国贸毕业外文文献及其翻译.doc

国贸毕业外文文献及其翻译.doc

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China’sCompetitivePerformance:

AThreatToEastAsianManufacturedExports?

ThereisgrowingconcerninSoutheastandEastAsiaaboutthecompetitivethreatposedbyChina’sburgeoningexports,exacerbatedbyitsaccessiontotheWTO.Thethreatisnotconfinedtolabor-intensiveproductsbutspansthewholetechnologicalandskillrange.Atthesametime,Chinaisrapidlyraisingitsimportsfromtheregion,anditisnotclearwhetheritsburgeoningexportswilldamageitsneighbors.WeexaminethedimensionsofChina’scompetitivethreatinthe1990s,benchmarkingcompetitiveperformancebytechnologyandmarket,andfindsthatmarketsharelossesaresofarmainlyinlowtechnologyproducts,withJapanbeingthemostvulnerablemarket.Weanalyzemarketsharechangesandhighlightproductgroupsthataredirectlyorindirectlyexposedtoacompetitivethreat.Weexamineintra-regionaltradeandfindthatChinaanditsneighborsareraisinghightechnologyexportsintandem:

thenatureoftheinternationalproductionsystemsinvolvedleadtocomplementarilyratherthanconfrontation.Chinaisthusactingasanengineofexportgrowthforitsneighborsintermsofdirecttrade.However,thiswillchangeasChinamovesupthevaluechainandtakesontheactivitiesthathavedrivenEastAsianexportgrowth.

Introduction

ConcernaboutChina’scompetitivethreatiswidespread（indevelopedeconomieslikeUSaswellasdevelopingoneslikeMexico）,butisstrongestinEastandSoutheastAsia.China’sburgeoningexports–backedbycheapandproductivelabor,alargestockoftechnicalmanpower,hugeanddiversifiedindustrialsector,attractivenesstoforeigninvestors,pragmaticuseofindustrialpolicy,and,now,freeraccesstoworldmarketsunderWTO–leadtoapocalypticvisionsofexportlosses.2Chinaismostthreateningtoneighborsthatrelyprimarilyonlowwagesfortheirexportadvantage.However,asitupgradesitsexportstructure,themoreadvancedeconomies（Singapore,HongKong,KoreaandTaiwan）alsofearfortheircompetitiveness.Thecurrenthollowingoutoftheirlow-endmanufacturingmaysoonextendtocomplexproduction,design,developmentandrelatedservices.DomesticmarketsarealsothreatenedbyChina,butsofarmostattentionseemstohavebeenonexports.

OffsettingthisthreatarethepromiseofthegiantChinesemarket（WTOaccessionisonlyoneofseveralinitiativestoliberalizeregionaltrade）andthepotentialforcollaborationwithitinexportingtotherestoftheworld.TradewithintheEastAsianregionisflourishing.Chinaisagrowingimporterfromtheregionofnaturalresourcesthatitdoesnotpossess.Itisalsoraisingimportsofmanufacturedproducts.Itsadvancedneighborsaresellingitsophisticatedconsumerandproducergoods,andusingitasabaseforprocessingexportstothirdcountries.Themultinationalcompanies（MNCs）thatnowaccountforaroundhalfofChineseexports（andfarmoreofitshightechnologyexports,UNCTAD,2002）areincorporatingChinaintoproductionsystemsspanningtheregion（‘fragmentation’and‘segmentation’areusedtodescribethisphenomenon3）,sopromotingconsiderableintra-firmtradewithotherregionalbases.China’sownenterprisesarelikelytospecializewithrespecttoregionalcounterpartsandsoraiseintra-industrytradeindifferentiatedproducts.Perhapsworryinglyforcompetitorsinotherregions,suchintegrationcanleadChinatocomplementregionalcompetitivenessasawhole,ratherthansubstituteitsexportsforthoseofitsneighbors.

Itisdifficulttoassess,however,whethercomplementarilybetweenChinaandtheregionaleconomieswillfullyoffsetitscompetitivethreat.Thedynamicsandcomplexityoftheinteractionsmakeitimpossibletoquantifytheoutcome,eventopredictbroaddirections.ThebasicissueiswhetherChina’shigherwageneighborscanmoveintomoreadvancedexportactivitiesorfunctionsrapidlyenoughtopermitcontinuedexportexpansion.Iftheycan,theycancontinuewithexport-ledgrowth.Iftheycannot,theywillsufferexportdecelerationand/orashiftinspecializationtowardsprimaryproductsorslow-growingsegmentsofmanufacturedexports.Theoutcome,inotherwords,willdependontherelativegrowthoftechnologicalandothercapabilitiesinChineseandregionalenterprises,withtheformerhavingsuchadvantagesaslowerwages,largerscaleeconomies,greaterindustrialdepth,poolsoftechnicalskillandaproactivegovernment.However,asEastAsiancountriesdifferwidelyinthesefactors（Lall,2001）,theyfacedifferentkindsandintensityofcompetitivethreat.Thenatureofthethreatdepends,moreover,ontheorganizationoftheproductionandmarketingsystem:

independentlocalfirmsarelikelytocompetemoredirectlythanaffiliatesofthesameMNCspreadoverdifferentcountriesinanintegratedsystem.

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