Made in China: IT Infrastructure Policy and the Politics of Trade Opening in Post-WTO China

Abstract

This paper examines China's industrial and trade policy dynamics in the post-WTO context. It does so by addressing the domestic bias of the extant literature on China's economic opening, instead offering an approach which explores the complex interaction between external pressures and domestic conflicts and choices that have shaped China's economic integration. Specifically, we examine a recent failed attempt of the Chinese authorities at establishing a go-it-alone mercantilist policy relating to IT infrastructure in the wake of internal divisions and strong foreign opposition. We argue in this case that the clash between the pro-open and nationalist/mercantilist forces shaped the policymaking process, whilst the international factors underpinned the direction of policy change by tipping the power balance towards the liberal reformers through China's unique institutional arrangements.