A Study On The Impact Of East Asian Regional Production Networks On China’s Trade Structure

East Asian regional production networks have become a most importantplatform for China to participate in international specialization. Therefore, thispaper studies the impact of East Asian regional production networks on China’strade structure, and seeks countermeasures to upgrade China’s trade structure.First, the formation and characteristics of East Asian regional productionnetworks are studied. It shows that since1990s, a kind of regional productionnetworks has developed in East Asia, leading by multinational corporations andmanifested by the developing hybrid value chains specialization. Secondly,status quo of China’s role in East Asian regional production networks isanalyzed. FDI from East Asia has driven China to join in this specialization, withprocessing trade greatly developing. China has gradually become "the finalproduct assembling export-oriented base" and the central of "triangular tradepattern" in East Asia, while locating in the low-end of "smiling curve" andaccessing fewer benefits. Thirdly, this paper studies the impact of East Asianregional production networks on China’s trade structure. On one hand, theeffect of capital accumulation and technology transfer, diffusion and innovationhas helped China upgrade merchandise trade structure. The manufacturedgoods have possessed an absolutely dominant position, mechanical andelectrical products have become the main commodities and high-tech exportsand imports has appeared a high-speed growth. On the other hand, FDI fromEast Asia still has "efficiency-seeking" characteristic, mostly specializing in thelow-value-added labor-intensive processes, so it shows a negative correlationwith the value-added rate of processing trade. Finally, countermeasures toupgrade China’s trade structure are put forward, such as guiding the orientationof FDI, developing the related industries and so on.