Research On The Impact Of China Free Trade Area Strategy On Export Product Diversification

After the reform and opening up,China has actively integrated into the global value chain by relying on the advantages of cheap labour and resources,and the total export volume and economic volume have expanded rapidly.The diversification of export products can comprehensively reflect the quantity,structure and technological content of export products,and is an important indicator of the high-quality development of foreign trade.Based on the above background,the study on the impact of free trade zone strategy on the diversification of China’s export products is conducted.Through combing the current situation of the implementation of China’s free trade zone strategy,it is found that China’s free trade zone strategy is progressing smoothly,with a total of 19 free trade zones signed into force in China;by using HS6-digit commodity trade data from the UN trade database to construct and measure the export product diversification indicators at the national level-the number of export product categories and the HHI index-it is found that:compared with the year when the free trade zones came into force,China 2021 there is a significant increase in the level of product diversification of our exports to the FTA partner.This is mainly due to the reduction of barriers to trade in goods,barriers to investment and barriers to trade in services between China and its FTA partners as a result of the FTA strategy.The reduction in barriers to trade in goods has led to a reduction in the cost of trade and production of products,which has led to a greater variety of products reaching critical export productivity and an increase in the level of export diversification.The lowering of investment barriers leads to an increase in investment between partner countries,although there is a risk of industrial transfer and production substitution for exports,for the investor country can gain profits and concentrate resources on new product research and development,increasing the level of export diversification;for the host country can directly receive standard industrial chains,absorb mature production technology,increasing the level of export diversification.The lowering of barriers to trade in services allows for a freer flow of technology-based factors,which allows enterprises to learn technology and then change their production methods and improve their production techniques;exporters can enjoy better transport,insurance and financial services,improving the level of trade facilitation and thus increasing the level of export diversification.In order to quantitatively explore the impact of the free trade zone strategy on China’s export product diversification,this paper uses the HS 6-digit commodity trade data of China’s exports to 28 trading partner countries from 2005 to 2021,and uses a multi-period double difference model to explore the impact of the free trade zone strategy on China’s export diversification level,using the time when each free trade zone takes effect as the policy time point,with the free trade zone partner countries as the experimental group and other The experimental group is the free trade zone partner countries and the control group is the non-free trade zone partner countries.The empirical results show that the FTA strategy can increase the level of diversification of China’s exports,and that barriers to trade in goods,investment and services do have an impact on the diversification of China’s exports,and that the effect of the FTA strategy is most pronounced in developing countries that are geographically close to China.By sector,the free trade zone strategy has a more pronounced effect on capital-intensive metal products,technology-intensive electrical,mechanical and transport equipment sectors,with relatively little impact on labour-intensive products and little or no negative impact on low-value agricultural products,leading to the conclusion that the free trade zone strategy not only promotes the diversification of China’s product exports,but also tends to be based on technology-intensive The FTA strategy not only promotes the diversification of China’s exports,but also towards a high level of export diversification with technology-intensive and capitalintensive products.In order to promote the high quality development of China’s foreign trade and the diversification of China’s export products to a high level,China should,on the one hand,accelerate the implementation of the free trade zone strategy,and the current free trade zone partner countries should mainly be China’s neighbouring countries and countries along the"Belt and Road",and strive to establish free trade partnerships with other economies around the world.partnership.At the same time,we should deepen policy cooperation and cultural exchanges with existing FTA partner countries,further reduce trade and investment barriers,and gain a deeper understanding of each other’s needs;however,we should also pay attention to the industrial impact brought about by excessive market opening,and protect our industrial security;focus on improving the technological content of export products,enhance the core competitiveness of products in technology,and support the development of high-tech industries;finally,the state should formulate policies to create a more efficient,convenient and safe international business environment for enterprises.