Chinese Foreign Trade Performance and the China-US Trade 1995 – 2004 – A Graphical Analysis Based on China Customs Statistics

Using detailed Chinese Customs data, this paper prepares a series of graphsto illustrate the changing patterns of the Chinese foreign trade during theyears 1995 and 2004. Combined with discussions on related literature andpolicy development during the same period, the graphs are organized (1) to establish links between FDI inflow and Chinese trade expansion, (2) toidentify the regional and sectoral power horses of Chinese trade growth, (3)to sketch a picture of production sharing among China, its Asian neighborsand the United States, and (4) to highlight the institutional innovation of theChinese customs regime that helps facilitate the process of globaloutsourcing to China. Special attention is given to the China-US tradewhen it differs significantly from the China world trade.