Essay from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 2,0, University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: Since 1978 the economic reform process in China has been in progress. It transformed the economy of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from a centrally planned into a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. A basic feature of this reformation was the encouragement of foreign direct investment inflows as well as the liberalization of trade in China. In the present essay, I will trace the evolution of trade patterns together with their associated consequences on China’s industrial structure.