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This chapter identifies features of foreign economic policy of the Republic of Belarus determined by its multidirectional external economic relations and participation in the processes of international economic integration.

It is noted that in the last decade there has been an active search for opportunities to shift the focus in foreign economic policy, including geographic redirection of trade and investment flows, intensification of the search for a “niche” and new ways of incorporating into the world economic relations system, progress toward the liberalization of trade relations by means of multilateral and bilateral interaction formats.

This section assesses the motivation for the boost of the foreign economic policy of the Republic of Belarus in the context of aggravated geopolitical situation and the growth of protectionist tendencies and identifies obstacles to its implementation.

This chapter discusses Malaysia's foreign economic policy and trade performance. Since independence, Malaysia has been active in regulating its foreign economic policy. The policy is aimed at making the country a nation that welcomes friendly and fair policy through diplomacy and simultaneously maintaining its honorable sovereignty and local interests. In 2018, the Malaysian government outlined its foreign policy framework that emphasises four (4) major components, namely, (1) the direction of foreign policy, (2) empowering the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – MOFA (Wisma Putra), (3) enhancing interagency collaboration and lastly, (4) increasing public and civil society participation. Through the framework, Malaysia has been strengthening its international relations, particularly among Islamic nations and the European Union countries. In terms of trade, Malaysia has been increasing its trade and this can be seen in its trade surplus performance. For more than 20 consecutive years, Malaysia has experienced trade surpluses. However, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has dampened the country's economic growth. Despite the detrimental impacts of the outbreak, Malaysia remained positive about strengthening the economy in the future. In terms of trade partners, Malaysia has built close relations with China, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, and South Korea. In terms of export products, Malaysia mainly exports electrical and electronic products, petroleum products, chemicals and chemical products, LNG, manufactures of metal, machinery, equipment and parts, optical and scientific equipment, palm oil, crude petroleum, and rubber products. Even though trade has caused several issues such as overdependence on import product, Malaysia has maintained a positive outlook on trade. Trade helps fulfill the domestic demand in which local producers are not able to satisfy. Other than that, Malaysia also consistently produced goods that are demanded by other countries. In conclusion, Malaysia will always forge ahead to improve its international economic relations and to gain benefits from the international economy and world trade.

China’s open‐market reform and rapid economic growth have generated a tremendous surge in activity and market investment by multinational corporations (MNCs). By 2000, 400 of the 500 most famous MNCs had invested in China. One distinctive feature of China’ s business environment, its authoritarian political system, requires MNCs to practise strategic public affairs to interact constantly with the different levels of Chinese government, respond to the policies and further influence business policy formation. This paper proposes a conceptual model of MNC‐government bargaining that is composed of international political economy, dependency theory and agency theory. It then examines (1) the international and domestic influences on MNC‐government bargaining in China and (2) the strategies MNCs employed to influence Chinese laws for foreign business in their interests. A case study of the Chinese ban on direct selling operations in 1998 and Amway’s strategies to remove the ban is presented. Results suggest that effective public affairs should engage in the following activities: (1) issues management, (2) constantly and systematically analysing the MNC’s bargaining power with the host government, (3) selecting public affairs strategies based on the analysis of MNC‐government bargaining, (4) exercising relationship management, and (5) being ethical in its practice.

Economic statecraft is a critical aspect of China’s foreign policy and has played a vital role in China’s relations with its Asian neighbors. The Chinese economic ties with Asia are significant not only because China is the second largest economy in today’s world but also because it has an important impact on regional economic co‐operation and international supply chains. Relentless growth in military buildup and more assertive foreign policy led many pundits to focus almost exclusively on political and military aspects of the Chinese grand strategy in Asia. The purpose of this study is to re‐examine this picture by studying China’s economic statecraft in the region.

This paper will address following research questions: How does the Chinese foreign economic policy serve its political aspirations in East Asia? Why has China increasingly relied on a combination of economic pressures and incentives to achieve its foreign policy objectives? How effective is China’s economic diplomacy as a strategic weapon? What are the limitations of such policy? What challenges does Beijing face in exercising its economic power in East Asia?

Beijing has a comprehensive, long-term grand strategy in Asia, and economic statecraft is a major component of it. Economic statecraft is a double-edged sword. It has given the People’s Republic of China more political influence but frictions and disputes between China and its trading partners are growing as well. Even with the slower growth of the Chinese economy, China will continue to be a game changer for the region. The economic diplomacy has long been part of the foreign policy toolkit used by the People’s Republic of China and will play more important role in the years to come.

Thus far, China’s expanding economic ties with many countries in the world have not generated significant spillover effects. Although China is the dominant economic partner for every country in East Asia, its “soft power” remains to be weak. With the slower growth of the Chinese economy, another looming issue is whether China is going to be able to make a shift away from a trade- and export-led growth model that brought its dramatic economic success. All these could lead China’s economic statecraft less potent. Meanwhile, it should be noted that Asian economies that once relied on the USA are reaching a turning point as China comes to the fore, a trend that may challenge the existing international order. Should this momentum continue, it could alter the balance of power between Washington and Beijing in the region.

For Beijing, economic statecraft concerns both the economic dimension of foreign policy and the strategic dimension of economic policy. Although there is a growing literature on China’s soft power and military capabilities, the study of the economic dimensions of China’s foreign policy remains underdeveloped. With rising confidence and sophistication, Beijing has deployed economic resources to achieve geopolitical aims.

Needless to say, China’s economic statecraft has already triggered heated debate in the United States, Asia and elsewhere in the international community. However, the study of the Chinese economic diplomacy has received relatively little scholarly attention in the English-speaking world. This paper will fill a gap in the analysis and literature.

World Trade Organization (WTO) accession marked a new beginning for China's economic, legal and institutional reforms and rapid integration with the rest of the world. The purpose of this paper is to review China's post‐WTO transition experience, synthesize and update studies on China's pattern of trade and structural transformation, and provide both positive and negative lessons for other developing countries.

The paper has broadly reviewed the latest policy changes after China's WTO accession, and literatures on China's trade and economic development issues in order to understand the Chinese success and its speciality, and draw some useful lessons for both China's decision‐makers and other developing countries.

There are two main findings: first, market liberalization alone is not sufficient, and economic system reform and the liberalization are closely related and complement and promote each other. Second, experimentations via special economic zones (SEZs) and opening to foreign direct investment (FDI), which facilitated and supported cluster development and learning‐by‐doing, are needed for industrial upgrading and export competitiveness.

The paper demonstrates the wisdom of China's simultaneous pursuit of domestic economic system reform, and opening to the international market. However, China has also paid a high social and environmental cost for its rapid growth. It is important for developing countries to have an exclusive, balanced and sustainable strategy in the future development.

I. Introduction For over forty years, a model for Third World development has gained widespread acceptance. Three key premises underpin the traditional development model: (1) the identification of “development” with the maximization of the rate of national economic growth; (2) the quest to achieve Western living standards and levels of industrialization which require the transfer of labor from the agricultural to the industrial sector as well as increased consumerism; and (3) the integration into the interdependence of Third World nations in the global economy and the global marketplace. Increasing the demand for a Third World nation's exports (in other words, export‐led growth) is viewed as leading to the maximization of a nation's Gross National Product (GNP).

China’s swift economic rise, as symbolized by the first Chinese Olympics and by surpassing Japan to become the world’s second largest economy despite the recent global financial meltdown, has been accompanied by a transformation of Chinese foreign policy behavior. After spending the last decade emphasizing China’s “peaceful rise” or “peaceful development,” Beijing has begun to expound its policy preferences and territorial claims more forthrightly, even assertively. The purpose of this chapter will be to consider the origins, consequences, and likely future of the new Chinese foreign policy in the wake of the leadership transition at the 18th Party Congress in 2012 and the 12th National People’s Congress in 2013.

Analyses China’s experience in import substituting industrialization (ISI), the trend towards export‐oriented industrialization (EOI) through expounding its economic performance and its policies from 1949 to 1995. Focuses on analysing the nature of two different development models: Mao’s closed economy and Deng Xiao Ping’s open‐door economy during this period. Discusses whether it is ISI or EOI that leads to development and economic growth in China.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effectiveness of foreign aid in improving economic growth prospects in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region from 1993 to 2017.

A sample of 45 SSA countries for the period 1993–2017 is considered for this study. The study uses various econometrics tools such as Pedroni and Kao’s cointegration test, Johansen-Fisher Panel cointegration test, FMOLS and PDOLS in order to ascertain the long-run and short-run dynamics among the variables under consideration.

The empirical results find that long-run and short-run relationships exist among foreign aid, economic growth, investment, financial deepening, price stability and trade openness of the SSA economies. The authors also find unidirectional causality running from foreign aid to economic growth. The policymakers in these countries are well-advised to implement suitable policy measures to build on the growth momentum created by foreign aid inflows.

The study uses a dynamic macroeconomic modeling framework to assess the impact of aid flows on economic growth in the SSA region. Taking into account the diversity of level of growth experienced by the 45 countries in the region, the study uses an appropriate regression technique, i.e., panel dynamic OLS whose results are robust. The finding is also supported by the Granger-causality test and robust cointegration techniques.