The trading potential of China, with its population of some 650 million people, has for long been a subject of absorbing interest, and never more so than in recent years, with the rapid expansion of economic growth which has been brought about since the establishment of the People's Republic.

The policies of the Chinese Government have led to drastic changes in the orientation of its international trade, in its administration and to notable modifications in the nature of both imports and exports. These have all derived primarily from the change to a Communist Government and to its implementation of the corresponding political and economic systems.