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The paper reviews the World Trade Organization's analysis of developments in China's trade policy during 2012-14. The review overlaps with the continuing Great Recession and with China's determination to foster a sustainable rate of economic growth. Developments in the country's trade policy include the launching of the Shanghai pilot free trade zone. China faces a series of trade policy-related challenges including the complex process necessary to internationalise the renminbi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economic development since 1978 is one of the most significant events in recent history. Many aspects of this development have been extensively analyzed in the published literature. However, the implications of China's growth for other countries have been relatively neglected. The present paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature. The paper first presents some facts on China's role in the world economy, and then measures the impact of China's growth on growth in the rest of the world in both the short term and the long term. Short-run estimates based on vector autoregression and error correction models suggest that spillover effects of China's growth have increased in recent decades. Long-term spillover effects, estimated through growth regressions based on panel data, are also significant and have extended in recent decades beyond Asia. The estimates are robust to the effects of global and regional shocks, changes in model specification, and sample period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is a commentary on Chia S.Y. and Sussangkarn's "The economic rise of China: Challenges and opportunities for ASEAN." The paper focuses on the relation between China, as an economic giant and the ASEAN countries. Referring to the ASEAN-China Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, concluded in 2002, the writers present a thorough discussion of the Sino-ASEAN relation on purely economic terms.

Traditionally, China and North Korea have been described as 'blood brothers' because of their common socialist ideological ground. Since 2000 the basis of their relationship has shifted from one-sided economic support by China into strategic and mutual cooperation. In this paper, we analyse changes in their relationship by examining two specific points: first, China's growing investment and trade in North Korea, and second, close linkages of regional development strategies between the two countries. While the prevalent discussions around North Korea and its relations with China concentrate on geopolitical issues, this research shed more light on geoeconomic engagement between China and North Korea. This paper argues that it is crucial to grasp how China and North Korea perform geoeconomic calculations toward each other and how this affects geopolitical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts, through a comparative analysis, to assess the significance of foreign direct investment to the growth and development of both China and India, from the period following the introduction of economic reform programmes, to the last few years. It suggests that foreign direct investment (FDI) has had a significant positive bearing on the Chinese economy and a considerably more moderate effect on that of India. This discrepancy is attributed, in particular, to the composition and nature of FDI, and the institutional framework within which FDI is received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Africa's foremost 'emerging market' Angola is receiving increasing recognition for its oil wealth, leading to attempts to engage it as a strategic partner, especially amongst the 'rising powers'. In particular, there has been considerable escalation in development cooperation between Angola and China recently, though relatively little is known about the precise terms of this 'partnership' despite China's key role in Angola's post-conflict reconstruction. The growing importance of Chinese credit lines and increasing presence of Chinese corporate agencies across Angolan territory raise important questions about development, poverty reduction and inequality; governance and labour relations; and Angola's institutional capacity and the social structure of its cities. This paper critically examines the specific outcomes of Angola's 'partnership' with China along with the hybrid conceptions and tangled geographies of 'development' produced as a result. In particular, it seeks to interrogate the visions of Angola's future articulated by the Angolan state and the reference points and 'models' of development that they draw upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil-rich Arab countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have rapidly expanded their economic relations with Asian countries recently, particularly China and India. The main reason behind this development is that the regions complement each other in several dimensions. China and India are the fastest-growing, oil-consuming nations in the world, while GCC countries have the largest proven deposits of oil and gas. The GCC is interested in China and India as reliable oil customers over the long-run and the latter look at the GCC as reliable suppliers of oil and gas. The two regions are also attracted to each other because both are enjoying strong economic growth and offer many investment opportunities to the other. It is expected that GCC economic relations with China and India will grow stronger in the coming decades and serve as a good example of South-South economic cooperation for other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the effects of regional integration in Laos, with a focus on China. Laos has recorded impressive growth over the past decade but remains one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. The paper examines Laos' position within the region and traces changes in its situation, particularly its evolving relationship with China, by analysing its changing trade and investment relationships with China and the two other important neighbours, Thailand and Vietnam. The paper draws implications about what these changes will mean for Laos' development trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study empirically focuses on examining the hypotheses of export premium (exporters are more productive than non-exporters), selection-into-exporting (more productive firms are ones that tend to become exporters) and learning-by-exporting (new export market entrants have higher productivity growth than non-exporters in the post-entry period). The propensity score matching method is used to adjust for observable differences of firm characteristics between exporters and non-exporters, allowing an adequate 'like-for-like' comparison. We also use the difference-in-difference matching estimator to capture the magnitude of different productivity growth between matched new export market entrants and non-exporters in the post-entry period up to two years. Drawing on 2,340 Chinese firms in the period 2000-02, we find evidence for export premium and self-selection, and once the firm has entered the export market there is additional productivity growth from the learning effect, in particular in the second year after entry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of the economic relationship between the two most important economies in Asia. Over the last decades, the Chinese and Japanese economies have become more economically interdependent, a development which will, in the long run, impact the countries' political relationship. The paper seeks to answer the question: How can China and Japan gain from the current economic situation, further enhance their relationship and increase their synergies for regional economic development? Data on trade and Foreign Direct Investment are used in combination with primary data from interviews with Japanese and Chinese companies on how they perceive the current business situation and future potential. The result of the data analysis shows that the countries have much to gain from their economic interdependence. The firms see great potential in their respective markets but are concerned about political turbulence. Three possible scenarios for the future economic relationship are presented, including fierce competition on all markets and a leveraging of resources for mutual development between Chinese and Japanese companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its role as a driver of global economic growth through the 1970s, in recent decades the rise of China has seen the international importance of Japan's economic performance recede from the public discourse. This is notwithstanding its continuing key role as economic partner to both industrial and developing countries and changes in its economic performance that would otherwise be a matter for global concern. In particular, the tendency for the Japanese economy and its external trade to stagnate not only has immediate consequences for global performance but also foreshadows a path to industrial transition for other key Asian economies. This paper reviews quantitative studies of Japan's performance. It identifies a paucity of results addressing global implications and suggests new research in this direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, China's rapid economic growth has become a hot topic for politicians and intellectuals in Iran. Iranian views on China and its development model are ambiguous and contradictory, despite exponential growth in trade between the two countries. Three broad views have emerged in Iran about the Chinese way of progress. The pragmatic moderates advocate rapid economic development while keeping tight political control, which is broadly known as the China model. Two other political factions have ambivalent views on China. Hardliners focus on the Islamic‐Iranian Model of Progress but also admire some aspects of China's policies, especially its opposition to unilateralism in international affairs. Political reforms and social freedom are central to reformists' views. On this ground, reformists are uncomfortable with the China model. During the Covid‐19 pandemic, China's aid diplomacy in Iran and critical remarks by an Iranian health authority about China provided a pretext for a more open debate about Sino–Iranian relations, in general, and the China model, in particular. The range of views expressed on the matter confirms our assessment that there is a wide gap between political camps in relation to the applicability of the China model to Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to rapid economic growth in the twentieth century, Korea suffered a long economic decline in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with the failure accelerating from 1850 to 1890. According to 36 different harvest records, rice productivity continuously declined from the early eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries due to deforestation and increase in natural disasters. Contraction of rural markets after the interruption of trade with Japan also contributed to the decrease in rice production. The third reason for the nineteenth-century crisis was the dissolution of the government-led grain storage and redistribution system. Finally, the ultimate culprit for the crisis could be found in Confucianism with which the Joseon Dynasty was unable to properly understand and respond to the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite rapid economic growth, the numbers living in absolute poverty in Africa have grown. China's rapidly expanding presence in Africa is widely considered to be a prime source of this unequalization. However, at the same time, its presence also supports countervailing and unrecognized processes of equalization, although this varies by country, class, gender and age grouping. China has the capacity to help Africa move to a more sustainable and less unequal growth path by providing low-cost consumer and capital goods, new market opportunities which can be accessed by small-scale producers and new, more appropriate capital goods. Taking advantage of the China-induced commodities price boom to promote more equal patterns of growth will depend on the capacity of African actors to promote linkages effectively. The extent to which Africa is able to take advantage of opportunities opened up by China to move to a new, more inclusive growth path will largely be determined by political developments in Africa. But these political dynamics are not independent of China's increasing economic and political footprint, both globally and in its direct relations with Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods monetary order in 1971, the US dollar has successfully maintained its global hegemony despite the US's declining share in the global economy, thanks largely to the US's political-military supremacy. The recent rise of China poses a serious dilemma to the US. On the one hand, China's export-oriented development has provided the US with low-cost manufactured imports and cheap credit. On the other hand, the US's expanding current account deficit, largely attributable to China, has precipitated a crisis of confidence over the dollar's long-term viability. This dilemma explains the US's vacillation in its currency conflict with China over the last decade. China has also been caught in a dilemma. While keeping its currency cheap could help sustain its export competitiveness, it would deepen China's dependence on the US market and Treasury bonds as an outlet for its expanding current account surplus. On the other hand, while a RMB revaluation would facilitate China's long overdue economic rebalancing and reduce its dependence on the US, the resulting unravelling of the long-entrenched export-oriented growth could generate large-scale economic dislocation. No matter how this currency conflict is settled, its final resolution will determine the future of the dollar's global hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Latin American Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Latin American Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article reports that South Africa has been formally invited to join the group of emerging economies called BRIC, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Experts believe that the accession of South Africa is in consideration of the group's economic interest in Africa. Critics noted the sluggish economic growth of the country compared with the economies of the original members. Bilateral trade between China and South Africa has also rapidly grown.

Africa's external relations are currently undergoing major changes. Non-traditional state actors like China and India are reviving their ties with African economies and thereby affecting power relations between African states and traditional partners. Meanwhile, high commodity prices and improved credit ratings make external finance available for African governments. This article examines how non-traditional state actors affect the possibility of African governments setting and funding their own development priorities. It argues that while the current situation may increase the policy autonomy for African economies this is largely a consequence of the increased availability of external finance - and not just from non-traditional state actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current debate over China's rise and the future of international primacy is polarized between two prevalent views: one foresees China becoming the world's largest economy and taking over the position of international primacy from the United States, whereas the other believes that the Chinese economy will falter as a result of structural imbalances and China will not become a superpower. Both predictions miss the mark. This study argues that notwithstanding the political will to rebalance the economy, China will continue to follow an investment-intensive growth path, and despite the structural imbalances, this path will still be able to lead to Chinese economic primacy. But sheer economic size is not a good indicator of hard power. Using an organic combination of wealth and productivity as an indicator of hard power, the article shows how close the power competition between China and the United States will likely be and that Beijing may not be able to surpass Washington as a superpower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of economic development have yet to fully explain the remarkable ascendance of China in the global economy. From the standpoint of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), China's reform trajectory looks nothing like the market-based policies adopted in varying degrees in the early 1990s. Rather, China's transformation has been a lesson in experimentation with various policy combinations. This raises key questions concerning how the LAC region can best contend with China's growing presence in its markets. Whereas Mexico and Central America face stiff competition from China in low and intermediate technology-based industries (textiles, electronics, auto parts), South America has experienced vibrant growth since 2002 led by raw material exports to China, but at the expense of manufacturing exports. This article analyzes new patterns of complementarity and competition in the China–LAC relationship, and it highlights the need for a more targeted competition policy on the part of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the significance of giving up the dollar peg of China. The market pressure for a currency appreciation is determined by the increasingly large Chinese trade and account surpluses. Several studies revealed that the rapid and sustained economic growth of the country implies that the equilibrium real exchange rate is appreciating over time and that the renminbi is grossly undervalued. It is suggested that the actual nominal appreciation is required to allow the real exchange rate to move toward its equilibrium value without causing higher inflation. The various risks for its economy from the continuation of the currency regime are also provided.

The effect of increasing openness on real output growth in China is examined. The framework of analysis is a regression model that uses time-series data for each province. For east coastal provinces, increasing openness is found to have positive effects on real output growth, and some of the effects are statistically significant. The results appear to be broadly consistent with the new growth theories that openness enhances long-run growth through its impact on technological improvement. However, inland provinces in China have been isolated from world trade for several decades and their economies devastated. An increased openness in these provinces is found to have, in most cases, negative effects on real output growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various topics within the issue on topics including China's economic relations, the economic development in China, and the importance of energy sources in the country.

The article reports that the China-Africa Development Fund worth $5bn, which is noted by Beijing as an economic assistance, will be utilized for Chinese enterprises and its projects for Africa. Relative to this, development experts believes that this tying aid to purchasing services and goods from the donor country is inefficient and wasteful while majority of the donor governments have been abandoning it because they that tying aid minimizes its effectiveness by as much as a quarter. On the other hand, most of the aid assistance of Beijing to Africa requires the construction of infrastructure and other contracts to be divided up.

The article reports on the aid and trade relation between European Union (EU) and Africa to counter China in the quest for energy and other resources. It aims to position Europe more favorably than China in terms of economic growth. The comment from the European Commission on EU's partnership with Africa is stated. In relation, it also offers information on the EU-Africa summit to be held in December in Lisbon, Portugal, wherein efforts to improve control of African migration to Europe and human trafficking will be discussed.