What Commercial Policies Can Promote China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy?

The document analyzes how China can align its trade policies with a 'sustainable trade strategy' consisting of five core objectives: rebalancing the economy, increasing added value, promoting services, advancing Chinese brands/IP, and supporting a harmonious international trade architecture. It argues that while macroeconomic tools are best for rebalancing, other goals can be pursued through a mix of reciprocal trade agreements, soft-law initiatives, and unilateral measures. The authors suggest that in the near-to-medium term, China should prioritize regional dialogue-driven measures and soft-law agreements in East Asia, as well as ensuring compatibility with global climate change accords, rather than relying solely on the WTO, where progress is slower.

• China's sustainable trade strategy is defined by five specific objectives: rebalancing the economy away from an unsustainable path, promoting added value over simple sales, prioritizing services over manufacturing, promoting Chinese firms and intellectual property, and supporting a sustainable international trade architecture.
• Traditional reciprocity-based trade agreements may actually conflict with the goal of increasing added value if they focus on eliminating tariffs for low-end manufactured goods, which would incentivize the expansion of low-value-added production.
• The objective of rebalancing the Chinese economy is best addressed through macroeconomic tools and domestic reforms—such as reducing household savings and increasing government infrastructure spending—rather than through commercial trade policies.
• To promote the service sector, China may benefit from progressively and unilaterally liberalizing its own service markets to trigger domestic improvements before locking in these reforms through negotiated multilateral commitments.
• China faces significant challenges from 'green protectionism' and the potential for border tax adjustments in future climate change treaties, which could penalize exporters from high-carbon-emitting countries like China.
• Since 1995, China has been the most targeted country for anti-dumping investigations globally, with one in seven such cases involving China, primarily affecting labour-intensive products.
• China has implemented preferential trade policies for least developed countries (LDCs), including applying zero tariff rates to unfinished goods from LDCs with diplomatic ties, covering 42 such countries by July 2008.
• The authors recommend that China pursue 'soft-law' (non-binding) initiatives with East Asian partners to align regulatory policies, as this avoids the domestic political sensitivity of binding commitments while still improving the environment for Chinese firms.
• China's carbon emissions increased by 131.15% from 1990 to 2005, and by 2007, China had exceeded the United States to become the world's largest carbon emitter, releasing up to 6 billion tonnes.

APA

Jian, L., & Evenett, S. J. (2010). What Commercial Policies Can Promote China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy? International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commercial_policies_china_trade_strategy.pdf

Chicago

Jian, Li, and Simon J. Evenett. What Commercial Policies Can Promote China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy? International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commercial_policies_china_trade_strategy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jian |first1=Li |last2=Evenett |first2=Simon J. |title=What Commercial Policies Can Promote China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy? |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=July 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commercial_policies_china_trade_strategy.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jian2010what, author = {Jian, Li and Evenett, Simon J.}, title = {{What Commercial Policies Can Promote China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy?}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/commercial_policies_china_trade_strategy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }