China and the Global Value Chain

Seen from Norway and perhaps also mainland Europe - China represent something very different in many respects. In between scaring, exciting, powerful and attractive. Encircled by a touch of exotic mystery, anecdotical narratives and stories and of course great power some might also see China as one of the contemporary global power states or leading hegemons. In the internationalisation process of the Chinese economy most countries on the globe have seen a significant increase of trade with China. Also, Norway have experienced this along several dimensions. One of the sectors are the seafood export – export of Cod and farmed Salmon. Seafood is an exclusive dish in China and the potential market is huge. BUT Norwegian exporters have faced numerous barriers to the Chinese seafood market which makes is attractive but unstable and possibly difficult to rely on. It is also interesting to bear in mind that An estimated 74.9% of China’s seafood imports are reexported. At the other side Norway as do Europe and other regions rely on many dimensions of the global value chains where China plays an important and perhaps also dominating role. In this global play and tug between power and interdependence and how it bring consideration to the sensitivity and vulnerability of countries and regions. We experienced some of this during and in the aftermath of the pandemic. It will be important to have some thoughts around how quickly changes in one country (for example China) bring costly changes in another (for instance Norway or Europe) SENSITIVITY