Stephen Morgan (University of Nottingham)

Party General Secretary and President of China, Xi Jinping, has a dream to “rejuvenate” (fuxing) China. His goal is for China to become a strong and wealthy country (fuqiang guo) by 2049, the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. And the past few months, Xi Jinping has not only beat the drum of innovation but also pronounced a far-reaching programme to address inequality. After the bruising Alibaba’s Jack Ma received and the cancelation of the Ant Group IPO in November 2020, China’s entrepreneurs are eagerly outdoing each other with promises to contribute to welfare. Meanwhile, the prices of shares in the leading Big Tech companies have plummeted. This seminar will examine some of these recent developments and put them in context.The primary focus of the seminar will be on China’s quest to develop innovative economy, which is essential to sustain growth in the next few decades.