THE large increase in exports to China from emerging economies such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam has benefited their development, but may make them more vulnerable to “future Chinese economic coercion”, according to an expert on the region.
He said that while China is an increasingly important export market and trading partner for all 10 Asean economies, the growing China trade is different for the region’s six wealthier countries and the poorer, emerging economies of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
These were the only four economies in Southeast Asia that saw the growth rate of exports to China outpace the growth rate of imports from China from 2013 to 2018.
