analysis and policy direction with respect to China's role in the post-crisis economic order. Dr. Whalley's reports are expected to be published in the fall of 2009.