Page 14 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.76, # 1, 2019, pp. 4-19

but reciprocity should consider differences in order to respect each other. However,
the current rejection in the new regulations on China’s market economy status makes
it highly difficult of asking for reciprocity from China.

In order to explain this point, we would consider the clear argument of Michele
Geraci (China daily, 2017). He explained: “Western analysts tend to take a cross-
sectional approach and compare China today with, say, Europe, as it is today. China
appears late on many metrics of economic development, such as the openness of its
market, the development of its financial system and so on we would say it is doing
different choices and trying to avoid, no always successfully, the financial mistakes
experienced in the West. The result is that Western policymakers often push China
to accelerate reforms and offer reciprocity. However, Chinese analysts tend to be
time-series analysts and compare China today with where China itself stood one or
two decades ago. The two approaches lead to entirely different conclusions and very
different policy recommendations: Western analysts urge China to implement
reforms and complain when this does not happen fast enough. Chinese analysts
respond that China is already moving forward very quickly, indeed, faster than the
West and that the gap is narrowing. For example, when analysing China’s steel
exportation to Europe, Chinese scholar Jia Wenhua argues that the export in 2002
was 229 million EUR (580 thousand tons), in 2007 the data was at the peak of 7.099
billion EUR (10.83 million tons) and in 2015 the data was 4.478 billion EUR (7.66
million tons). Hence, Jia comes to a conclusion that EC’s claims on China did not fit
the fact from a medium and long term aspect. (Jia, 2017) The European Union is
implementing new policies aimed at more carefully screening cross-border M&As
carried out by non-EU investors. The policy aims at scrutinizing both targets and
buyers. On the target side, it will list a number of strategic industrial sectors and
potential acquisition targets that will receive more severe scrutiny before being given
the green light. On the acquirer side, more attention will be given to who the ultimate
shareholders are. European politicians would be more relaxed about selling their
companies if there was some assurance that the new owner, for example a Chinese
company, were committed to bringing new capital into the company thus increasing
the production level, creating new jobs for the local population and granting access
to the Chinese market. There is way to achieve that and it is a multi-step acquisition
process”.

4. CONCLUDING REMARKS WITH A POLICY ADVICE
The BRI has raised debates between its significant economic opportunities and
suspicions on China’s intentions. For China’s global role, there is a dilemma
between Thucydides’ Trap and Kindleberger Trap. Under the theory of China threats

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