Foreign Economic Relations of the People's Republic of China

The dynamics of the growth of foreign trade turnover of the People's Republic of China over seven decades is shown, and the main features of the modern trade and geographical structure of exports and imports are identified. The author focuses on China's trade in services, Beijing's attraction of foreign investment, and the export of Chinese capital. The features of the leading territorial forms of the country's foreign economic openness-special economic zones and experimental free trade zones-are considered. The place of Russia in the foreign trade of China at the present stage is shown.

Graduated Sovereignty and Global Governance Gaps: Special Economic Zones and the Illicit Trade In Tobacco Products

Illicit trade in tobacco products has been a significant problem globally for many years. It allows cigarettes to be sold far below their legal price and thus contributes to higher consumption, morbidity and mortality, and deprives state treasuries of a substantial amount of revenue. This article identifies special economic zones (SEZs), particularly free trade zones, as a key conduit for this illicit trade. The development of SEZs as weak points in the global governance architecture is explained with reference to the concept of 'graduated sovereignty', whereby the uniform management of territory by modern states has given way to a more spatially selective form of territorial governance, in which some slices of territory are more fully integrated into the world economy than others via various forms of differential regulation. Attempts to comprehensively (re)regulate SEZs, in the face of growing evidence of the dysfunctionalities that they can engender, have so far been unsuccessful. It is concluded that the neo-liberal global economy has facilitated a regulatory 'race to the bottom', a problem that can only ultimately be overcome by international negotiation and agreement.