Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of shrnkng markets n the East Asan economes due to the Asan economc
crss but surged agan n 2000 2 wth the economc recovery under way n
the Asian economies. Imports declined substantially in the first half of the
1980s, followed by the first wave of growth in the second half of the 1980s.
Imports declined again in the early years of the 1990s but surged from 1993
and peaked n 1995 when total mports reached US$12 bllon. Total exports
of agrcultural products have exceeded mports n value terms for most years
during the period. As a result, the value of net exports for the agricultural
sector has been postve and growng for most of the perod.
To investigate the structural changes in China's agricultural trade,
agrcultural products are dvded nto seven categores: bulk agrcultural
products; animal products as food; non-food animal products; fishery
products; hortculture products; drnkng and tobacco products; other
miscellaneous products. Figures 3.2 and 3.3 report exports and imports,
respectively, of the seven categories of agricultural products over the
period 1981-99.
On the export side, fishery and horticultural products (vegetables
and fruts n partcular) showed remarkable growth momentum over the
period. On the import side, bulk agricultural products such as grain and
oil-bearing products held by far the largest share. From the perspective
of the food trade, the basic structural features shown by the data present
a noticeable 'food for food pattern'. As argued by Lu (1998), the most
compettve Chnese agrcultural products n the nternatonal market
tend to derve from labour-ntensve actvtes whereas those lackng
compettveness are usually land-ntensve products. The evdence suggests
that the evoluton and structure of Chna's agrcultural trade are consstent
with the economic principle that links the structure of the trade flows with
underlyng comparatve advantage and therefore to factor endowments
among the dfferent economes.
The settng for agrcultural lberalsaton
The combination of the factors briefly overviewed above present the
settng for assessng the mpact of Chna's WTO accesson on ts agrcultural
sector and its food policies. First, China is currently experiencing dynamic
growth and has benefited enormously from market-oriented reform as well
Search WWH ::




Custom Search