The Daily Bulletin

Xingwang Qian, associate professor of economics and finance, will present "China’s Economic Influence on ASEAN Countries: Trade, FDI, and Foreign Aid" on Monday, March 12, from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center East 2. This event is part of the seventh annual Southeast Asia Week March 12–16.

As the second-largest economic power in the world, China imposes profound influence on Southeast Asian countries both economically and politically. The recent economic corporation strategy (Belt and Road initiative) proposed by President Xi Jinping has great potential to reshape the economic landscape of the Southeast Asian region.

This talk uses historical data to illustrate how China interacts with ASEAN economies from trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and foreign aid perspectives and provides an outlook on how China and ASEAN economic interaction may evolve under the Belt and Road initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). China’s economic cooperation and its development assistance provide investment and logistical know-how, skills, and experience to undertake infrastructure capacity-building in Southeast Asia, but it also entails potential downside effects such as the concern over the weakness of Chinese corporate social responsibility and environmental degradation.

This talk not only examines those economic interactions between China and ASEAN as a group but also explores how the Chinese economy affects a few individual countries, such as Malaysia and Laos. Understanding the strength and weakness of Chinese economic interaction, this talk deliberates some policy implications and suggests what might help ASEAN policymakers utilize the upside of Chinese economic influences while harnessing the downsides.

Refreshments will be served.

Southeast Asia Week is sponsored by the Equity and Campus Diversity Office, the Geography and Planning Department, and the Community Academic Center.