Export Trade, Absorptive Capacity, and High-Quality Economic Development in China

Abstract

Exports are a crucial driving force of China’s economic growth; however, researchers have yet to verify whether they can effectively improve the high-quality economic development. Based on interprovincial panel data from 2000 to 2019, in this study, we constructed a high-quality economic development indicator system through the entropy weight method, and we adopted the linear regression model and dynamic panel threshold model to empirically test the export trade effect on the high-quality economic development as well as its mechanism. We also probed the impact of the heterogeneous absorptive capacity on the high-quality economic development. According to our research findings, China’s export trade has substantially promoted the high-quality economic development level by, from the viewpoint of the action path, positively influencing the economic, open, and coordination subsystems. The influence of the export trade on the high-quality economic development has a substantial single-threshold effect on the heterogeneous absorptive capacity; that is, when the threshold variables that represent the regional absorptive capacity (the economic level, R&D intensity, and technological gap) are all higher than the threshold value, the export trade has a substantial positive impact on the high-quality economic development level. The research conclusions of this paper provide new ideas for the development of high-quality economic systems as well as a useful reference for China in its formulation of more targeted foreign trade policies.

An examining factors influencing internasional export and import relationships in context of Vietnam’s free trade agreements

“…Notably, economic growth appears to exert a more pronounced effect on imports than exports, indicative of a time lag between economic expansion and enhanced export capacity. This observation aligns with recent research by (Luo & Qu, 2023;and Shinwari et al, 2023), which emphasizes the presence of a time lag between economic growth and the strengthening of export capabilities. The study's findings are consistent with the actual trade dynamics between Vietnam and the Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia during the study period.…”

“…A positive influence of population dynamics on exports and imports is observed, mirroring the overall trade trend (Haini et al, 2023;Luo & Qu, 2023;Vijil et al, 2024). However, this influence is more potent on exports.…”

China's Export Trade's Effects on the Global Economy

“…The impact's size and direction are influenced by the commodity category in particular [6]. China's export trade has helped raise the level of high-quality economy development through action [7]. The prospect of China's foreign trade exports ultimately does not depend on external forces, but on the strong strength of China's manufacturing industry, and the world's import of Chinese products is the general trend.…”

The relationship between humble leadership and employee innovative behavior in Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage (CICH) SMEs: Mediated-moderating effect of knowledge sharing and absorptive capacity

“…Patterson and Ambrosini (2015) linked absorptive capacity with innovation, arguing that it involves a firm's process of searching for, acquiring, assimilating, transforming, and applying new external knowledge to augment its innovation capabilities. Luo and Qu (2023) found that absorptive capacity could propel the innovation quality of Chinese high-tech industries by analyzing industry data.…”