China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy: An overview

The paper reviews China's rapid growth in foreign trade since 1978, highlighting its shift from primary commodity exports to manufactured goods. It identifies critical challenges, including a high dependence on external energy and resources, low value-added exports due to a lack of intellectual property rights, and increasing trade frictions with partners like the US and EU. The author proposes a 'sustainable trade strategy' based on three pillars: economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Key recommendations include upgrading manufacturing to increase value-added, expanding the service sector, reducing the export of energy-intensive and polluting products, and fostering the growth of Chinese multinational corporations.

• China's foreign trade experienced massive growth between 1978 and 2009, with the total import and export value increasing 106-fold from US$20.60 billion to US$2,207.22 billion.
• The composition of China's exports shifted dramatically from primary commodities, which fell from 54% in 1978 to 5.3% in 2009, to manufactured products, which rose to 94.7%.
• China faces severe resource shortages, with per capita levels of arable land and fresh water being only one-third and one-quarter of the world's averages, respectively.
• International trade has contributed to China's environmental pressure through the relocation of energy- and resource-intensive industries and the import of foreign waste, which grew to 17.5 million tons in 2000.
• China has become a primary target for trade frictions; from 1995 to 2008, anti-dumping actions against Chinese parties accounted for 19.8% of the world's total.
• Despite the volume of high-tech exports, many Chinese products have low value-added due to a lack of intellectual property rights (IPRs) and brands; for example, the value-added rate in processing trade was only 37% in 2006.
• Technical barriers to trade (TBT) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) have caused significant losses; in 2005, 18 of 22 major product categories suffered direct losses valued at US$69.1 billion.
• China's dependence on imported petroleum is rising, with import dependence increasing from 24.8% in 2000 to 51.3% in 2009, and is projected to reach nearly 60% by 2020.
• The proposed sustainable trade strategy rests on three pillars: economic sustainability, social sustainability, and environmental sustainability.
• To achieve environmental sustainability, China aims to reduce the export of energy-guzzling and polluting products, which were valued at US$88.2 billion in 2006.
• China's trade in services has lagged behind trade in goods, recording a trade deficit of US$28.8 billion in 2009.

APA

Long, G. (2010). China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy: An overview. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_sustainable_trade_strategy.pdf

Chicago

Long, Guoqiang. China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy: An overview. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_sustainable_trade_strategy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Long |first1=Guoqiang |title=China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy: An overview |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=May 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_sustainable_trade_strategy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{long2010chinas, author = {Long, Guoqiang}, title = {{China’s Sustainable Trade Strategy: An overview}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = may, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/china_sustainable_trade_strategy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }