A new report released by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission commends China for its participation in international financial institutions. From Wall Street Journal blog:
“Across the board, China has become more effective in utilizing international institutions to advance national interests, and to extract what it needs from these institutions,” the report said. China’s growing role “is also frequently constructive and helpful for the organizations in which it participates.”
The report conducts a broad overview of China’s participation in the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations, Asian Development Bank and other institutions.
For the most part, the authors find, China is a voracious consumer of analyses and advice offered by the various institutions and their research departments. “China sees the value in generating an independent viewpoint,” the authors note. In one Asian regional organization, they write, staffers joke that if they can’t find a study, they should ask the Chinese for a copy because they’ll surely have it.
Sometimes, though, the Chinese use their position to stall or frustrate initiatives, as when it helped torpedo the Copenhagen climate change conference. At other times, it’s been ambivalent. Beijing, for example, hasn’t fully backed the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum’s effort for a broad trade deal – though the U.S. hasn’t been jumping to push that one either recently.
See the report itself here.
