particularly over the last four years. While accession to the WTO

in 2001 has had a lot to do with it, the sheer dynamism of Chinese

economic growth and the shifting structures of international com-

petition have made a major realignment of trading relations inevit-

able. In the 1980s China’s position in global markets was mainly

through low-value-added production, selling cheap textiles, toys,

and plastics in international markets in large volume. Maoist

policies had left China self-su

fficient in energy and many raw

materials (it is one of the largest cotton producers in the world). It