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Belt and road initiative and export sophistication The role of China s outward foreign direct investment2.09 MB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Belt and road initiative and export sophistication: The role of China’s outward foreign direct investment
The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development , Vol.34(5), pp.1094-1113
2025
Appears in UniSC Supported Open Access Outputs
Abstract
We investigate the impact of China’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on the export sophistication of countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Through an examination of data spanning from 2010 to 2015, our findings reveal that China’s OFDI significantly enhances export sophistication in host countries, with a more pronounced effect observed in relatively poor BRI nations. However, the positive correlation between China’s OFDI and export sophistication diminishes in host countries characterized by elevated productivity levels. Utilizing a structural equation model, we identify host country productivity as a crucial mediating factor. The indirect technology spillover effects of China’s OFDI, facilitated through increased productivity, account for approximately 39% of their overall impact on export sophistication. Furthermore, we delineate threshold effects of productivity for China’s OFDI, demonstrating substantial positive effects in host countries with a GDP per capita below the first threshold (approximately US$1,141) or within the range of the first and second thresholds (around US$7,115). Upon consideration of these thresholds, distinctions in the effects of China’s OFDI between BRI and non-BRI host countries diminish. Our analysis underscores that the favorable influence of China’s OFDI extends beyond the BRI, providing benefits to low and middle-income countries globally.
Details
- Title
- Belt and road initiative and export sophistication: The role of China’s outward foreign direct investment
- Authors
- Jinhai Shi - Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and FinanceLili Kang - Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and FinanceFei Peng - Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and FinanceSajid Anwar (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Business and Creative Industries
- Publication details
- The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development , Vol.34(5), pp.1094-1113
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1080/09638199.2024.2369757
- ISSN
- 1469-9559; 0963-8199
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries; Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991045098102621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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