A Study On The Green And Low-carbon Effect Of China’s OFDI In Countries Along The "Belt And Road"

In September 2020,the "30 · 60" carbon peak and carbon neutrality and development goals were proposed,which means that green and low-carbon development has become one of the important directions of China’s economic development.At the same time,with the promotion of the "Belt and Road" initiative,China’s outward direct investment(OFDI)to countries along the "Belt and Road" has also increased year by year.Some foreign views believe that China,as the world’s largest carbon emitter,is transferring its carbon emissions to countries along the "Belt and Road" through OFDI,so what is the reality? What effect has China’s OFDI had on carbon emissions in countries along the "Belt and Road",and what direct or indirect channels existed? For these problems,only by using objective data to analyze,can we better verify the role of China’s OFDI in countries along the "Belt and Road".Focusing on the above issues,this paper first sorts out the relevant international investment and environmental theories,reviews and summarizes the existing literature on international investment and carbon emissions of host countries at home and abroad,and reviews the existing research.Secondly,the overall status quo of China’s OFDI,China’s OFDI status quo of countries along the "Belt and Road",the current situation of the environment of countries along the "Belt and Road",and the green and low-carbon policies of major countries are analyzed.In addition,the scale,structural and technical effects of China’s OFDI on carbon emissions of countries along the "Belt and Road" are explained,which lays a solid theoretical foundation for follow-up research.Finally,sample data from 47 countries along the "Belt and Road" from 2006 to 2020 are selected and analyzed using systematic GMM regression.At the same time,heterogeneity such as national development level,regional distribution and investment motivation existing in countries along the "Belt and Road" was discussed.The empirical results show that in the benchmark regression results,China’s OFDI is significantly negatively correlated with the carbon emissions of countries along the "Belt and Road",resulting in a more obvious green and low-carbon effect.Among the indirect effects,the scale effect is in line with the "inverted U" type change trend described by the kuznets curve of the environment;the structural effect shows that the carbon emissions of countries along the "Belt and Road" are highly correlated with China’s OFDI industry choice;the technical effect is significantly negatively correlated,but the coefficient is relatively small.Among the control variables,there is no significant correlation between the degree of economic openness and carbon emissions,and the early carbon emissions,high energy consumption levels,and accelerated urbanization are the internal factors that lead to the increase in local carbon emissions,and the formulation of low-carbon policies can effectively reduce carbon emissions.Among the heterogeneity analysis results,in the discussion of the heterogeneity of the national development level,the carbon reduction effect of China’s OFDI in developed countries is better than that of developing countries,and the technical effect is more fully exerted in developed countries.In the discussion of regional heterogeneity,in the Southeast Asian region,the green and low-carbon role of China’s OFDI is mainly played through structural effects;in Central and Western Asia and the CIS region,structural effects and technical effects are relatively limited;in Central and Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean coastal region,mainly play a role in technical effects.In the discussion of investment heterogeneity,in market-invested countries,China’s OFDI mainly achieves carbon emission reduction through scale effect and structural effect;in resource-invested countries,although OFDI’s role is low,it also shows a certain "low carbon" overall;in innovative investment countries,OFDI achieves carbon emission reduction effect through the positive feedback cycle of green technology.Therefore,based on the empirical test results,it can be seen that China’s OFDI does not use the countries along the "Belt and Road" as its own pollution refuge,but exerts a green and low-carbon effect in relevant countries through the OFDI mechanism,and improves the local carbon emission situation.Finally,from the perspective of international investment practice and green and low-carbon development,this paper puts forward policy suggestions for promoting the development of Low-carbon OFDI in China and building a green,sustainable,mutually beneficial and win-win "Belt and Road" investment cooperation platform.