China’s economic diplomacy and the politics-trade nexus

Research on the determinants and effects of China’s economic diplomacy is still in its infancy but is expected to gain in importance with China’s ongoing rise in the global economy. The author reviews the literature on the linkages between the bilateral political climate, economic diplomacy and international trade. The existing scholarly work suggests that the state of bilateral political relations plays an important role for trade with China. Since research suggests that political tensions adversely affect diplomatic activities between countries and that diplomatic exchanges promote trade, economic diplomacy is a likely channel linking the bilateral political climate to trade. Foreign governments’ positions on Taiwan and Tibet, for example, can determine the geography of state visits, the network of embassies and bilateral trade volumes. The chapter proceeds with a discussion as to why economic diplomacy should be more pivotal in economic exchange with China than with Western market economies.