外刊经贸知识选读课文一 .pdfVIP

Lesson 1 China in the Market Place Barry Coulthurst examines the development of China’s trade policy and the present state of the overseas economic links -- 巴里 库尔塞斯特对中国贸易政策的演变和当前与海外经济往来状况的研究 The pattern of China’s foreign trade has changed substantially since the founding of the people’s Republic, During the 1950s China exported agricultural products to the USSR and East European countries in return for manufactured goods and the capital equipment required for the country’s industrialization programme which placed emphasis on the development of heavy industry. The Great Leap Forward of 1958-1959 initially produced gains in agricultural and industrial production, but subsequently resulted in serious economic imbalances. Economic problems were exacerbated by three bad harvests (1959-1961) with the result that national income and the volume of foreign trade contracted during 1960-1962 The withdrawal of Soviet economic and technical aid in the early-1960s caused trade to shift away from the USSR and its Comecon partner towards Japan and Western Europe. A consistent theme of China’s foreign trade policies has been the strong emphasis which has been placed on developing trade relations with the Third World countries. The growth of foreign trade was disrupted again during the cultural Revolution(1966-1976) when agricultural and industrial production fell sharply and transportation constraints became more serious. Foreign Trade, which has a major role in the four Modernizations programme, has grown rapidly over the past few years. A major trade agreement with Japan, under which China exports coal and oil in return for industrial equipment and technology was signed in February 1978. China also signed a long-term trade agreement with the EEC in 1978 while trade with the USA has increased rapidly in the wake of the normaliz