The Principle Of National Interests And The Foreign Trade Policy Of China

The theory of free trade has been taking an important role in contemporary economic field since the establishment of theory of absolute cost, which indicates that every country can gain the maximum interests only by taking the policy of free trade. However, every country always adopts all kinds of tariff policies and non-tariff barriers in reality to counteract free trade. Thus, free trade has become an ideal of economic theory, but the protectionism has come into reality in the international trade policy of all countries.In fact, every country adopts its foreign trade policy on the basis of national interests, which can be defined as all those meeting people's material and spiritual needs. World Trade Organization (WTO), which puts forward the philosophy of free trade, also accepts the opinion that protection is necessary for all countries. Since WTO has acknowledged the divergence between national interests and the unfair result aroused by the unconditional free trade, the rules of WTO can be complied in all types of contradictions.China's accession to WTO doesn't mean that China should open every field and implement the mere free trade policy. On the contrary, China should establish foreign trade policy flexibly according to the principle of national interests. China should make use of the extra-regulations for developing country to protect the infant industry and strengthen the advanced industry. And China should also adopt specific policies according to the requirements of different industries. Chapter one introduces the background and significance of the topic, the state of arts of research at home and abroad and the summary of literature review. Chapter two indicates the limitation of the theory of free trade by studying the history of the international trade policies of advanced countries. In chapter three, the definition and the classification of the national interests are presented, and the role of national interests in constituting the international trade policy is discussed. The principles of the foreign trade policy of developed countries and developing countries are analyzed in chapter four. Chapter five describes the relationship between WTO and national interests. The most important part of the thesis is chapter six, which brings forward suggestion to protect the national interests of China.