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Asia Expert Maps Out A New Canada-China Strategy, Amidst Global Tensions.

September 25, 2019

Toronto - Amidst ongoing trade tensions between North American and Chinese officials, acclaimed Asia analyst Wendy Dobson presents a compelling case for Canada to develop its own long-term China strategy. Market reforms will be key drivers of China’s future growth. But Chinese leaders are wary of spontaneous market forces undermining the Party’s political stability. Dobson shows how Canadian policy makers can navigate this perennial tension in her latest book Living with China: A Middle Power Finds Its Way, published by Rotman-UTP Publishing. 

Dobson’s strategy for improving Canada’s relationship with China includes more leadership from top officials, addressing human rights and security issues, as well as negotiating bilateral trade liberalization. The first comprehensive volume on a forward-looking Canada-China strategy, Living with China lays the groundwork for a dynamic exchange between business leaders and policy makers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.

Wendy Dobson is the Co-Director at the Rotman Institute for International Business, Professor Emerita of Economic Analysis and Policy, and former Canadian Associate Deputy Minister of Finance. Her most recent publications are Partners and Rivals: The Uneasy Future of China’s Relationship with the United States (2014), The Future of Canada’s Relationship with China (2015) and Modernizing NAFTA: A Canadian Perspective (2017).

Advance Praise for Living with China

“In the coming decade, there will be no greater foreign policy challenge for Canada than managing the China relationship and, in particular, dealing with the spillover from deteriorating relations between the U.S. and China.  Wendy Dobson is one of the few analysts with the vision and experience to provide an informed blueprint for the future. Living with China is a must-read for businesses and policy makers seeking to understand the difference between muddling through and succeeding as a middle power by mobilizing all available resources.” - Laura Dawson, Director, Canada Institute at the Wilson Center, Washington, DC

“Against the turbulent backdrop of an unravelling global trading system and the biggest downturn in Canada-China relations since recognition in 1970, Dobson offers a trenchant and realistic assessment of China’s dynamic evolution, Canadian interests and the ingredients of a national strategy appropriate to the times.  Her new book is the best analysis yet of what a recalibrated engagement approach would look like that involves living with China as it is rather than what we would like it to be.”  - Paul Evans, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia  

Rotman-UTP Publishing is an imprint of University of Toronto Press (UTP). Founded in 1901, UTP is one of the largest university presses in North America and releases over 200 new books each year with a backlist of over 3,500 titles in print.  For more information, visit https://utorontopress.com/

The Rotman School of Management is part of the University of Toronto, a global centre of research and teaching excellence at the heart of Canada’s commercial capital. Rotman is a catalyst for transformative learning, insights and public engagement, bringing together diverse views and initiatives around a defining purpose: to create value for business and society. For more information, visit www.rotman.utoronto.ca.

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For more information:

Ken McGuffin
Manager, Media Relations
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
Voice 416.946.3818
Email mcguffin@rotman.utoronto.ca