The landscape of crime and criminal justice system in China has under dramatic changes in the past six decades. While pre-reform China has been regarded as a 'crime-free' society, the crime rate has soared in the recent three decades due to rapid industrialization, urbanization and modernization. China’s incarceration rate is around the world average, but its wide use of death penalty makes it one of the most punitive countries in the world. How to understand the unprecedented change of crime and Chinese government’s effort in controlling crime? What are similarities and differences of Chinese experience of crime and its control in a global perspective? This course will provide a criminological analysis on various issues on crime, policing and punishment in China.

CILO-1: State the crime trend, crime typologies, theories of crime, traditional Chinese legal thinking, Chinese approaches to crime control and prevention, Chinese criminal justice system. CILO-2: Engage in scholarly and policy debates in some critical issues on crime and punishment in China. CILO-3: Analyze the crime issues and conduct comparisons on those issues between China and other jurisdictions in the world.