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The EU China Trade Race and Its Gender Implications
New WIDE publication: ´Fierce, Fair and Unfair Competition: The EUChina Trade Race and its Gender Implications´
Author: Christa Wichterich
This paper is a revised and updated version of a publication written by the same author at the beginning of 2007.
China has emerged as a global player
on the international trade map but is often depicted as a giant economic
monster: its growth rates stun its competitors; its weight in global trade
scares its trade partners; and its hunger for natural resources and raw
materials have set off a global commodity boom at a high cost for the
environment.The European Commission faces a broad range of battlefields with
its aim of making European business competitive in the global economy.
The author highlights some critical areas of gender concerns related to EU-China trade. In China, gender differences have been rediscovered in the course of liberalisation, privatisation and the marketisation of the whole economy. The long-standing claim of socialist policies for equal rights has been subordinated to the imperative of fast economic growth.
China remains to a great extent a blind spot in the gendered analysis of neo-liberal globalisation. Only a few in-depth studies on women workers in export production have been published recently. News about opposition to the restructuring of the economy and its high social and environmental costs are hushed up. In this sense, this paper tries to map out areas for further gender research to redress the unequal, unsustainable and unjust EU trade relations with China.
In its relations with China, the EU shows striking contradictions between the political rhetoric about social and environmental concerns and the reality of EU business in China, which is first and foremost governed by its interest in legally protected expansion and making profits. The EU launched negotiations on a bilateral Partnership and Co-operation Agreement with China in 2006 that are in line with the EU overall neo-liberal trade strategy as laid down in ´Global Europe: competing in the world´, (European Commission, October 2006).
EU trade and investment policies apply double standards. On the one hand, they attempt to protect EU business and its very interest in efficiency and profitability by the rule of law in China, disregarding the adverse social and environmental effects of this corporate-driven growth path. On the other hand, it delegates responsibility for sustainable economic growth, social standards and climate protection to the Chinese government, and appeals to its ´fairness´. Due to the competitive advantage of EU companies in environmentally friendly and resource-saving technology, it seems to be possible to link economic interests to environmental concerns. However, regarding issues of social, gender and regional inequality, EU trade and investment policies do not offer any answers.
For further information, please contact: Marzia Rezzin, WIDE Advocacy and Information Officer, marzia@wide-network.org
Download:
http://62.149.193.10/wide/download/WIDE%20EU%20CHINA%20-%20FINAL.pdf?id=655
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