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Trade Expansion of China and India: Threat or Opportunity?
Author(s) -
Qureshi Mahvash Saeed,
Wan Guanghua
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
world economy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1467-9701
pISSN - 0378-5920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9701.2008.01131.x
Subject(s) - china , complementarity (molecular biology) , international trade , clothing , east asia , economics , competition (biology) , international economics , geography , ecology , genetics , archaeology , biology
By exploring the export performances and specialisation patterns of China and India, we assess their trade competitiveness and complementarity vis‐à‐vis each other as well as with the rest of the world. Our analysis indicates that (a) India faces tough competition from China in the third markets especially in clothing, textiles and leather products; (b) there is a moderate potential for expanding trade between the two countries; (c) China poses a challenge for the East Asian economies, the US, and most European countries especially in medium‐technology industries; (d) India appears to be a competitor mainly for its neighbouring South Asian countries; (e) complementarity exists between the imports of China and India, and the exports of the US, some European states and East Asian countries, especially Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, implying opportunities for trade expansion; and finally (f) the export structure of China is changing with the exports of skill‐intensive and high‐technology products increasing and those of labour‐intensive products decreasing gradually. This suggests that challenges created by China in traditional labour‐intensive products might reduce in the long run.