Japan’s Role in Improving Global Economic Governance in the Era of US–China Strategic Competition

This essay provides an analysis of global economic governance from a Japanese perspective. There is an analysis of the “rules based world order” in the context of changing trends, such as the relative decline of the US economy and a rapid rise of the Chinaese economy. The essay focuses on the state of global economic governance from the perspectives of international forums—such as the G7 and the G20 - and international organizations such as the IMF, World Bank and the WTO It tackles key questions: Can the international community build a new rules-based, liberal, multilateral economic governance order? If so, what needs to be done and what role can Japan play as a strong supporter of such an order? How can Japan work with China for this purpose? The essay argues that Japan can play a major role in addressing such challenges. It also urges Japan to work with not only the US and the EU but also China and other major emerging economies in order to reform the WTO, and put it back on the center stage of global rule-making for twenty-first-century trade and investment.