Revealed Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness in Chinese Agricultural Sectors

This paper examined the competitiveness of Chinese agricultural products, in relation to the rest of the world, based on the index of revealed comparative advantage, using lots of data during period of 1980 to 2000. The index is useful in identifying the demarcation between comparative advantage and comparative disadvantage, though a problem exits when using it. China is shown to have a comparative advantage in a range of agricultural products, including edible vegetables and tea. This complements the findings of those studies that have used price and cost based on approaches in identifying competitiveness in agricultural products. Results indicated that the RCA values had been weakening over the 21-year period. These have vastly different implication for the future reform in China’s agriculture.