China's relationship with Australia and the rest of the world is critical to Australia's future success. This subject offers a broad introduction to Chinese society, history and politics and will cover in more detail cultural developments, including the creative arts such as music, literature, visual arts and film, together with popular arts and the digital transformation of media and the arts. An outline of Chinese aesthetic theories, cultural policies and the work of critics will be presented. The roles of art institutions such as museums, galleries, performance companies and publishers will be considered, together with agencies involved in international cultural exchange such as translators, censors and copyright agencies. The study of the interplay of Chinese language, thought and culture will be an integral part of this subject. A case study of a particular cultural medium may be presented by an invited guest speaker. This subject may be further developed through the China Culture Study subject which is an alternate subject within the Master of Chinese Cultural Relations course.