IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i24p16951-d1302617.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of China’s Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on Sustainable Trade of Host Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Yu Zhang

    (Economics and Management College, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China)

  • Zeyu Fu

    (Economics and Management College, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China)

  • Lei Xu

    (Economics and Management College, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China)

  • Zhenzhen Lu

    (School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin 300300, China)

Abstract

Under the concept of “government-guided, enterprise-led, and market-oriented” operation, the Chinese Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones (COCZs) have developed a new type of international production pattern, which has become an effective way for developing countries to integrate into the global production network sustainably. Based on the COCZ data collected manually and country-level panel data from 1997 to 2019, this study innovatively analyzes the sustainable trade effect of COCZs with the difference-in-differences method. The research finds that the establishment of COCZs significantly boosts the import and export of the host country in a sustainable manner. Further analysis finds that COCZs can promote the sustainable trade growth of the host country in three aspects: economic, societal, and environmental. This sustainable trade effect is closely related to the institutional improvement and infrastructure construction generated by COCZs. By providing a comprehensive and rigorous analysis of the impact of COCZs on the host country’s trade performance, the paper effectively responds to the criticisms on China’s “going out” strategy, which is often based on biased assumptions and a lack of empirical evidence. It also provides policy implications for both China and the host countries to enhance the cooperation and mutual benefits of COCZs.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Zhang & Zeyu Fu & Lei Xu & Zhenzhen Lu, 2023. "The Impact of China’s Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on Sustainable Trade of Host Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-31, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:24:p:16951-:d:1302617
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/24/16951/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/24/16951/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Petia Topalova, 2010. "Factor Immobility and Regional Impacts of Trade Liberalization: Evidence on Poverty from India," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 1-41, October.
    2. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    3. Dong‐Shang Chang & Li‐Ting Yeh & Yong‐fu Chen, 2014. "The Effects of Economic Development, International Trade, Industrial Structure and Energy Demands on Sustainable Development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(6), pages 377-390, November.
    4. Su, Chi Wei & Yue, Peiwen & Hou, Xinmeng & Dördüncü, Hazar, 2023. "Sustainable development through digital innovation: A new era for natural resource extraction and trade," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    5. Alberto Abadie & Javier Gardeazabal, 2003. "The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 113-132, March.
    6. Jean-Pierre Cling & Gaëlle Letilly, 2001. "Export processing zones : A threatened instrument for global economy insertion ?," Working Papers DT/2001/17, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    7. Jinghan Chen, 1993. "Social Cost‐Benefit Analysis of China's Shenzhen Special Economic Zone," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 11(3), pages 261-272, September.
    8. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Andrew K. Rose, 2005. "Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 85-91, February.
    9. Shiva S. Makki & Agapi Somwaru, 2004. "Impact of Foreign Direct Investment and Trade on Economic Growth: Evidence from Developing Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(3), pages 795-801.
    10. Tarlok Singh, 2010. "Does International Trade Cause Economic Growth? A Survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1517-1564, November.
    11. Fozia Latif Gill & K Kuperan Viswanathan & Mohd Zaini Abdul Karim, 2018. "The Critical Review of the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH)," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(1), pages 167-174.
    12. Warr, Peter G, 1989. "Export Processing Zones: The Economics of Enclave Manufacturing," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 4(1), pages 65-88, January.
    13. Xu, Yiqing, 2017. "Generalized Synthetic Control Method: Causal Inference with Interactive Fixed Effects Models," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 57-76, January.
    14. Gokhan Akinci & Thomas Farole, 2011. "Special Economic Zones : Progress, Emerging Challenges, and Future Directions," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2341.
    15. Madani, Dorsati, 1999. "A review of the role and impact of export processing zones," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2238, The World Bank.
    16. Ha-Chi Le & Thai-Ha Le, 2023. "Effects of economic, social, and political globalization on environmental quality: international evidence," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 4269-4299, May.
    17. Henglong Zhang & Houlin Song & Conglei Hou, 2023. "How Do Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones along the Belt and Road Affect the Economic Growth of Host Countries?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-18, February.
    18. Qing Qin & Churen Sun, 2023. "Empirical Research on the Impact of China’s Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on the Development of Host Countries in the Global Value Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-24, March.
    19. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4582 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Douglas Zhihua Zeng, 2016. "Global Experiences of Special Economic Zones with Focus on China and Africa: Policy Insights," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 7(03), pages 1-27, October.
    2. Malin Niemi & Nicklas Nordfors & Anna Tompsett, 2025. "Trade and pollution: Evidence from India," Papers 2502.09289, arXiv.org.
    3. Shuai Chen & Faqin Lin & Xi Yao & Peng Zhang, 2020. "WTO accession, trade expansion, and air pollution: Evidence from China’s county‐level panel data," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 1020-1045, September.
    4. Honma, Satoshi & Yoshida, Yushi, 2020. "An empirical investigation of the balance of embodied emission in trade: Industry structure and emission abatement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 277-294.
    5. Yushi Yoshida & Satoshi Honma, 2011. "Did International Trade Become Dirtier in Developing Countries? On the Composition Effect of International Trade on the Environment," Discussion Papers 52, Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Economics.
    6. Matilde Bombardini & Bingjing Li, 2016. "Trade, Pollution and Mortality in China," NBER Working Papers 22804, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Bombardini, Matilde & Li, Bingjing, 2020. "Trade, pollution and mortality in China," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    8. Guangwen Meng & Douglas Zhihua Zeng, . "Structural transformation through free trade zones: the case of Shanghai," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    9. Konstantinos J. Hazakis, 2014. "The rationale of special economic zones (SEZs): An Institutional approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 85-101, March.
    10. Rongping Chang & Bei Wang & Yan Zhang & Lingxue Zhao, 2022. "Foreign Direct Investment and Air Pollution: Re-Estimating the “Pollution Haven Hypothesis” in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-20, October.
    11. Löschel, Andreas & Pothen, Frank & Schymura, Michael, 2015. "Peeling the onion: Analyzing aggregate, national and sectoral energy intensity in the European Union," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(S1), pages 63-75.
    12. Maximiliano Marzetti & Rok Spruk, 2023. "Long-Term Economic Effects of Populist Legal Reforms: Evidence from Argentina," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 65(1), pages 60-95, March.
    13. Nicole A. MATHYS & Jaime DE MELO, 2010. "Trade and Climate Change: The Challenges Ahead," Working Papers P14, FERDI.
    14. Bossavie, Laurent & Cho, Yoonyoung & Heath, Rachel, 2023. "The effects of international scrutiny on manufacturing workers: Evidence from the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    15. Yuping Deng & Helian Xu, 2015. "International Direct Investment and Transboundary Pollution: An Empirical Analysis of Complex Networks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-25, April.
    16. Gani, Azmat & Scrimgeour, Frank, 2014. "Modeling governance and water pollution using the institutional ecological economic framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 363-372.
    17. Cui, Jingbo & Lapan, Harvey E. & Moschini, GianCarlo, 2012. "Are exporters more environmentally friendly than non-exporters? Theory and evidence," ISU General Staff Papers 201210040700001076, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    18. Yiping Sun & Xiangyi Li & Tengyuan Zhang & Jiawei Fu, 2022. "Does Trade Policy Uncertainty Exacerbate Environmental Pollution?—Evidence from Chinese Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-21, February.
    19. Irene Botosaru & Bruno Ferman, 2019. "On the role of covariates in the synthetic control method," The Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 22(2), pages 117-130.
    20. Tang, John P., 2015. "Pollution havens and the trade in toxic chemicals: Evidence from U.S. trade flows," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 150-160.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:24:p:16951-:d:1302617. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.