Was China the first domino? Assessing links between China and other Asian economies

Several commentators have suggested that competition from China-in particul ar its 1994 'devaluation' and strong export performance during 1994-95-may have contributed to the Asian crisis of 1997-98. We provide evidence agains t this view. We show that the devaluation was not important in economic ter ms, and China's strong export performance in 1994-95 was matched by other A sian economies. We also show that the period 1993 and 1996 was marked by re lative stability in the export shares of China and other Asian economies in various geographical regions and industries. The paper concludes by outlin ing channels through which the Asian crisis could affect China. (C) 1999 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. JEL classification: F31.