After joining the WTO in 2001, China’s total exports grew by 19.3% per annum up to 2013 and the country emerged as the world’s biggest exporter of manufactured electronics. China’s rise has had an impact on developing countries such as Malaysia, a major exporter of electronic and electrical (E&E) goods. Malaysia aims to be a high-income economy by 2020, and upgrading its E&E value chain is critical to this goal. Malaysia is part of the East Asian production network and China imports intermediate inputs from Malaysia’s E&E for its final exports while simultaneously expanding in similar product spaces. This means the effect on Malaysia of China’s rise is complex. Contemporary literature divides the impact of China’s rise into competitive and complementary effects, and this research aims to further understand the effect of China’s rise on Malaysia’s E&E trade and investment channels, using a mixed methodology approach. The research analyses the bilateral E&E trade patterns, the extent of trade competition at the destination markets, with the trade structure disaggregated by sophistication and by type of goods1 analysis. Subsequently it examines China’s impact on the semiconductor machinery segment, a backward linkage of the IC industry. Finally, the influence of China’s rise on investments aspects of Malaysia’s E&E industry is also explored. 1 Types of goods category such as final goods, parts and accessories or durables. v The research finds that while imports from China compete with imports from Malaysia in the US and Japanese markets (the EU market is different), China’s competition in trade is also spurring Malaysia to upgrade its exports’ sophistication. China also creates new demand for Malaysia’s semiconductor machinery. Finally, while resulting in short-term job losses, China’s diversion of E&E investment from Malaysia provide opportunities for Malaysians to start new firms, and for MNCs based in Malaysia to upgrade their production.

Bibliography: leaves 250-263 / xiv, 263 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Economics, 1994?

If the media and politicians are to be believed diplomatic visits from government officials and their entourage to existing and potential trade partners can have a dramatic impact on future international trade and investment, China’s emergences as a global trading power has put visits from and to China in the spot light. In this thesis, we examine the impact of Chinese leaders’ visits as well as the impact of foreign dignitaries who have visited China on China’s international trade and FDI. Employing log-linear and Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) approaches, the gravity model finds little evidence that diplomatic visits are effective to promote international trade between China and the rest of world. Diplomatic visits appear to exert different impact on trade with two relatively homogeneous groups of countries, African countries and OECD countries. In addition, it is found that diplomatic visits are significantly associated with a higher amount of OECD outward FDI to China.

Cette thèse se compose de trois chapitres ayant en commun la question de la qualité des exportations dans un contexte de pays en voie de développement. La thèse s’intéresse plus particulièrement à différents aspects permettant d’améliorer le niveau de qualité des exportations. Le premier chapitre est consacré à l'impact de l'Aide au commerce (Aid for trade) sur la qualité des exportations des pays récipiendaires. Il suggère un effet positif de la politique d'aide au commerce sur la qualité des exportations. Le deuxième chapitre porte sur le rôle de vérification de la qualité joué par les intermédiaires dans le commerce international. Les résultats indiquent que seuls les intermédiaires spécialisés jouent ce rôle. Le troisième chapitre examine le lien entre l'orientation à l'exportation des entreprises et leur performance en matière d'innovation. L’analyse empirique met en évidence une réduction des investissements en R&D chez les exportateurs dont les ventes s’orientent principalement vers les exportations au détriment du marché intérieur et ce d’autant plus qu’ils font face à une incertitude élevée de la demande. Ces évolutions défavorables pourraient être surmontées néanmoins si l’entreprise a une riche expérience commerciale ou une productivité élevée. Les trois résultats principaux de cette thèse sont ainsi que l'aide au commerce ainsi que l’essor d’intermédiaires de type spécialisé contribuent à la montée en qualité des exportateurs tandis que l'incertitude de la demande extérieure tend à l’inverse à entraver l’innovation des firmes exportatrices. / This thesis is composed of three chapters that have in common the question of export quality in a developing country context. The thesis focuses on different aspects of improving the quality level of exports. The first chapter is devoted to the impact of Aid for Trade on the quality of exports from recipient countries. It suggests a positive effect of Aid for Trade policy on the quality of exports. The second chapter focuses on the quality assurance role played by intermediaries in international trade. The results indicate that only specialized intermediaries play this role. The third chapter examines the link between firms' export orientation and their innovation performance. The empirical analysis shows a reduction in R&D investment by exporters whose sales reorient towards exports to the detriment of the domestic market, especially as they face high demand uncertainty. These unfavourable developments could nevertheless be overcome if the company has a long trade experience or high productivity. The three main results of this thesis are that aid for trade and the rise of specialized intermediaries contribute to the rise in quality of exporters, while the uncertainty of external demand tends, on the other hand, to hinder innovation by exporting firms.