Is China cheating on Trade?

After a honeymoon period in the wake of China's WTO entry, there's a new tone of criticism in the US regarding China's trade regime.

China has just announced a six year high in its economic growth, adding 9.1% to GDP in 2003 but in America senior politicians have accused the regime of 'cheating' (Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator for South Carolina) and needing to do more to open its own economy to other countries (Commerce Secretary Donald Evans) – but the bigger issue is the continuing growth of Chinese imports, which are seen as taking US jobs.

However, in research funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council, Professor Shawn Breslin (University of Warwick, England) controversially argues that simple notions of bilateral relations between nation states are outdated and many US based companies, and shareholders, are getting much more out of China than the figures suggest.