China as a Final Market: The Gabon Timber and Thai Cassava Value Chains

SummaryRapid economic growth in China has boosted its demand for commodities. In many commodities sectors, this has been associated with declining demand from high-income northern economies. This paper examines two hypotheses of the resulting outcomes for the organization of global value chains in general, and for the role played by low income producers in particular—the importance of standards in global value chains, and the space available for low income producers to upgrade into higher value niches in their chains. The detailed case-studies of the Thai cassava industry and the Gabon timber sector both confirm these hypotheses.