The China Paradox: What Principles Inform Chinese Free Trade Agreements

China’s position in international trade law is paradoxical. On one hand, it is an active Member of the World Trade Organisation (hereinafter WTO). On the other, tensions with trading partners are evident. This book thus enquires what legal and political economy principles inform Chinese Free Trade Agreement (hereinafter FTA) strategies and argues that China’s grand strategy in signing FTAs with other States is to secure the Chinese Developmental State and socialist market economy models. This first chapter introduces the book’s research puzzle and advances a two-pronged central hypothesis based on two ethoi. The first hypothesis submits that China selectively adapts key legal characteristics of the East Asian Developmental State model. The second hypothesis asserts that Chinese FTA strategies are equally about securing China’s socialist market economy. On those grounds, this chapter identifies the Communist Party’s role in the economy as the main distinctive feature between Developmental State and socialist market economy models. It then critically examines the objectives of China’s twin strategy. Moreover, this chapter explains the rationales behind the case selection and analysis of legal provisions governing merchandise trade and investment liberalisation, State-owned enterprises (hereinafter SOEState-owned enterprisesSOE), and Electronic Commerce (hereinafter E-CommerceElectronic CommerceE-Commerce). Finally, this chapter exposes the research structure supporting the central arguments on which this book is built.