Junyang Hu, a Research Associate for PAX’s U.S.-China Program, was recently invited to a conference in Hawaii, co-hosted by the UC Berkeley APEC Study Center and the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, Shidler College of Business. Junyang served as a discussant and presented research on U.S.-China relations during the panels.
The conference focused on the fundamental shift occurring in the global political economy. With the stagnation of the World Trade Organization, increasing paralysis in multilateral trade governance, and escalating U.S.–China rivalry, international economic relations are being shaped more by strategic competition than cooperation. Countries are intervening more directly in markets, not only to achieve domestic economic aims but also to pursue geopolitical objectives. These interventions mainly take two forms:
- Industrial policy, which aims to boost domestic productive capacity
- New economic statecraft, which uses economic tools to influence other states.
