Industrial upgrading and transformation is important for China to transform its way of development. To accomplish this task effectively, we need to identify industries with potential comparative advantage. Using the l...Industrial upgrading and transformation is important for China to transform its way of development. To accomplish this task effectively, we need to identify industries with potential comparative advantage. Using the latest data on international trade of products, this paper verifies the premise of heterogeneity of product space of the evolutionary theory of comparative advantage, and analyses the evolution of product space of China and most countries in the world. The paper makes predictions on China ＂s industries with potential comparative advantage in near terms using the product space theory, and carries out thorough discussion on the evolutionary track of industries under different proximity thresholds. The basic conclusion is that even as China＇s number of industries with comparative advantage is larger than the global average, its industrial upgrading capacity is limited, as it has fewer industries with potential comparative advantage and lower sustainability in the current sectors than the world average. China faces a dilemma in the process of industrial upgrading, as a rapid upgrading would cause a shock to current economic growth, and a slow one would not maintain sustainable growth. With limited industrial upgrading capacity, the best structure adjustment and upgrading strategy is to give full play to the advantage of China＇s industrial diversification and combination to achieve an inclusive upgrading.展开更多
基金Studies on Monitoring and Risk Assessment of Industrial and Economic Operation, Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Transformation Strategy of Industrial Competitive Advantage and Evolution of Global Division of Labor, Major Fund Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant No. 098-ZD035）.
文摘Industrial upgrading and transformation is important for China to transform its way of development. To accomplish this task effectively, we need to identify industries with potential comparative advantage. Using the latest data on international trade of products, this paper verifies the premise of heterogeneity of product space of the evolutionary theory of comparative advantage, and analyses the evolution of product space of China and most countries in the world. The paper makes predictions on China ＂s industries with potential comparative advantage in near terms using the product space theory, and carries out thorough discussion on the evolutionary track of industries under different proximity thresholds. The basic conclusion is that even as China＇s number of industries with comparative advantage is larger than the global average, its industrial upgrading capacity is limited, as it has fewer industries with potential comparative advantage and lower sustainability in the current sectors than the world average. China faces a dilemma in the process of industrial upgrading, as a rapid upgrading would cause a shock to current economic growth, and a slow one would not maintain sustainable growth. With limited industrial upgrading capacity, the best structure adjustment and upgrading strategy is to give full play to the advantage of China＇s industrial diversification and combination to achieve an inclusive upgrading.
