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Northern Exposure: Cross-Regionalism and the China–Iceland Preferential Trade Negotiations*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2010

Marc Lanteigne
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Abstract

An increasingly visible facet of China's commercial diplomacy has been its pursuit of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) with small and medium-sized economies outside Asia. China's PTAs, completed or under negotiation, have indicated both a conservative approach and an increasing comfort level with cross-regional trade negotiations. The China–Iceland PTA negotiations since 2006 illustrate this new thinking. Although the island state has a considerably smaller economy, China has perceived the negotiations as being undertaken between equals as well as an important bilateralism model. A successful deal will further demonstrate a new stage in Chinese commercial diplomacy and its approach to bilateral trade as well as a determination to engage the European economy even through a “side door” approach. However, in light of Iceland's banking crisis and deep recession in late 2008, Beijing has also had to address the uncertainties of negotiating with small states in a time of global economic uncertainty.

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Articles
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The China Quarterly , Volume 202 , June 2010 , pp. 362 - 380
Copyright
Copyright © The China Quarterly 2010

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