Research On The Impact Of Investment Facilitation Of The Belt And Road Countries On The Spatial Effect Of China's OFDI

The “Belt and Road” initiative is a great strategy put forward by China during the new normal period of the economy.It is an inevitable choice for China to implement higher-level opening up.It is also an important guarantee for China in the face of a complex external environment.Although the countries along the “Belt and Road” have significant differences in political systems,cultural environment,and economic development levels,the phenomena of complementary resources and complementary industries between China and other countries are also obvious.Therefore,by studying the spatial impact of investment facilitation levels of countries along the “Belt and Road” on China's OFDI,this article can not only provide a direct reference for Chinese companies in the selection of OFDI locations,but also provide opportunities for Chinese enterprises to avoid risks and optimize their OFDI,optimize the allocation of factor resources,improve resource utilization efficiency,and make better use of the role of space effects in foreign investment.First,this article sorts out relevant theoretical literature and related synthetic investment facilitation indicators,related OFDI influencing factors,and related empirical literature on spatial measurement methods.Then based on previous research,using the four primary indicators of infrastructure quality,business investment environment,financial service efficiency,and system supply quality,seventeen secondary indicators,using entropy method and principal component analysis method to determine each Indicator weights,and the investment facilitation level of each country is calculated by weighting.The results show that the investment facilitation indicators of the countries along the “Belt and Road” are very different.Some countries in the Middle East have the highest levels of investment facilitation,followed by European countries,followed by Central Asian and Southeast Asian countries.Then,after the space effect test,the panel data of 40 countries along the “Belt and Road” was empirically analyzed using a spatial econometric model in 2009-2017.The level of investment facilitation of the host country,GDP per capita of the host country,human resources of the host country,The spatial impact of natural resources and host country trade with China on China's direct investment in countries along the “Belt and Road”.The empirical results show that the level of investment facilitation,human resources,and trade with China by the host country will significantly promote China'sdirect investment in the host country.The level of host country investment facilitation,human resources,and trade with China have a significant space spillover effect on China's OFDI,while the host country's natural resources have a significant space squeeze effect on China's OFDI.Based on the full sample regression,it is divided into two groups according to the income level of the host country,and the sub-samples are regressed using a spatial measurement model.The results show that the absolute value of the coefficient of investment facilitation level in the sub-sample of high-income countries is greater than that of low-income countries,and the significance is consistent.Thirdly,the utility model is used to decompose the spatial lag model and the spatial Dubin model to obtain direct effects,indirect effects and total effects.In this way,we can better examine the space spillover effect of investment facilitation level on China's foreign direct investment.The results show that,in both the full sample and the sub-sample,the level of investment facilitation has a significant spatial spillover effect on China's outward direct investment.Finally,this article puts forward four relevant policy suggestions based on empirical conclusions.First,China can provide financial support to the “Belt and Road” countries through the AIIB and Silk Road Funds,improve the level of investment facilitation of the host country,and thereby increase the size of China's OFDI.Second,Chinese enterprises must choose economically when they are OFDI Countries with higher levels of development and higher levels of investment facilitation,because OFDI in these countries can form a more significant space spillover effect,which will drive China's OFDI to neighboring countries of the host country,thereby forming a spatial agglomeration effect and achieving “multi-point,multi-faceted,regional coordinated development” pattern.Third,Chinese enterprises should follow the comparative advantages of labor resources or natural resources in different countries in each region when OFDI to countries along the“Belt and Road”.Fourth,China should increase Great exports to countries along the “Belt and Road”,especially countries with lower levels of economic development among the countries along the “Belt and Road”.