ABSTRACT
The People's Republic of China (PRC) provides economic aid to developing countries on terms more generous than those offered by any other major aid donor. Chinese economic aid and technical assistance could be useful to most Southeast Asian nations but will probably continue to be concentrated on the Indo-Chinese states and Burma. China today is potentially one of the world's largest oil producers and exporters. The Chinese believe they have the third largest proven reserves in the world and hope to produce 400 million tons of oil in 1980. The PRC’s limitations as supplier of oil to Southeast Asia may be less significant in the long run than its competition with Southeast Asia as an exporter of oil to world markets. Other Southeast Asian countries may eventually join Indonesia as competitors with China in the international oil trade. Future exploration for offshore oil may exacerbate existing territorial disputes in the South China Sea involving China and various Southeast Asian countries.
