Policy Options for China＇s Bio-ethanol Development and the Implications for Its Agricultural Economy

The present paper analyzes the potential impacts of bio-ethanol expansion on agricultural production, food prices and farmers＇ incomes in different regions of China. The results show that increase in demand for feedstock to produce bio-ethanol will lead to large increase in the prices of agricultural products. The increase in prices will trigger a significant rise in the production of feedstock at the cost of lower rice and wheat production. The study also reveals that the impacts of bio-ethanol on farmers＂ incomes vary largely among regions and farmer groups. Given the expected expansion of bio-ethanol production in the future, and the limited land resources for feedstock production in China, the viability of different crops as feedstock for bio-ethanol requires careful analysis before a large-scale expansion of China＇s bio-ethanol program. Bio-ethanol production in China should be relying more on the second generation of bio-ethanol technologies （i.e. using celluloses to produce bio-ethanol）, and China＇s government should increase research investment in this field.     

Opportunities and Policy Suggestions for the Sustainable Development of Chinese Agriculture in 21^st Century

After China entry into WTO, agriculture of our country faces rare opportunity and severe challenge, This paper analyzes five kinds of new opportunities that agriculture of our country will meet from the new century in the angle of prominent problems during developing agriculture and puts forward the counter measure choice and policy suggestion that propel agriculture of our country to develop sustainable.     

Are China‘s Trade Policies Effective？

I. IntroductionSince economic reform and an opening-up in 1978, the Chinese government has decentralized its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) system in the centrally planned economy. The separation of government administration and enterprise management is moving China toward a market-oriented economy, forcing Chinese enterprises to become more competitive and more efficient. Market forces of supply and demand are intended to govern firms' industrial production, which is no longer subject to government planning and control.     

Impact of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area on China＇s International Agricultural Trade and Its Regional Development

This study aims to examine the impact of the China‐ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) on China's international agricultural trade and its regional agricultural development, using the Global Trade Analysis Project model and the China Agricultural Decision Support System. Our analysis showed that: (i) CAFTA will improve resource allocation efficiencies for both China and ASEAN and will promote bilateral agricultural trade and, hence, will have positive effects on the economic development of both sides; (ii) CAFTA will accelerate China's export of the agricultural commodities in which it has comparative advantages, such as vegetables, wheat and horticultural products, but at the same time bring about a large increase in imports of commodities such as vegetable oil and sugar; and (iii) CAFTA will have significantly varying impacts on China's regional agricultural development because of large differences in the agricultural production structure in each region. Our results indicate that agriculture in the northern, northeastern and eastern regions of China will benefit from CAFTA, whereas agriculture development in southern China will suffer. Those regional specific impacts are quite different from the effects brought by multilateral free trade treaties, such as those of the WTO, which usually have positive effects on south China but negative impacts on the northern and western parts of China.     

China＇s Changing Trade Elasticities

China ＇s sectoral trade composition, product quality mix, and the import content of processing exports have all changed substantially during the past decade. This has rendered trade elasticities estimated using aggregate data highly unstable, with more recent data pointing to significantly higher demand and price elasticities. Sectoral differences in these parameters are also very wide. All this suggests greater caution should be exercised when using historical data to simulate the response of China＇s economy to external shocks and exchange rate changes. Analyses based on models with estimated coefficients largely representative of China in the 1980s and 1990s are likely to turn out to be wrong, perhaps even dramatically.     

Foreign Value-added in China＇s Manufactured Exports： Implications for China＇s Trade Imbalance

Economists have recently become interested in weighting how much domestic value-added is actually included in China’s exports.Formally,the proportion of foreign and domestic contents could be identified by calculating the vertical specialization share using non-competitive input-output tables.Applying such a method to the Chinese case,however, would result in a big measurement bias because China has a large share of processing exports,which utilize a disproportionately high percentage of imported intermediates.This paper,by directly employing 2008 trade data for which imported intermediates in both processing and non-processing trade could be identified by means of various trade patterns, provides a simplified way to estimate the share of foreign/domestic value-added included in industry-level manufactured exports.This paper finds that the vertical specialization share of China’s processing exports was about 56 percent in 2008,compared to about 10 percent for ordinary exports.It also finds that the sectors that experiencedfast expansion of processing exports have a much higher share of foreign contents.Since processing exports account for about half of Chinese exports,the prevailing trade statistics,which focus on gross values rather than the value-added of exports and imports,has obviously overstated the bilateral trade imbalances,especially between China and the USA.     

China＇s Foreign Trade： Achievements,Determinants and Future Policy Challenges

Over the past twenty-five years, China‘s foreign trade has achieved great success. The main determinants behind this success include market-oriented reform, appropriate trade and exchange rate policies, and the active participation of foreign-invested enterprises. However, China is far from completing the transition in trade structure, and is facing many difficult policy challenges in maintaining its export momentum into the future.     

China＇s Changing Economic Structure and Implications for Regional Patterns of Trade, Production and Integration

I. Introduction There is a strong momentum for regional economic integration within East Asia.1 But few countries in the region harbor any illusion of realizing a region-wide economic union any time soon. A crucial ingredient in any successful East Asia-wide economic integration effort is China. China could be a major catalyst in the integration process if it chooses to.But it would do so only if such a move is in line with the overall objectives of its foreign economic policy. More import…     

Adjustment of Macro-economic Development Pattern on the Development of China＇s Agriculture

The paper argues that the development of China＇s agriculture is constrained by the industrial bias macro-economic development patterm The role of agricultural development in a dual economy is also studied. It is argued that a fundamental adjustment to the macro-economic development pattern is needed to balance industrial and agricultural development.     

Analysis of China＇s Foreign Trade Growth and Discussion of Related Policies

China’s foreign trade experienced three consecutive years of super-speed growth in 2002-2004, even though the country was stricken by the SARS epidemic in 2003 and power shortages in 2004. What has gone beyond expectations is that the exports trade still grew with momentum after the central government lowered the export rebate rates by an average of 3 percentage points, starting from January 2004. Such growth momentum is apparently associated with external demand and the performance of the domestic macroeconomy, and even more associated with a series of support policies. This paper tries to raise issues issues associated with these policies on the basis of an analysis of foreign trade performance in 2002-2004, in order to enhance understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of these policies, and to recommend a new line of thought for improving policy arrangements for the growth of import and export trade and for the harmonious development of the macroeconomy.     

Blue Box Policy Reform in the Doha Round Negotiations： Effects and China＇s Position

This paper uses an agricultural trade policy simulation model to quantitatively evaluate the effects of Blue Box policy reform on agricultural production and trade, and further provides specific proposals regarding China ＇ s reform position. The results indicate that, if the reform could achieve a reduction in distorting supports in more developed countries, China＇ s total agricultural production would increase, accompanied by a decrease in agricultural imports and a slight increase in exports. In terms of social welfare, producers would gain significantly, consumers would lose and government would not suffer greatly, which is in accordance with current agricultural policies in China. As a core member of G20, China should approve a subsidy level as low as possible required by Blue Box to achieve ＂substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic supports＂.     

Financial Market Turmoil： Implications for Monetary Policy Transmission in China

The recent financial market turmoil has initiated another search for insightful understanding of the interactions between the financial market and monetary policy. This paper explores these interactions in terms of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy in China. We argue that evolving financial development, enhanced by the expansion of the financial market, has altered the conventional channel for monetary transmission in China. Analyzing marked changes in the financial landscape and taking into account policy regime shifts in China, the paper provides clear evidence showing that the financial market has become a new and important channel for transmission of monetary policy in China.     

China＇s Regional Disparity and Its Policy Responses

The fruits of China＇s rapid economic development over the 3 decades have not been distributed fairly across different regions. Using data from a sample of 815 Chinese listed firrns during 1998-2004, our error-correction investment model showes evidence of different financial constraints on firms＇ investment in different regions. We argue that China＇s regional development policies have contributed greatly to the regional inequalities. To control the rising inequality, China has shifted its focus from the coast to the interior regions. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the government to direct the economy, as market mechanisms now have afar greater influence on the economy than the government does. The people-centered approach of the current leadership has meant that substantial attention has been placed on regional development disparities in an attempt to build a ＂harmonious society. ＂ China needs further extensive reforms if all the measures for reducing regional disparity are to be effective.     

A Proposal for Setting up Agricultural Insurance Policies Supporting Frame in China

China is a country with a large amount of agriculture, but agricultural insurance in our country develops slowly, which cannot keep up with the pace of the quick industrial insurance progress currently. The agricultural insurance faces the circumstances that the insurance companies do not fund in agriculture insurance and the farmers have nowhere to apply for insurance. In this paper, from the economic angle the following conclusion is drawn. The key sticking points lie in that agricultural insurance in China cannot be managed as policy insurance, and that agricultural insurance lacks support from the government. So it is necessary to conceive the basic agricultural insurance policies supporting frame and set up agricultural insurance policies supporting system in China.     

China＇s Rapid Accumulation of Foreign Exchange Reserves and Its Policy Implications

In late February 2006, China surpassed Japan to become the world's largest holder of foreign exchange reserves. Beijing is now faced with the growing challenge of how to handle these vast reserves effectively. Although China's soaring foreign exchange reserves indicate that its overall strength has grown, they have created internal and external pressures on the balance of the economy, and introduced risks to the financial system. It is estimated in the present study that foreign exchange reserves of approximately US$ 400bn in 2005 would have been appropriate under circumstances of a managed floating exchange rate regime and capital control. China's actual reserves have far exceeded its normal demand. The objective of China is to maintain an optimal level that maximizes net benefits as a whole. Four main policy options are available for China to achieve its target: spending and investing foreign exchange reserves, gradual liberalization of the capital account, diversification of foreign exchange reserves and a switch in holders of foreign exchange reserves. Spending and investing in foreign exchange reserves can be undertaken in combination with liberalization in the capital account, given careful consideration of the risks involved. Liberalization should be extensive but gradual so that companies and individuals can adjust to changes in financial markets and manage portfolios while avoiding unnecessary risks. (Edited by Xiaoming Feng)     

China＇s Industrial Policy in Relation to Electronics Manufacturing

China has become the biggest exporter of electronic products in the world. Government policy intervention has contributed significantly to the rapid expansion of the electronics industry. The present paper examines the evolutionary development of industrial policies related to the electronics industry in China and the impacts of such policies on the shaping of the industry. In particular, the relationship between foreign funded enterprises and domestic firms are examined in detail. The future trend of the industry is also discussed in the paper, and the policy focus of the Chinese Government is predicted.     

Who is Going to Supply the Milk to China＇s South？

China＇s dairy industry has experienced rapid expansion in recent years, with an average annual growth rate of 23.8 percent from 2000 to 2006. However, there exists a serious geographical distribution imbalance in milk production and consumption. Approximately 85 percent of China＇s milk is produced in northern China, where 40 percent of the country＇s population reside. In contrast, only about 15 percent of the milk is produced in China＇s south, where 60percent of China＇s population reside. This has resulted in a significant gap between milk production and consumption in southern China and this gap is expected to rise. This paper considers China＇s milk demand and supply situation, analyzes the likely potential for China to expand its milk production and explores options for meeting milk demand-supply shortages. Policy and trade implications are discussed.