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Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative, many studies have analysed Beijing's geoeconomic diplomacy. However, analysis has principally focused on the investment and financial aspects, ignoring the strategic dimensions of military technology exports and the means of financing them. This paper seeks to fill this scholarship gap by critically exploring Chinese defence countertrade deals, especially barter and offset, as a component of geoeconomic diplomacy. The findings suggest that while China's geoeconomic diplomacy reflects traditional Western mercantilist goals, it also displays uniquely Chinese characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US withdrawal from the nuclear deal and its ratcheting up of sanctions aimed to cut Iran's oil revenues virtually to zero by reducing trade between Tehran and its top foreign customers, especially China. This article examines the dynamics of the Sino‐Iranian oil business and finds that the Chinese have never terminated their imports; instead, when Beijing cannot deal with Tehran directly, it continues the flow through subterranean methods. This practice holds some benefits for both sides, but the Iranian economy has become highly dependent on bartering with the East Asian power: exporting crude and receiving part of the revenues in Chinese goods and services. The two countries have vowed to keep up the oil trade, as sanctions have led Iran toward a growing economic and technological orientation toward the East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's largest agricultural production country, China has abundant straw resource for bioenergy utilization. Plenty of studies have explored that straw pellet is relatively clean, with lower greenhouse gas as well as air pollutant emissions than coal, whereas how to make it more affordable for low-income rural families is eager for a plausible and practical solution. Therefore, barter mode is proposed as an institutional innovation, and it is working successfully in Meihekou city, Northeast China. Under this mode, rural families can supply 3-ton straw feedstock in return for 1-ton straw pellet. The results from the life cycle assessment illustrate that greenhouse gas emissions from barter mode are remarkably lower than straw pellet in commercial mode and coal heating mode. The economic evaluation indicates that the benefits for the consumer and the producer could be promoted dramatically. In addition, the experiences that how barter mode can work in Meihekou city are summarized systematically. Barter mode gives a unique angle on how to achieve SDG7 (affordable and clean energy) in China, and the experiences and lessons learned are particularly useful for policymakers to alleviate rural energy poverty in developing countries. [Display omitted] • How barter mode can make to achieving affordable and clean energy is discussed. • The conceptualization of barter mode on free pellet for rural families is described. • Life cycle assessment reveals that barter mode can provide relatively clean energy. • Economic evaluation illustrates that the benefits of stakeholders can be promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the main trading partner in Asia and ranks 16th among foreign investors. Romania's interests are summarized in reducing the trade deficit by increasing exports, the Chinese party involvement in large projects mainly in the areas of: infrastructure, energy and agriculture and identify cooperation projects in less traditional areas such as IT, banking environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the economic, social and political impacts of the cooperation between China and Pakistan on the regions of Xinjiang and the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) since 1963. Topics covered include the economic and social instability in GB caused by the increasing Chinese interference in local affairs, the cross-regional barter trade, and the rise of separatists movements. The agreements signed by the countries in 2005 and 2006 for fighting terrorism, separatism and extremism are detailed.

One of the major features of the relations between China and North Korea since the inception of HuJintao's leadership in Beijing has been their rapid expansion of economic exchanges. South Koreans are looking at the expanding economic relations between China and North Korea with growing unease. China's economic exchanges with North Korea will certainly grow in the days ahead, but this will not necessarily be accompanied by an attempt to subordinate the North Korean economy. The continued expansion of China-North Korea economic ties can result in economic institutions and regulations conducive to the opening of North Korea's economy. On the other hand, certain negative factors should not be overlooked. The South Korean government and enterprises should take a "strategic approach" toward North Korea with a broader vision. A strategic approach is different from a market-oriented approach in that the former seeks to build foundations for Korean reunification and counter reactions from neighboring countries. There is no doubt that the first prerequisite for such an approach is unfreezing relations between the two Koreas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the use of Chinese tea bricks as a medium of exchange among Tibetans. It states that the idea of tea production in the form of bricks emerged in response to the problem of transport. It mentions that Arthur de Rosthorn published the best first-hand account regarding the production of tea bricks for the Tibet trade. It adds that tea bricks of Chinese origin are still being used in the markets in central Tibet, China.

Ming–Qing China has been seen as positioned at the very centre of the process of early globalization partly due to China's huge appetite for foreign silver for its own commercialization. The findings of this study challenge this view head on by showing that not only did China not import and use nearly as much foreign silver as commonly imagined, silver moved into and also out of China. It served at best as a secondary currency and often worked on a barter basis. The sector which retained the lion's share was the pawnshop for short-term credit mainly for consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war put China in great financial difficulties, pressing China into asking for military and monetary assistance from the international communities. But without enough foreign currencies for repayment, the Chinese government resorted to barter trade (...), an ancient mode of commodity exchange, which came into full swing as time went by. First with U.S.S.R. and later with the U.S. and U.K., this mode of trading provided loan and assistance to China during the war. In particular, the barter trade with the Soviet Union at the early stage of the war had played a crucial role in the Chinese government's effort in seeking foreign aid to fight against the enemy. This paper focuses on how China supplied goods to U.S.S.R. through barter trade in accordance with the agreement. It examines the produce (such as Chinese wood oil, tea leaves, bristles, raw silk, and wool) that were purchased and distributed as a whole by the Fu Hua Trading Co. (...), China National Tea Co. (...) and the Foo Shing Trading Co. (...) under the purview of the Foreign Trade Commission (...). Drawing on original documents of the aforementioned companies, public archives, and reviewing previous literature, the author discusses in detail the negotiation process and contents between China and U.S.S.R., organization and evolution of the trade committee, the quantity, price, means and routes of transportation of the traded produce. They are followed by an in-depth analysis of the effects and problems of the barter trade between China and U.S.S.R. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the occurrence of barter tourism along the China-Russia border. Definition of barter tourism; Origin and development of barter tourism; Impacts.