Changing patterns of Chinese policy-making on regionalism

Abstract

China is increasingly active in regional cooperation, known as regionalism. This change has been catalyzed by the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98, supported by China's economic power and guided by national economic and political needs. Debates abound on whether China's rise is a threat or an opportunity for other Asian countries or for the world, although little research has been conducted on the policymaking for China's regional economic cooperation or economic diplomacy in general. This paper examines to what extent the trends of professionalization, corporate pluralization, decentralization and globalization (identified in Lampton 2001) from 1978-2000, exist in its policymaking on regional trade cooperation from 1978 to 2000. In this article, 'fragmentation' is used to integrate corporate pluralization and decentralization, as they are horizontal and vertical forms of fragmentation. This study therefore contributes to the understanding of China's 'post-WTO' foreign economic policy, economic diplomacy and its 'good-neighbour' diplomacy mulin waijiao.