Contemporary Chinese Foreign Trade Thought

This thesis conducts an examination on trade philosophies and policies by the three generations of Chinese leadership since the founding of the republic; it also evaluates different views on global trade from the academia during the same period. This thesis further combines the previous examination with an investigation of global trade practices of both ancient and pre-1920's China so as to systematically dissect the development and evolution of thinking that has underlined the international trade of modern China. This thesis studies the theoretical basis of global trade of contemporary China and inspects the impact of both classical and neo-classical western trade theories on China; while doing so, it traces the transition in Chinese global trade views, strategic thinking and system.In all, this thesis will reveal the following relationships: global trade thinking by the leadership and the academia; theoretical foundations and trade policies; contemporary thinking on trade and socioeconomic development; contemporary thinking on trade and the history of contemporary thinking on trade; and the development of thinking on trade and basic guiding thinking.