Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11.8 Share of China's agricultural imports by factor intensity of
production, 1992-2001 and 2002-2005 (per cent)
70
65
1992-2001
2002-2005
60.6
60
50
39.4
40
35
30
20
10
0
Labour-intensive
Land-intensive
Sources
: Author's calculaton. Data from 1992 to 2004 are from Unted Natons Statstcs
Division,
Commodity Trade Statistics Database
, COMTRADE. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/
comtrade/default.aspx. Data for 2005 are from Chna General Admnstraton of Customs
(various issues, 2005).
Zhongguo Haiguan Tongji Yuebao
[China Customs Statistical
Monthly Report], Zhongguo Haiguan Chubanshe, Beijing.
Changes in revealed comparative advantage in China's
agriculture following WTO accession
The above secton showed that Chna's agrcultural trade has moved n
line with its resource endowments, exporting mainly labour-intensive
products and mportng manly land-ntensve products. Ths trade pattern
has been strengthened since WTO accession. However, have there been
any changes n Chna's comparatve advantage n agrculture as revealed
by ts nternatonal agrcultural trade performance?
It is difficult if not impossible to measure a country's comparative
advantage drectly. The most common ndrect approach s the prncple
of revealed comparatve advantage (RCA) proposed by Balassa (1965).
It s argued that snce ts trade s generated by a country's underlyng
comparative advantage, data on exports and imports can be used to infer
