Shanghai's Trade, China's Growth: Continuity, Recovery, and Change since the Opium War / Wolfgang Keller, Ben Li, Carol H. Shiue.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Keller, Wolfgang.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Li, Ben.

Shiue, Carol H.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17754.

NBER working paper series no. w17754

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2012.

Summary:

In this paper, we provide aggregate trends in China's trade performance from the 1840s to the present. Based on historical benchmarks, we argue that China's recent gains are not exclusively due to the reforms since 1978. Rather, foreign economic activity can be understood by developments that were set in motion in the 19th century. We turn our focus to Shanghai, currently the world's largest port. Shanghai began direct trade relations with western nations starting in 1843. By 1853, Shanghai already accounted for more than half of China's foreign trade. In tracking the levels and growth rates of the city's net and gross imports and exports, foreign direct investment, and foreign residents over more than a century, we find that Shanghai's level of bilateral trade today with the United States, the United Kingdom, or Japan, for example, are by no means high given Shanghai's 19th century experience. This paper argues that a regional approach that embeds national trading destinations within an international trading system provides a meaningful approach to understanding the history of China's trade.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2012.