China’s Trade Patterns and Comparative Advantage

Was China’s foreign trade consistent with its comparative advantage in the late 1970s before the economic reform process began? Has the reform process led to a convergence between China’s trade patterns and its underlying comparative advantage? The net export performance ratio (NEPR) and the domestic resource productivity (DRP) measures estimated in the previous chapters allow a further investigation into the relationships between China’s trade patterns and comparative advantage. This analysis will reveal the impact of China’s economic reforms on allocativie efficiency in the tradable goods producing sectors.