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Gao, Henry --- "China’s Strategy for Free Trade Agreements: Political Battle in the Name of Trade" [2011] ELECD 467; in Buckley, P. Ross; Hu, Weixing Richard; Arner, W. Douglas (eds), "East Asian Economic Integration" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: East Asian Economic Integration

Editor(s): Buckley, P. Ross; Hu, Weixing Richard; Arner, W. Douglas

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849808682

Section: Chapter 5

Section Title: China’s Strategy for Free Trade Agreements: Political Battle in the Name of Trade

Author(s): Gao, Henry

Number of pages: 17

Extract:

5. China's strategy for free trade
agreements: political battle in the
name of trade
Henry Gao

Compared with Europe and America, East Asia is a latecomer in the new
gold-rush of free trade agreements (FTAs). In this process, China has
played a significant role. This is not only due to the growing economic clout
of China but also because China has taken a conscious strategy to push for
economic integration in the region. Thus, for the benefit of the countries in
the region, it is very important to understand China's FTA strategy. This
chapter starts with the evolving picture of China's FTA web, then discusses
the key components of China's FTA strategy, and concludes by noting the
implications of China's FTA strategy on the region and beyond.


OVERVIEW OF CHINA'S FTAS

While China adopted an export-oriented development model when it
started its economic reform in the late 1970s, it did not contemplate the
possibility of entering into FTAs until much later for the following reasons.
The first reason is the general hostile attitude towards FTAs. Throughout
the 1970s and 1980s, there was little interest in FTAs. It was only in the
early 1990s that countries around the world started to engage in FTAs
seriously. Indeed, of the most important FTAs existing in the world today,
such as the EU, NAFTA, MERCOSUR and ASEAN, most only took
their current form in the 1990s. In particular, Asian countries lag behind
their European and American ...