Measurement Of Trade Facilitation Level Of Belt And Road Countries And Its Impact On Trade Scale

The Belt and Road Economic Corridor has become one of the hot topics in international trade research,and trade facilitation is an important research area in the Belt and Road Economic Corridor.Given the sluggish global economic growth,countries along the Belt and Road economic corridors have shown strong economic vitality,but trade facilitation is generally low,w.hich is not conducive to further deepening of economic and trade cooperation among countries.The entry into force of the 2017 WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation will give a strong impetus to member countries 'trade facilitation efforts and serve as an important opportunity to enhance trade facilitation in countries along the Belt and Road Economic Corridor.By combing the relevant literature on the Belt and Road and trade facilitation,and combining the actual development of the Belt and Road economic corridors,this paper identifies four primary and 27 secondary indicators for measuring the level of trade facilitation.A complete set of trade facilitation index system is constructed by using principal component analysis method.Based on the latest data released by the World Economic Forum,the World Bank and Transparency International,the trade facilitation level of the 54 countries involved in the construction of the Belt and Road Economic Corridor has been measured,and it has been found that there is a large gap in the average trade facilitation water between countries and regions.It is not conducive to synergistic development among countries.In terms of empirical analysis,trade facilitation was introduced into the trade gravity model as one of the factors affecting trade flows,and then the cross-sectional data for 2016 of the 51 countries involved in the construction of the Belt and Road Economic Corridor were regressed.The results show that trade facilitation,GDP,regional economic cooperation organizations and the border between the two countries have a positive impact on trade flows,while geographical distance and tariffs are not conducive to increasing trade flows,(a)The integration of trade facilitation tier one indicators into trade gravity models for regression analysis,which shows that logistics and infrastructure environments,finance and e-commerce contribute more to trade flows than customs and border management and regulatory enviromnents.A high level of trade facilitation policies would effectively contribute to the increase in trade flows among countries.Based on the above studies,countries along the Belt and Road economic corridors should strengthen infrastructure development,improve logistics,simplify customs clearance procedures,improve customs transparency,improve laws and regulations,and enhance judicial independence.We will upgrade modern financial services and promote the efficient use of information technology.We will promote trade facilitation in the Belt and Road economic corridors as a whole,further strengthen economic and trade cooperation among countries and achieve common prosperity for all countries along the routes.