《China Strategy for FTA Political Battle in the Name of Trade》.pdf
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China’s Strategy for Free Trade Agreements:
Political Battle in the Name of Trade
(Working draft. All Comments are welcome)
∗
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 benefits of the countries in the region, it is
very important to understand China’s FTA strategy. This article 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.
I. Overview of China’s FTAs
While China adopted the export-oriented development model when it started the economic reform
in late 70s, 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 70s and 80s, there
was little interest in the FTAs. It was only in the early 90s 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 90s. In
particular, Asian countries lags behind their European and American counterparts when its comes
to FTAs. Thus, even if China were interested in FTAs then, it would have difficulty finding
negotiating partners.
The second reason is the different trade structure of China. When China first started the economic
∗ Associate Professor, School of Law, Singapore Man
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