Teaching financial geography in an emerging international financial center: the practices at Beijing Normal University

With the growing importance of the financial sector in the socio-economic landscape, financial geography has rapidly emerged as a key subfield within economic geography. However, in the Chinese mainland, few higher education institutions offer courses specifically focused on financial geography. In 2017, Beijing Normal University launched the “Service and Financial Geography” course, the first undergraduate course in financial geography in Chinese mainland. The course emphasizes the spatial aspects of financial and commercial services, central business districts (CBDs), financial centers, and financialization. Notably, it incorporates a practical fieldtrip component, where students conduct on-site investigations of Beijing CBD and the Financial Street, integrating theoretical frameworks with empirical research. This article systematically reviews the course design and content and analyses its potential for broader adoption. It argues that developing financial geography education in this context requires navigating the tension between Anglo-American theoretical dominance and local realities. While this course contributes to the dissemination of financial geography and the development of similar courses at other universities, teaching financial geography in China still faces certain challenges.