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Based on the textile trade data of 66 countries along the Belt and Road from 2001 to 2020, this paper uses the social network analysis method to measure the network centrality, uses the block model method to investigate the competitive and complementary relationship of textile trade among countries along the Belt and Road, and uses the QAP method to analyze the structure of textile trade network and its influencing factors. The results show that since the implementation of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the density of textile trade network has increased significantly, and the network presents an obvious core-edge structure. China has always been in the center of textile trade network. Before and after the "Belt and Road" Initiative is put forward, core countries such as China, India and Thailand changed from internal sector to two-way overflow sector, and textile trade competition existed among core countries. The influencing factors on the textile trade network of countries along the Belt and Road are, in descending order, economic scale, regional trade agreements between countries, population scale, cultural proximity and geographical distance. Based on the research conclusions and combined with the textile trade network pattern of the Belt and Road countries, this paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions to promote high-quality development of textile trade between China and "The Belt and Road" countries from the perspective of social network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following decades of relative isolation, China and India have become the world's largest new traders. In this paper, we focus on their Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). While the two economies initially followed similar paths, with a growing number of PTAs signed in the first decade of the 21st Century, since 2011 India has taken a U-turn and stopped completing them. China, on the other hand, has widened and deepened its trade agreements. We present a novel theoretical framework to analyze international economic negotiations by emerging economies and use it to study the puzzling divergence of the trade policies of China and India. By adapting the two-level game framework to emerging economies, we argue that there are key differences in the political economies of countries like China and India (compared to Western industrialized ones), which requires a more specific focus on the domestic side of the two-level game. We show that accounting for non-legislative domestic ratification processes and for iterative games and experiential learning by domestic actors are crucial in understanding the trade strategies of emerging economies. While much of the literature explains large emerging economies by looking at external systemic factors, we instead suggest that their domestic politics trumps international politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How has China contributed toward the conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)? The extant literature tends to either undervalue China's role or emphasizes the absence of China's willingness to realize the RCEP. However, it is difficult to form region-wide multilateral preferential trade agreements (PTAs), such as RCEP, without any significant contribution from a regional hegemon, such as China. This paper, thus, argues that China has contributed significantly toward the conclusion of RCEP by engendering incentives for member countries to join through multiple cooperative structures. These cooperative structures involve China-led bilateral PTAs and international development forums, which include the Belt and Road Initiative and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. With the gradual shift from bilateral to multilateral PTAs and forum-linkage strategies, China turned to be more assertive in concluding the RCEP than in the early years of RCEP negotiations, as evidenced by the discourse of political and opinion leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the different factors affecting Sino-African trade based on the gravity model, and propose some solutions to improve the problems. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on an extended gravity model, including trade agreement and recession as explanatory variables. The impacts of trade agreement and economic recession on Sino-African imports and exports are examined. Findings: The results show that the product of GDP affects African exports to China significantly and negatively, and affects African imports from China positively. Real exchange rate affects African exports to China positively, and affects African imports from China negatively. Population affect African exports to China significantly and positively, and affect African imports from China positively. Recession have negative effects on both African imports from China and exports to China but is only significant for imports. Agreement affects African imports from China and exports to China positively. Our findings confirm the impact of economic recession, and imply that the structure of African product exported to China should be improved, and trade agreements should be reinforced. Originality/value: This paper contributes and extends the literature on Sino-African trade by improving the traditional gravity model to include the impact of all trade agreements, and their aggregating effects on trade. The paper also seeks to assess the trade impact of economic recession through a dynamic gravity model approach for which there has been no research done to our knowledge. In this regard, it provides new understanding of the trade pattern between China and Africa, and ways in improving the Sino-African bilateral trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effects of import competition on the manufacturing sector in Chile following the implementation of the country's two largest Free Trade Agreements (FTA) (with the USA and China). Exploiting cross-industry variation in import exposure, we analyse the effects on manufacturing sales, employment and labour productivity at the finest level of industrial classification (4 digit ISIC level). We detect an overall negative effect of increased Chinese import penetration, owing to substitution effects from low and medium tech imports and a less pronounced effect from USA imports. By introducing interaction effects, we find that the levels of foreign ownership and the export intensity of the domestic industries reverse the negative effect due to the opportunities offered via participation in global value chains. An IV strategy is applied to address standard endogeneity concerns and confirm the robustness of our estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the ex-post trade effects of China's multilateral, regional and bilateral trade liberalization using augmented gravity and panel data estimation methods for the period 1995–2016. China's accession to the WTO was revealed to have had a significant impact on the volume of trade as well as on bilateral exports and imports. Regional trade agreements and the majority of bilateral trade agreements were found not to be effective in increasing China's foreign trade. Only the agreements with Chile, Costa Rica and Switzerland were effective in increasing China's trade volume. Moreover, the results for Chile were driven by increases in both exports and imports, while for Costa Rica and Switzerland only by increased imports from these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the mid-1990s, China has become the leading exporter worldwide of manufactured textiles and clothing. For Nigeria, one of China's major trading partners in Africa, increased imports of Chinese textiles are related to the decline of the Nigerian textile manufacturing industry. It also reflects the opening up of China to foreign investment and the subsequent boom in manufactured textile exports and to changes in World Trade Organization textile agreements. This paper examines these changes in textile manufacture and trade, focusing first on twentieth-century Chinese and Nigerian textile manufacturing histories and their subsequent divergence, beginning in the 1980s and continuing into the early twenty-first century. The increase in Chinese-Nigerian textile trade became physically evident in Nigeria in the late 1990s, with Chinese textile companies setting up offices in Lagos and Kano, and Nigerian traders and businessmen setting up offices in Guangzhou, China. The question of how increased shipments of Chinese manufactured textiles have been organized by Chinese company representatives, brokers, and traders, as well as by Nigerian traders and businessmen to meet Nigerian consumer demand is then addressed. Finally, this growth in textile trade is considered in the context of Chinese-Nigerian plans for the building of a Free Trade Zone in Lagos, which would include the construction of a new textile mill. The paper concludes by considering whether this collaboration may lead to a revival of the Nigerian textile industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has been recognized as a significant progress in regional economic integration for member countries. While the existing literature has widely studied the trade effects of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), it remains unclear how it affects environment-related input use. This paper examines the impacts of agricultural trade liberalization on the domestic fertilizer use following the CAFTA. Using a combined dataset consisting of country- and product-level fertilizer use and predictors over the period 1995–2015, this paper empirically examines the impact of CAFTA on the domestic fertilizer use for the exported fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) from China to ASEAN members. We use the synthesis control method to identify the aggregate impacts of CAFTA on the domestic fertilizer use, followed by the propensity score matching difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) method to examine the mechanism through which fertilizer use is increased. We find that the total volumes of the domestic fertilizer use for Chinese exported FFV increased significantly following the implementation of the Early Harvest Program under CAFTA in 2004. This impact is more evident for exports to the initial ASEAN members compared to the new members. The PSM-DID results suggest that CAFTA increased the degree of export concentration on ASEAN members. The evidence is consistent with the export diversion effect of a customs union instead of the export creation effect due to trade liberalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East Asia is steadfastly marching towards regional economic integration through a number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and China is a major driving force behind this movement. This paper analyses China's RTAs and their impact on regionalism in Asia. It addresses the criticisms that China's RTAs are politically but not economically driven, that China's RTAs create the hub-and-spoke bilateralism and that China's RTAs are not World Trade Organization consistent. It discusses China's position on East Asian regionalism, pointing out that China wishes East Asia to pursue regionalism on multi-track and at multi-speed, that China tends to 'do easy things first' with low integration and liberalisation and then gradually move to deeper liberalisation and integration and that China's definition of 'open regionalism' does not include outside countries such as the USA and the EU. The paper makes suggestions for improving China's RTAs in the interest of establishing an East Asia free trade agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of Chinese foreign policy has long shown that domestic politics and domestic constraints are sources of foreign policy, albeit generally considered less potent than ideology and interests. Domestic political constraints should also be explored as factors in Chinese regional policies toward East Asia, including regional economic institutions. This paper examines three domestic institutional constraints on regional foreign policy in the area of trade and economics: a fragmented decision-making structure that has difficulty with coordination, a relatively heavy reliance on top level decision-makers at a time when issues of Asian economic policy have relatively low priority for these same decision-makers, and the relatively extreme lack of autonomy for negotiators vis-a-vis top decision-makers in Beijing. These constraints are by any means unique to China. However, at a time when many observers and participants are expecting—indeed, often hoping for—Chinese leadership in the region, the paper posits that these constraints hinder the PRC's ability to fill this role. The key empirical focus is regional trade agreements and regional economic organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines China's recent movement in negotiating and signing regional trade agreements (R.T.As) in the context of the regionalism versus multilateralism debate in international trade law, focusing on the China-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and the proposed China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The broader background consists of the potentially negative effects of regional trade arrangements like CAFTA, which may conflict with the economic goals of the multilateral trading system of the GATT/WTO regime. Countries, however, have a variety of non-economic considerations in approaching R.T.As, such as regional stability and national security. Furthermore, the literature suggests that although the economic benefits to members of R.T.As vary depending on the circumstances, at least they are apparent in some cases. This paper, after introducing the content and progress in the CEPA and CAFTA negotiations, discusses the geopolitical considerations behind China's R.T.A. approach. It also analyses the legal status and WTO-consistency of China's R.T.As. It concludes that while multilateralism still serves the long-term interest of trading nations for peace and prosperity, the multilateral trading system should accommodate regionalism in a fashion that strikes a balance between the economic and non-economic concerns of the various countries and the goal of broader liberalisation in global trade and investment. China, as a rising trade power with global influence, has the responsibility of promoting regional integration and global trade liberalisation in the interest of the aforesaid balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland China, especially Guangdong province, has flourished since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 1997. The landmark is the conclusion of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and the Mainland in 2003. CEPA covers liberalisation of trade in goods, liberalisation of trade in services, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, and other trade facilitation measures. This paper uses the collaborative governance regime framework to analyse the economic cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland China under CEPA. This case shows that if there are environmental conditions generating incentives for both parties to cooperate, a committed leadership on both sides to drive the regime, and institutional arrangements that could facilitate the collaborative dynamics, effective collaboration between players from different political and institutional backgrounds can still be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper frames the trade relationship between China and Malaysia within the context of ASEAN and the impending RCEP. Specifically trade potentials are derived for the bilateral partnership within the two structures to identify whether China's external options under the RCEP affect her relationship with Malaysia. Potentials for trade expansion between China and Malaysia, estimated through a three-dimensional panel gravity model, are found to be marginally lower under the RCEP structure relative to ASEAN. More importantly, trade potentials appear exhausted for major products traded under both contexts. This suggests a change (decline) in the trade posture of the China-Malaysia partnership, as relative advantages are most likely to be altered under the expanded matrix of Chinese relations with RCEP members. In coping with the larger matrix structure, both nations should innovate new forms of bilateral cooperation, beyond trade, to enhance their strategic partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2001, China finally acceded to the World Trade Organization after a marathon accession negotiation that lasted 15 years. As China's accession coincided with the launch of the Doha Round, many commentators predicted that China's participation in the trade negotiations would have significant impacts on the Round. However, this has not proven to be the case. What have been the approaches taken by China in global trade negotiations? Why did China adopt these approaches? How did China's different negotiating approaches affect the dynamics of trade negotiations? These are the questions addressed in this article. The paper argues that China started as a reluctant player in the negotiations, and only gradually made its way into the core decision-making group of the WTO rather late during the round. Even though China has now been accepted as a member of the G-7, the most powerful group in the WTO, it has been playing only supportive rather than leading roles. The article explains the reasons for such low profile approaches, and also examines the value of Chinese proposals from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The article concludes with some thoughts on the broader implications of China's growing power in the WTO as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is widely viewed as exceptional in its free trade agreement (FTA) activity for two reasons. First, the existing literature on East Asian regionalism has treated China as a strategic unitary actor. Second, Chinese policy elites claim that China is exceptional for its 'big country morality' of seeking to provide agreements that benefit smaller countries. What drives China's trade policy in the 'post-WTO' era? More precisely, does China, as a state ruled by a Communist Party, have different factors affecting its FTA policy-making than do other states? Is China pursuing FTAs 'with Chinese characteristics': are the motivations behind China's FTAs different from those of other countries? The research presented in this paper finds that China's FTA policymaking process involves a lot of bargaining and is particularly affected by the relative weakening of liberalizing forces vis-a-vis protectionist ones after the WTO accession. Moreover, the effectiveness of economic diplomacy is affected by coordination problems between economic and political sections within the government. Although China has a few motivations that go beyond what drives other countries to FTAs, those expectations are either difficult to realize or not very useful even if realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the evolution and structure of Russian-Chinese trade since the early 1990s to our day. The issues it examines include cooperation between the two countries in the areas of investment and energy, and possible ways to remove barriers blocking it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade regionalism, through regional cooperation and integration and in the form of regional trade agreements (R.T.As), is rising globally, although Asia has jumped on the bandwagon only recently. Asian economic integration is the "second-best" approach which Asian countries unfortunately have to follow. In the process of integration, China and India, given the size of their populations, as well as their central strategic position in international and regional relations, will inevitably play fundamentally important, and sometimes even dominating, roles. This paper argues that regional economic integration in Asia should first of all seek to achieve sub-regional integration in East Asia and South Asia, while linking up the two sub-regions with bilateral F.T.As, amongst which the most important one should be a China-India F.T.A. Eventually, all the F.T.As will be consolidated into one pan-Asian F.T.A. China and India must take the lead in promoting Asian economic integration. They are advised to lead the region in the practice of open regionalism (with whatever Asian identity) and conduct deeper integration. Lastly, it is suggested that Asian countries should, at this stage, establish an institution to develop (non-binding) common principles and guidelines for the sub-regional and bilateral F.T.As. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sino-US agreement regarding China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in late 1999 came as a surprise to many observers. How and why did the Chinese reach the agreement in view of the impasses in the negotiation that occurred earlier in the year? These impasses included the collapse of the WTO talks during Zhu's visit to the USA in April, the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May, and the deadlock between the Chinese and US negotiators in November. Drawing on published sources as well as experts' insights, this paper examines the Chinese leadership's decision-making process and its reasons for concluding the agreement. It suggests that the exclusive decision-making circle of top Chinese leaders circumvented the opposition to the agreement and facilitated the negotiations. These leaders, especially Jiang and Zhu, favoured an agreement because they believed WTO membership could improve China's international relations, trade conditions, the outcomes of reform at home, and China's leverage over Taiwan. The closed decision making on the WTO also left the Chinese leaders with a challenging task: educating officials and the population about the WTO rules and possible impacts while ensuring that they abide by the rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fairly recent start of housing reform since the late 1990s, China has transformed rapidly from a country dominated by public rents to a country with one of the highest homeownership rates. As China has experienced tremendous international trade growth during this period, this paper investigates whether and how export expansion may affect homeownership at the county level, combining China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) with an instrument of regional export. It is found that export expansion has a negative impact on homeownership and a positive effect on housing space per resident. In addition, these impacts are more significant among households with lower income, younger ages, employed status, and local hukou. Empirical evidence also implies that income inequality, the influx of migrants, and housing affordability are the main channels through which export expansion may affect homeownership. • China's export expansion is examined as a heterogeneous shock to households, including their income growth, migration decisions, employment, and investment behaviors. • County export values and other county-level variables in the 2011 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) are combined for the study. • Export expansion has a negative impact on homeownership, but has a positive effect on housing space per resident of owner-occupied housings. • Heterogeneous analyses show that theses effects are more pronounced among households with higher incomes, younger heads, employed heads, and local hukou. • Income inequality, the influx of migrants, and housing affordability are the main channels through which export expansion may affect homeownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon-emission transfer between two representative developing economies - China and Africa - behind the international trade has aroused quite a few controversies, which have not been fully estimated and understood yet. In this paper, the Multiregional Input-Output (MRIO) method is applied to the participants of Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) from the global perspective to reveal the roles both China and Africa have played in the global supply chain as either the original emitter or the final consumer, and to depict the evolution pattern of carbon transfer via Sino-Africa trade from the year 2000–2015. The findings are as follows: 1) China has played the role of net exporter of embodied carbon-emission in Sino-Africa trade, for the amount of emitted carbon China had born yet resulted by consumption in Africa well surpassed that vice versa. 2) Compared to the carbon-emission flows embodied in EU-Africa and US-Africa trades, China has shouldered more carbon-emission derived from Africa's consumption. 3) The sectoral contribution and intensities of embodied carbon-emission correspond to the trading pattern between China and Africa, which stems from the two parties' comparative advantages and economic complementarity. 4) The intensities of embodied carbon-emission on both sides are declining towards a rosy prospect, which indicates an improving carbon-emission efficiency of both economies. From a global perspective, both China and Africa play a positive part in carbon-emission reduction. The results in this study can facilitate low-carbon and high-efficiency trading link between the two economies. • Historical trend of embodied carbon transfer between China-Africa Forum participants is explored. • Carbon-emission in China related to Africa's consumption well surpassed that vice versa. • Sino-Africa trade has relieved the carbon-emission pressure on Africa's economic development. • Sectoral contribution of embodied carbon-emission reflects the complementarity between China and Africa. • Embodied carbon-emission intensities of both China and Africa have declined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]