Trading with China: Challenges and Policy Issues faced by S&SEA exporting MSMEs

With China’s next Trade Policy Review coming up on the 11th and 13th of July, this briefing paper will seek to show the views of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), who export to China from Myanmar, Laos, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and the challenges that they face especially in the face of China’s trade policy and standards, which may have hindered their exports to China. This note provides a regional perspective on the issue, based on private and public sectors testimonies. Common and country-specific challenges of exporting to China will be demonstrated, along with some insights on the needs of MSMEs to be able to maximize their respective potential gains from trade with China