Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area: A Dilemma for China

作     者：Bin Sheng 

作者机构：Institute of International Economics Nankai University Tianjin China 

出 版 物：《China & World Economy》 (中国与世界经济（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2007年第15卷第5期

页      面：38-49页

核心收录：

学科分类：02[经济学] 0202[经济学-应用经济学] 03[法学] 0302[法学-政治学] 020206[经济学-国际贸易学] 030206[法学-国际政治] 020202[经济学-区域经济学] 

基　　金：The paper is a revised version based on the contribution to the APEC/ABAC/PECC Project on "The Feasibility of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific" (2006) 

主　　题：APEC Asia-Pacific free trade area China political economy 

摘      要：The Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area （FTAAP） has become a topic of focus since the proposal was first raised in 2004. The present paper considers China＇s policy towards the FTAAP from apolitical economy perspective by probing the gains, impediments and concerns for China, and makes judgments based on several possible scenarios. The author argues that from an economic perspective, China would benefit from joining the FTAAP both in a static and a dynamic manner because both its main trade partners and trade barriers in export markets are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region. However, whether the Chinese Government is likely to support the initiative is largely dependent on certain crucial political and diplomatic elements, including the APEC approach, US-Chinese relations, quality of treaty, sensitive sectors, competitive proposal of alternative and membership of Chinese Taipei. Therefore, if the Chinese Government cannot ratify the ideology and terms of the initiative, or issues that are central to China＇s interests are not addressed, the FTAAP will only remain a proposal possessing economic possibility in the long run, without political feasibility in the near term.