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Does the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Test Zones promote the transformation and upgradation of trade patterns?

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  • Chen, Wanling
  • Hu, Yao
  • Liu, Bei
  • Wang, Hui
  • Zheng, Mingbo

Abstract

As the main battleground for the high-quality development of trade, the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Zones (PFTZ) in China has been an important strategy to promote the transformation and upgrading of the quality and patterns of trade. Based on annual provincial-level panel data from 2002 to 2017, this study explores the impact of the establishment of PFTZ on the transformation and upgradation of trade patterns based on the multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) method and yields four significant findings. First, PFTZ have increased the share of general trade by 11.8%, whereas the share of processing trade has decreased by 14.1%, indicating that they have significantly contributed to the transformation and upgradation of domestic trade patterns. This finding holds after conducting various robustness tests. Second, from the perspective of heterogeneity, even though the impact of the first batch of the PFTZ was insignificant, the second batch has significantly promoted the transformation and upgradation of trade patterns. Third, the promotion effect of the establishment of the provincial PFTZ on the transformation of trade patterns was significantly higher than that of the PFTZ directly controlled by the central government. Finally, the study found that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) can enhance the positive effect of the PFTZ on the quality and development of trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Wanling & Hu, Yao & Liu, Bei & Wang, Hui & Zheng, Mingbo, 2022. "Does the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Test Zones promote the transformation and upgradation of trade patterns?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 114-128.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:76:y:2022:i:c:p:114-128
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2022.07.012
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    2. Sofiyandi, Yusuf & Kurniawan, Yusuf Reza & Yudhistira, Muhammad Halley, 2023. "The impact of maritime logistics subsidy on food prices: Evidence from Indonesia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1026-1045.
    3. Ran, Rong & Hua, Lei & Xiao, Junfu & Ma, Li & Pang, Mingyue & Ni, Zhengxing, 2023. "Can poverty alleviation policy enhance ecosystem service value? Evidence from poverty-stricken regions in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1509-1525.
    4. Feng, Wei & Sun, Shujun & Yuan, Hang, 2023. "Research on the efficiency of factor allocation in the pilot free trade zones," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 727-745.
    5. Guan, Chenghua & Huang, Jinyuan & Jiang, Ruyue & Xu, Wanting, 2023. "The impact of pilot free trade zone on service industry structure upgrading," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 472-491.
    6. Xu, Shiteng & Shen, Ronghua & Zhang, Yahua & Cai, Yifei, 2024. "Fostering regional innovation efficiency through pilot free trade zones: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 356-367.
    7. Chenggang Wang & Dongxue Yang & Tiansen Liu, 2024. "The Impact of Factor Price Distortions on Export Technology Complexity: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-27, August.
    8. Siwen Xia & Jiaying Han & Anglu Li & Penghao Ye & Huarong Zhang, 2024. "Impact of Free Trade (Pilot) Zone Establishment on Urban Land Use Efficiency—Empirical Evidence from Cities in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-25, July.
    9. Li, Zhaohua & Pang, Suqin & Zhu, Zhiyun, 2024. "The impact of pilot free trade zones on entrepreneurship: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    10. Bei Wang & Hong Chen & Ruiqi Chen & Weiting Zeng & Lechuan Ye, 2023. "Does the Green Development of Cities Need High-Level Opening Up? A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on China’s Pilot Free Trade Zone," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    11. Yuan Feng & Ying Li & Changfei Nie, 2023. "The Effect of Place-Based Policy on Urban Land Green Use Efficiency: Evidence from the Pilot Free-Trade Zone Establishment in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, March.
    12. Xin Su & Shengwen Wang, 2024. "Impact of China’s free trade zones on the innovation performance of firms: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.

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