The spaghetti bowl is getting quite thick. The follow partners are moving towards preferential trade agreements: Australia-Malaysia, Jordan-Russia, Chile-China, India-GCC, Thailand-Japan, Egypt-USA.

But while regionalism seems to be driving multilateralism into obsolescence, unilateral trade liberalization by China might overtake them both, argues Razeen Sally.

“The image I’d ask you to bear in mind is of China assuming the role that Britain had in the second half of the 19th century — in other words, China as the unilateral engine of freer trade that sets up competitive and emulative effects not least in the neighbourhood of South and Southeast Asia,” Sally told a conference organised by Beijing University and the LSE.

Excellent news, if it comes true. I’ve long preferred Chinese food to Italian.