Southeast Asia and the Rise of China by Ian Storey

Author:Ian Storey [Storey, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Asia, China, Political Science, International Relations, General, Social Science, Ethnic Studies
ISBN: 9781136722974
Google: WO59snyW0HIC
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-08-21T15:57:16+00:00

Sino-Cambodian economic ties

From the mid-1990s, China quickly established itself as Cambodia’s most important economic partner. Where some foreign investors saw only rampant corruption, political instability and a relatively small domestic market, Chinese investors were attracted by low labour costs and the country’s natural resources. According to Cambodian statistics, China emerged as the largest foreign investor in the early 2000s, pumping $1.58 billion into 3,016 business concerns by the end of 2007.55 In 2008, the government approved a staggering $4.3 billion in PRC-funded projects, or 40 per cent of all investment pledges.56 Chinese companies have invested in a wide range of sectors including garments, mining, hydropower, agribusiness and retail. In tandem with PRC investment, Sino-Cambodian trade has risen sharply, from $102 million in 1997 to just over $1 billion in 2007, making China Cambodia’s second largest trade partner after the United States ($2.5 billion) (see Table 8.1).57 As with neighbouring Laos, the PRC’s economic activities in Cambodia have courted controversy, including a litany of complaints such as lack of transparency, corruption, back-room deals with Cambodian politicians, illegal logging, land grabbing and unregulated mining operations.58 Concerns have also been expressed that the large influx of Chinese money into Cambodia has fuelled the already endemic corruption problem.59

Table 8.1 Cambodia’s trade with China, 1995–2007 (US$ millions)

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