As China has become an increasingly important part of the global trading system over the past two
decades, interest in the country and its international economic policies has increased among
international economists who are not China specialists. This paper represents an attempt to provide
the international economics community with a succinct summary of the major steps in the evolution
of Chinese policy toward international trade and foreign direct investment and their consequences
since the late 1970s. In doing so, we draw upon and update a number of more comprehensive
book-length treatments of the subject. It is our hope that this paper will prove to be a useful resource
for the growing numbers of international economists who are exploring China-related issues, either
in the classroom or in their own research.