Deploying classic Western economic models as well as a large amount of micro-level empirical evidence, this book systematically examines how China’s openness policies have affected the upgrading of manufacturing and economic development within the country in recent years.

PART I Macro-perspective 1 Industrial structural upgrading and poverty reduction in China 2 Labor, demography, and the export-oriented growth model in China 3 China’s manufacturing value chain ascent to date PART II Micro-evidence 4 China’s processing trade: a firm-level analysis 5 Unexceptional exporter performance in China? The role of processing trade 6 Processing trade, tariff reductions, and firm productivity: evidence from Chinese firms 7 Trade liberalization, product complexity, and productivity improvement: evidence from Chinese firms 8 Processing trade, export intensity, and input trade liberalization: evidence from Chinese firms PART III Channels and mechanisms 9 Exports and credit constraints under incomplete information: theory and evidence from China 10 Input trade liberalization, processing firms, and firm R&D: empirical evidence from Chinese firms 11 Imports, product complexity, and firm productivity 12 Firm R&D, absorptive capacity, and learning by exporting: firm-level evidence from China PART IV International comparison 13 China and India: trends in trade over the last decade 14 The impact of China’s trade on ASEAN’s trade Appendices Bibliography Index