Réseaux et marchés en Chine : la réorganisation de l'industrie sucrière face à la mondialisation

The entry of China into the WTO underlined the importance of this country in the international trade. The liberalization reforms that she introduced can lead to major consequences in the evolution of the world markets, especially in relation to food products. Therefore, this article is devoted to present the logic of Chinese reforms for an important commodity, sugar, which trade is characterized by major international agreements. It is shown that the introduction of reforms lead to important distortions at the local level, in relation to the divergent interests of the actors within the industry. It is then clear that some measures of liberalization have been distorted, due to the power relationships that exist within the industry and to on an opposition between a bureaucratic and a market logic. Even though China is the 3rd largest world producer of sugar and her consumption is constantly increasing, the survival of this industry implies a resolution to this opposition.