Working Paper: NBER ID: w12759
Authors: Robert Z. Lawrence
Abstract: This paper reviews China's multilateral and preferential trade policies. It reviews the demanding terms of China's WTO accession, its current tariff and trade regime and its participation in the Doha Round negotiations and the institution's regular activities. The analysis concludes that China's trade policies are broadly supportive of a rules based multilateral trading order and its behavior at the WTO is that of a status quo power rather than one seeking major systemic changes. The discussion then turns to China's regional trade initiatives. China has been extremely active in negotiating these and their implications remain uncertain. Concerns about an East Asian fortress, though, appear misplaced. Directly, and through their impact in inducing others to respond, these FTAs could provide a powerful impetus to the process of competitive global liberalization. Countries that do implement agreements with China will find it relatively easy to open their markets to other developing countries. There is also a risk however that the proliferation of FTAs will lead to web of overlapping agreements that could make the trading system unnecessarily complex
Keywords: China; Multilateral Trading System; WTO; Trade Policies; Regional Trade Initiatives
JEL Codes: F13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| China's trade policies (F13) | rules-based multilateral trading order (F13) |
| China's accession to the WTO (F13) | stability of the global trading system (F02) |
| FTAs (F15) | competitive global liberalization (F69) |
| FTAs with China (F15) | opening markets to other developing nations (F63) |
| Proliferation of FTAs (F15) | complexity of trading system (C69) |