An analysis of trade structural change’s influences upon the imbalance status of China-US air cargo market

摘要

Ever since the mid-1990s when there were nearly balanced outbound and inbound airrncargo traffics, the imbalances status began deteriorated in China-US air market. Inrn2009 the ratio between outbound and inbound air traffics amounted to the highestrnlevel of 3.60. Some people argue that it is trade surpluses that determine those airrncargo imbalances. But this theory could not explain the fact that even China hadrnsignificant trade deficits with some partners like Japan, South Korea and Australia,rnthere is also considerable imbalances with outbound air traffic surpluses. It is alsornargued that there are strong correlations between the level of intra-industry trade andrnair cargo imbalance ratio in China’s overall foreign trade and international air market.rnBy using detailed trade and air cargo statistics between China and US, this paper wantrnto check out the role trade structure play in the development of air cargo imbalance inrnbilateral air cargo market. It argues that more liberal air service agreements (ASAs)rnare needed for China, not only for the benefits of Chinese designated carriers, but alsornfor the further development of China international trade practices.