中国与东盟自贸区宣传与现实.doc

The China-Asean Free Trade Area: Propaganda and Reality Walden Bello Focus on the Global South January 2010 Abstract：Agriculture has played an important role in China and the Asean countries,both of which are the worlds most important agricultural trade area. With the building and promoting of the China – Asean Free Trade Area , bilateral trade is developing by leaps and bounds. Based on theanalysis of trade among Thailand, the Philippines and other Asean countries with China , in this paper it puts forward that China - ASEAN Free Trade Area will benefit China with overall trade position of Asean. Keywords: China - Asean Free Trade Area, Trade, Economy, Benefit, Propaganda,Reality Introduction Despite the official propaganda, the China-Asean free trade agreement that came into effect on January 1, 2010, will benefit China, but is likely to disadvantage the Asean Countries. On January 1, 2010, the China-Asean Free Trade Area (Cafta) went into effect. Touted as the world’s biggest Free Trade Area, CAFTA is billed as having 1.7 million consumers, with a combined gross domestic product of $ 2 trillion and total trade of $ 1.3 trillion. Under the agreement, trade between China and six Asean countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore has become duty-free for more than 7,000 products. By 2015, the newer Asean countries, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, will join the zero-tariff arrangement. The propaganda mills, especially in Beijing, have been trumpeting the FTA as bringing “mutual benefits” to China and Asean. A positive spin on Cafta has also come from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who hailed the emergence of a formidable regional grouping that would rival the United States and the European Union. The reality, however, is that most of the advantages will probably flow to China. At first glance, it seems like the China-Asean relationship has been positive. After all, demand from a Chinese economy growing at a breakn