Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations exported their way out of economic trouble after the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998. Ireland and Spain did the same after the global banking collapse in 2008 and 2009. Yet China could invite political blowback from countries worried that a flood of exports could erode their own economies, costing workers their jobs and companies their market share. And China’s close partnership with Russia, a country now reviled across much of Europe for its invasion of Ukraine, has caused alarm in Europe about the continent’s reliance on China. But there is also a practical challenge for China: Its trade surplus in manufactured goods is so large — equal to a 10th of the entire Chinese economy, by Mr. Setser’s calculations — that it may be hard to expand it further.

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Persons: Deborah Elms Organizations: Asian Trade Center Locations: Thailand, Ireland, Spain, Greece, China, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Southeast Asia, Singapore