China’s policy on free trade agreements needs to balance between multiple interests
Free trade agreements (FTAs) have been an important channel through which China pursued economic benefits with selected partners in selected sectors and expanded its economic relations beyond the WTO. They have also been handy tools for Beijing’s diplomatic objectives. The book chapter ‘China’s Policy on Free Trade Agreements', by DIIS Senior Researcher Yang Jiang, provides an overview of China’s activities in forming FTAs, and analyzes how China’s FTA policy has changed over time since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. Through examples of China’s key FTAs, this chapter demonstrates how the Chinese leadership has sought to balance between national political and economic interests as well as between domestic and international interests in formulating its FTA policy. Such balancing acts have not proven easy, given China’s multiple objectives and diverse domestic interests.
The book chapter is included in Handbook on the International Political Economy of China edited by Ka Zeng at University of Arkansas, USA with contributions from leading international scholars. It is a much-needed reference for students and scholars of Chinese foreign policy, international political economy and Asian studies.
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