Changes in Net Barter Terms of Trade for Sino-Australian Agricultural Products after China’s Accession to the WTO

Abstract

Using “chain-based and constant-based†two-step method, this paper measured Paasche net barter terms of index for Sino-Australian agricultural products from 2001 to 2013, and further calculated contribution of each category of agricultural products to changes in overall net barter terms of trade. The results showed that since 2001, the overall net barter terms of trade for Sino-Australian agricultural products fluctuated between deterioration and improvement. In 2013, the net barter terms of trade index was 1.02, and its improvement is not significant. From 2001 to 2013, the net barter terms of trade for Sino-Australian agricultural products improved about 16.44%, which dominated by the category 0 agricultural products whose influence degree is 6 times and 28 times the degree of category 4 and category 1. In years when the net barter terms of trade for Sino-Australian agricultural products deteriorated, category 2 agricultural products were the root cause for the deterioration.