Does the Domestic Value Added Induced by China's Exports Really Belong to China?

Since 2001, the exports of foreign-invested enterprises （FIEs） have accounted for more than 50percent of China＇s total exports. As foreign capital occupies a high proportion of the total capital of FIEs, most FIEs ＇ capital gains are foreign factor income. Although these gains are calculated as apart of China＇s GDP, they do not belong to China＇s national income. To determine the real contribution of exports to China ＂s welfare, the present paper analyses the impact of exports on China ＂s national income using a non-competitive input output model capturing processing trade. The results show that every US$1000 of China＇s exports generates US$506.8 of national income. The real contribution of exports to China ＂s welfare is much smaller than what we expected. This suggests that China should endeavor to improve the gains from international markets orfind another engine to maintain its economic growth.

Dynamic Changes of China’s Functional Specialization in Export and International Comparison under Global Value Chains

The functional specialization in export of a country(and its sectors)in different activities,such as fabrication,R&D,management and marketing,is crucial to its governance and control on the value chains,which magnifies the shortage of the existing aggregate value added studies on our understanding of global value chains(GVCs).Considering production fragmentation at both the spatial and functional levels,this paper defines the modified functional specialization indicators at the national and sectoral levels from the forward linkage(rather than backward linkage).Based on the World Input-Output Database together with the newly compiled Labor Occupations Database,this paper re-estimates and analyzes the functional specialization and changes in China and major developed economies’exports.The results show that China’s export is mainly specialized in fabrication activity,which is among the world leading level,while it is weak in headquarter activities(especially R&D and management),which is almost locked at the lowest level in the world and could not pose an export threat to the developed economies.China’s manufacturing basically follows the functional development path of“relying on fabrication,entering market,targeting management and R&D”,featuring the coexistence of“strong”fabrication and“weak”management and R&D.The fabrication specialization of the typical processing sector“electronic and optical equipment”has reached the international leading level.The level of functional specialization of China’s service industry is generally lower than that of manufacturing and generally lags behind in the world,indicating that China still has a long way to go before becoming a major power of service in the world.Finally,this paper proposes policy implications and further researches that can be extended.

Measuring aggregate trade costs and its empirical effects on manufacturing export composition in China

On the basis of measuring the bilateral trade costs between China and 86 trade partners and the aggregate trade costs from 2000 to 2013,this paper takes China’s vertical specialization reality into account,to do an empirical study on the impact of China’s aggregate trade costs on comparative advantages and export share of 17 two-digit ISIC manufacturing industries,and to conduct these types of robust tests in order to eliminate endogeneity bias.The results show that China’s aggregate trade costs are declining,but it is still 1/3 higher than that of developed countries of 10 years ago;bilateral trade costs between China and some countries even rise instead;aggregate trade costs are the determinants,not only of‘global’and‘local’comparative advantages,but also of export share of China’s manufacturing products,and its effect is stronger in industries with higher trade cost intensity.Therefore,we should consider the product composition on trade cost intensity and domestic value-added value(DVAR),and reduce trade costs in order to promote the export of products with higher domestic value-added rate,and to realize the substantial transformation of foreign trade growth mode.