Research On The Export Of South Korean Cultural Products From The Perspective Of FTA

The transnational trade of cultural products is on the rise.The cross-border flow of goods,services and capital requires concordant policy rules,international trade and cultural diversity are inseparable as a whole.Unified cultural trade rules makes economic sense.There are great differences in cultural trade rules between the multilateral and bilateral trade systems.Compared with the framework of WTO,free trade agreements can eliminate the limitations of users and improve the operability and binding force of cultural trade rules.FTA is an innovative improvement on the WTO system and the integration among cultural trade liberalization and "cultural exception".The superiority of FTA is closely related to the institutional characteristics of its signatory states in field of cultural trade.The institutional quality of importing countries is an important factor affecting the cost of institutional friction.Through convergence,FTA improves the institutional level and business environment of importing countries,promotes cultural export.South Korea is an international representative in cultural trade.It has established the"strategy of culture power" in 1998.As a hub of FTA network,FTA promoted the cultural export of the country.China is adjacent to South Korea,both belong to the Confucian cultural circle.The successful experience of South Korea in using FTA to promote the cultural export can bring some enlightenment to China.Based on the export value of cultural products from South Korea to 50 parties in 19 FTA in 2002-2018,this paper uses multi time point DID model for empirical research.The results show that FTA is better than WTO in cultural trade.WTO members have promoted their trade of cultural products by signing Free Trade Agreements;Institutional distance inhibits cultural trade with signatory countries;Importing countries with high legal level are conducive to the cuitural export of exporting countries,but in countries with low level of national governance such as legal system,regulatory quality and corruption control,the effect of FTA on cultural trade is more obvious,signing an FTA could be a realistic option to expand cultural trade to countries with less efficient institutions.As its Asian neighbor,China’s GDP and population far exceed that of South Korea,but the cultural export in China lags behind.The Korean cultural export experience can provide some reference for China’s cultural industry.In order to break through the export bottleneck,we must actively integrate into international competition and take appropriate ways to expand the openness of cultural trade.Chinese government should play the supporting role to promote the development of cultural industry;Formulate bilateral cultural trade rules through FTA;Using FTA to expand the diversified choice of cultural trading partners;Build an international FTA network to promote the cultural products "going out".At the same time,enterprises should improve competitiveness;Consider the institutional environment and choose the trade object;Master FTA trade rules and enjoy policy dividends.