Sustainable China Trade Strategy Project

The document argues that China's reliance on resource-intensive, low-tech exports has created an environmental reputation that now acts as an economic liability. It analyzes the impact of Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures from the EU, US, and Japan, noting significant financial losses in the mechanical, electrical, textile, and agricultural sectors. The paper highlights the rise of private voluntary standards (such as ISO 14001 and HACCP) as de facto conditions of sale and recommends that the Chinese government strengthen its domestic standards regime, improve information dissemination to exporters, and foster partnerships with the private sector to transition toward a sustainable trade model.

• China's economic growth has led to severe environmental degradation, which is now viewed as an economic liability that threatens the nation's international competitiveness and the 'Brand China' image.
• China's traditional trade model is inconsistent with sustainable development because it relies heavily on high-energy-consumption exports and imports of semi-finished products that require polluting processing.
• Foreign Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) cause substantial financial losses to Chinese exporters; in 2006, direct damage was US$35.92 billion, representing 3.71 per cent of total export value.
• The mechanical and electrical sector is the most affected by TBTs in terms of added costs, with direct damage reaching US$8.7 billion in 2006.
• The textile industry suffered severe direct damage from TBTs, with losses rising from US$1.17 billion in 2002 to US$29.87 billion in 2005.
• Agricultural exports are widely influenced by TBT and SPS measures; in 2006, 90 per cent of the sector was affected, resulting in direct losses of US$14 billion.
• Private international standards are becoming de facto conditions of sale; for example, ISO 14001 certifications in China grew from 100 in 1999 to 30,489 by November 2007.
• Chinese export firms face significant barriers to overcoming TBTs, with the most prominent being a lack of funds (50.7%) and unavailability of information on changing regulations (43.7%).
• The document suggests that adopting stringent environmental standards can lead to higher market values and production efficiencies, refuting the 'race to the bottom' theory.

APA

Lixin, Y., Morrison, J., Ling, Y., & Qiner, J. (2010). Sustainable China Trade Strategy Project. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_standards_sd_trade_strategy.pdf

Chicago

Lixin, Yu, Jason Morrison, Yu Ling, and Jiang Qiner. Sustainable China Trade Strategy Project. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_standards_sd_trade_strategy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lixin |first1=Yu |last2=Morrison |first2=Jason |last3=Ling |first3=Yu |last4=Qiner |first4=Jiang |title=Sustainable China Trade Strategy Project |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=January 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_standards_sd_trade_strategy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lixin2010sustainable, author = {Lixin, Yu and Morrison, Jason and Ling, Yu and Qiner, Jiang}, title = {{Sustainable China Trade Strategy Project}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_standards_sd_trade_strategy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }