Export Trade, Technology Progress And China's Economic Growth

Traditional trade and growth theory concern about whether export trade can lead to economic growth by enlarging itself. New trade theory and new growth theory point out that technology progress can support the growth of economy while export trade is an important channel of promoting technology progress. Based on the frameworks of traditional and new theories of trade and growth, this article discusses the export trade's role and its promoting mechanism in economic growth of China.In the first chapter the proposal and contents of the research are discussed, and the articles which talk about trade, technology progress and economic growth are summarized. The second chapter reviews the theories of trade and economic growth by introducing traditional trade and growth theory, technology progress in economic growth theory, and new trade and growth theory. It offers theoretical basement and analyzing framework to subsequent empirical researches. The third chapter discusses the relationship between export trade and economic growth of China. It introduces the progress history of export trade and economy in China, makes empirical researches by using cointegration theory, analyses how export trade can drive along the growth of economy of China, and dictates the reasons of this effects. The forth chapter is about export trade and technology progress. It quantifies the abstract concepts of technology progress, and then defines the main factors which affect technology progress as a system, and analyses the effects by using measuring tools. The fifth chapter is about the research of the relation between economic growth and export which based on technology progress transmitting mechanism. It uses Feder's two-sector growth model and extends it, and analyses the two types of technological progress factors in export trade which affects economic growth, which are"the factor productivity advantage of export sectors compare to non-export sectors"and"the technological diffusion effects of export on non-export sectors". Considering the feature of export trade in China, and focusing on export structure and export main body, it analyses how export trade drives along economic growth through affecting technological progress. Countermeasures and suggestions are discussed in the sixth chapter. Basing on results of analyzing, it finds out problems remaining in export trade in China, and gives several advices of promoting the sustain growth of export and utilizing export to drive along economic growth mechanism in our country.This paper studies practical questions by using some econometrics methods such as regression, Granger-causality test, and cointegration theory. And it draws several conclusions. Firstly, economy of China is characterized as rather multifactor-driving compound growth than export-led growth. The main factor of driving economic growth is internal demand rather than trade. Although export is not the engine of driving economic growth, it is also an essential factor. From views of long term, it has vital meaning of keeping the stability operation of macro economic system in our country. Secondly, economic growth style in China is extensive as a whole, capital accumulation and labor investments can deeply affect economic growth while technological progress has limited promotion on it. Among the main factors of affecting technological progress, export trade has positive effect, but this effect is not more distinct than those made by R&D and import trade. Thirdly, on the whole, export sectors in China promote technological progress by rising self-relative factor productivity and technological diffusion to non-export sectors, and drive the long term economic growth. Considered from export structure and export main body, technology progress transmitting mechanism in export sectors of manufactured products and foreign investment export enterprise are more evident than those in primary products exporting sectors and domestic capital enterprises. By analyzing the relationship between export trade and economic growth in China, and analyzing the technology progress transmitting mechanism of export trade, this paper provides a basis of whole range evaluation of effects of export on quantity and quality of economic growth in our country.