COMMUNIST CHINA'S FOREIGN TRADE: PRICE STRUCTURE AND BEHAVIOR 1955-1959,
Abstract
Analysis of the various factors that might contribute to the observed 'China differential' leads to the following tentative conclusions: (1) The commodity quality differences can at most be only partly responsible for these differentials, for, when the more heterogeneous commodities are eliminated from our sample, the differentials increase. (2) Although Communist China's overdependence on the USSR in its trade might be partly responsible for the unit value differentials, it is not likely to be an important factor. This is evidenced by the fact that the Sino-Soviet terms of trade, compared with those of Free Asian countries' trade with the rest of the world, do not show relative deterioration during this period, except for 1959. (3) The Soviet foreign trade valuation procedure includes the seller's domestic transport costs in the unit values. The high cost of long rail hauls to the Sino-Soviet border seems to be the major reason for the observed China differential. That there is a greater differential in Communist China's imports than in its exports can largely be explained by the fact that for the route between, say, Moscow and Peking, the distance is much the greater on the Soviet side of the border. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0422015
Entities
People
- Feng-hwa Mah
Organizations
- RAND Corporation