This paper delves into China's differential growths in trade flows with high income countries by focusing on bilateral content of trade data over the time period 1962-2005. Unlike other studies, we account for end use of traded goods ranging from primary, intermediate, and finished goods because China's policies impact all segments China's trade flows. China's trade growth patterns with major high income countries clearly indicate that the adjacency-neighborhood partners alone is unlikely to explain its unprecedented growth in exports and imports. China's outstanding performance in trade growth can be traced back to the 1970s with changes in its policies and increased involvement in the international segmentation of production processes and preferential tariff treatment to assembling and processing activities.