Global Supply Chains and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
REGIONAL ECONOMIC STUDIES PROGRAMME
About the Webinar
The recently signed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) promises to expand trade substantially for the 15 participating countries. This study unpacks the differential benefits of free trade agreements by drawing on insights from the emerging research program on the politics of global production networks and value chains. A firm’s ability to benefit from trade agreements is a function of the firm’s degree of supply chain linkages with partner countries. Leveraging on an original survey of more than 500 firms in China, the empirical analyses show that the more backward and forward supply chain linkages with RCEP countries a firm has, the more likely it is going to anticipate positive impact from the RCEP. Furthermore, these results hold even among exporters. These findings enrich our understanding on the political economy of preferential trade liberalization and global supply chains and offer policy suggestions for member countries hoping to maximize benefits for their businesses from the largest trade agreement in the world today.
About the Speaker
Xiaojun Li is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia and non-resident scholar at the 21st Century China Centre at UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. He is the coauthor of How China Sees the World: Insights from China’s International Relations Scholars (Palgrave 2019) and Fragmenting Globalization: The Politics of Preferential Trade Liberalization in China and the United States (University of Michigan Press 2021). His articles have appeared in Business and Politics, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary China, and Journal of Politics, among others. He holds a PhD in political science from Stanford University and is a former fellow in the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program.
Registration
This webinar will be delivered online entirely. You can join the webinar at the specified date and time using devices (computer, phone, or tablet) with internet connection.
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