| Since 1992 the proportion of total exports of manufacturing products’ export of Chinese goods has been more than 85% and in 2012 accounted for 96%. In the world market share it has been also growing steadily and in 2012 China’s manufacturing products’export market share reached 14.6% in the world manufacturing products’ export market. China has rapidly grown into the world’s major producing and processing base of manufacturing products with a large-scale output and wide ranges. To some degree, the growing rate of Chinese manufacturing products’ export determines the pace of development of China’s export and the export competitiveness of manufacturing products determines the competitiveness of China’s product export.But recently, economic globalization continue to advance ,International Production and distribution system is constantly evolving and the situation international trade is confronted has undergone profound changes.Under those conditions China’ exports of manufacturing products are facing many challenges. Despite export quantity of Chinese manufacturing products continues to expand, but it does not change its position which is downstream in the world manufacturing production value chain.The relative unit value of the majority of China’s manufacturing export products is below the world average, and the gap between China and the United States, Japan in manufacturing product export sophistication is becoming bigger and bigger. There has happened great changes in internal and external environments which are faced by China’s manufacturing industry .Domestically, for manufacturing products there is heavy press in that raw materials are lacking, labor costs continue to rise and its production is in relative surplus .Internationally, manufacturing export products are confronted with increasing appreciation of RMB exchange rate, barriers to export trade set by the major economies and increasingly fierce international competition. These factors are superimposed together, which will have a greater adverse influence on China’s manufacturing product export.In this context, this paper takes the export competitiveness of China’s manufacturing products as the research object, from the new perspective of international production distribution analyzes the source of China’s manufacturing product export competitiveness and factors affecting competitiveness of China’s manufacturing product export. It also conducts a statistical description analysis and resorts indicators measuring Chinese manufacturing product export competitiveness based into quality competitiveness and quantity competitiveness. On this basis, it measures China’s manufacturing products export competitiveness as a whole and sub-industry export product competitiveness from the two aspects of export quality competitiveness and export quantity competitiveness. Subsequently, it makes an empirical test of the competitiveness-influenced factors with a time-series model. At the end, it makes horizontal comparison between China and the United States,Japan,Korea in the export competitiveness of manufacturing products, draws some enlightening conclusions and makes some specific recommendations.It is divided into six chapters. The first is the introduction, which focuses on the research background, significance, writing ideas and research methods. Meanwhile, this chapter reviews the related literatures from both points of export quantity competitiveness and export quality competitiveness and makes short comments. The second chapter introduces relevant concepts as well as their relations and differences between them, and expounds the source of export competitiveness theories, focusing on the theoretical derivation of a new research framework for comparative advantage in the new international production division under the conditions where the production division between national cross-industries has been adjusted to the one between the national inner-products. Meanwhile, it makes theoretical analysis for factors influencing export competitiveness of manufacturing products. The third chapter estimates the export quantity competitiveness and export quality competitiveness of China’s manufacturing products. First, it uses the indicators of world market share, relative comparative advantage index, trade competitiveness index to estimate Chinese manufacturing export products’quantity competitiveness; Secondly, it uses the indicators of the modified product export sophistication index, domestic value-added, export structure to estimate China’s manufacturing product export quality. Before measuring export product quality competitiveness it estimates vertical specialization for China’s manufacturing, and on this basis it does the domestic value-added of China’s manufacturing export products and then it uses the index of export domestic value-added to reconstruct the index of product export sophistication. Chapter IV makes an empirical test for influencing factors of China’s manufacturing export product competitiveness. Chapter V makes comparison between China and the United States, Japan, South Korea in manufacturing product export quantity and quality individually through MS, RCA index and product export sophistication, labor productivity, R&D level, technical level. Then, it introduces the experiences from the United States, Japan and South Korea in developing manufacturing product export competitiveness as a reference. Chapter VI makes main conclusions, corresponding policy recommendations and research prospects.Through analysis, it draws the following conclusions:Firstly, Classical trade theory holds that comparative advantage is an important source to a country’s product export competitiveness. However, conducting theoretical analysis, it found that the comparative advantage in the new international production distribution system can easily cause some developing countries to be locked in existing comparative advantages because those developing countries rely on such abundant labor to participate in international production distribution, one of whose significant features is that developing countries undertake labor-intensive products or production processing of labor-intensive sectors of technologies (capital).Although this distribution pattern can bring economies of scale, and even improve labor productivity, it can easily lead to developing into a "comparative advantage trap".In fact, in the text the sharp contrast in racking in the export quantity competitiveness and export quality competitiveness in manufacturing products of those four countries, to some extent, explains the development of China’s manufacturing industry has been faced with the situation of being locked into traditional comparative advantage.Secondly, since 1992 China’s manufacturing product export quantity competitiveness is relatively strong and it is developing at a rapid speed, whose trend is constantly strengthening, but the export quantity competitiveness of China’s manufacturing products in the various sub-sectors is uneven. For example, such high-tech manufacturing products as electronics and communication equipment manufacturing products, such mid-tech manufacturing products as steel, such mid-low tech manufacturing products as textiles, clothing,leather goods, wood-processing, furniture products and paper-printing and stationery have a strong export quantity competitiveness. However, such high-tech manufacturing products as optical, medical equipments, pharmaceuticals, such low-technology manufacturing products as food,tobacco, are weakly competitive, and such organic supplies,mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, and other products based on the resources are in lack of export competitiveness.Through horizontal comparison in export quantity competitiveness with the United States, Japan and South Korea although there is still a large gap between China and those three countries in pharmaceuticals, transport equipment and chemicals, the majority of China’s manufacturing products export quantity competitiveness is obviously dominant,whose advantage continues to be strengthened. For instance,products such as electronics and communication equipment, instrumentation and office supplies, machinery and equipment, textiles and clothing products, wood-processing and furniture products, stationery and other paper- printing have obvious advantages.Thirdly, since 1992 product export quality competitiveness in China’s manufacturing industry or sub-industries has been increasing. China’s manufacturing product export sophistication has also been deepening, the structure of China’s manufacturing product export continues to optimize, and the proportion of high-tech manufacturing product export is becoming larger and larger, which plays a dominant role. However, according to its revised product export sophistication there is a phenomenon of artificially high estimation by using traditional measuring index of product export quality competitiveness. In fact, exports of China’s manufacturing products, especially ones of processing trade products contain large amounts of intermediate goods imported, which on the one hand leads to the overestimation of China’s manufacturing product export quality competitiveness and on the other hand will make domestic added- value overestimated.Compared with the United States, Japan, South Korea, China’s manufacturing product export quality competitiveness is still in absolute disadvantage, and there is no convergence with them. The typical product quality competitiveness in China’s manufacturing export once again verifies this conclusion. For instance, there is a big gap in product export quality competitiveness between China and the United States and Japan in products such as electronics and communication equipment, instrumentation and office supplies, machinery and transport equipment exports competitive power. Compared with South Korea, a newly industrialized country China is also at a disadvantage in machinery, transport equipment export quality competitiveness. We also find that although recently there is an increase in the amount of patent applications by non-residents, compared with the United States the gap is very large; Compared with Japan and South Korea, there is also a big gap for China in patent applications by non-residents in the United States; in terms of labor productivity, compared to the United States, Japan and South Korea China’s manufacturing industry is at a definite disadvantage.Fourthly, international vertical specialization of China’s manufacturing industry has been enhancing, and there is a tendency to deepen. There is a proportional relationship between international vertical specialization degree and technical content grades in Chinese manufacturing products. The higher the technical content grades the higher the degree of international vertical specialization. The lower the technical content grades the lower the degree of international vertical specialization. The degree of international vertical specialization of such as electronics and communication equipment products, electrical machinery and equipment is relatively higher and is lower for such low-tech manufacturing products as food, beverage and tobacco-processing products. Research shows that there is an inverse relationship between the domestic value-added index and the degree of vertical specialization of China’s manufacturing product export. Thus, with levels of vertical specialization rising its domestic value-added index is declining. The higher-tech manufacturing products, the lower the index of domestic value-added. For high-tech manufacturing product export, its domestic value-added index is the lowest, while the low-technology manufacturing product export, its domestic value-added is the highest. The reason for this phenomenon is mainly that China in the international manufacturing production value chain is in a downstream position, which is mainly responsible for the production and processing of manufacturing goods, one of whose significant feature is China’s processing trade. This model is that China is still locked in producing a low-tech manufacturing goods or high-tech manufacturing production and processing with labor-intensive and low value-added. Therefore, when we know this, we can better understand the phenomenon that while there is a rapid increase in the export quantity competitiveness of high-tech manufacturing products in recent years, there is a continuous decrease in the index of domestic added-value of the ones, which is contrary to common sense.Fifthly, empirical tests show the degree of vertical specialization, foreign direct investment, capital intensity and R & D intensity have a positive impact on export quantity competitiveness and export quality competitiveness of China’s manufacturing products in the same direction; wages and RMB exchange rate do impact on both competitiveness in the opposite direction and rising wages and the appreciation of RMB exchange rate are beneficial to enhance the product export quality competitiveness, but not conducive to enhancing product export quantity competitiveness. This paper also finds that the impact from the degree of vertical specialization and foreign direct investment on both competitivenesses is significantly different. That is, the degree of vertical specialization and foreign direct investment play more significant roles in developing product export quantity competitiveness; R & D intensity, capital intensity and the size of China’s manufacturing enterprises have greater impact on product export quality competitiveness. In other words, to enhance product export quantity competitiveness is to rely more on international vertical specialization degree, foreign direct investment, labor cost advantage and exchange rate involved in the China’s manufacturing sector, while to enhance product export quality competitiveness is to depend more on deepening capital intensity, strengthening R & D intensity and enlarge enterprises’ scale.These conclusions indicate that, export quantity competitiveness and export quality competitiveness of China’s manufacturing products are significantly different, China is still a big country of manufacturing production and processing, rather than powerful.This article suggests China should emphasize on developing manufacturing from strategic aspect; make efforts to improve manufacturing R & D intensity and enhance innovation capacity; further optimize the structure of foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector; support and encourage manufacturing enterprises to enlarge their scale appropriately and deepen capital-intensity; further make policies and take measures to promote the optimization and upgrading of across-sectors products, inner-sectors products and inner-products in China’s manufacturing,to break through being locked in the current downstream position of the international vertical specialization system, to realize China manufacturing products climb toward high-tech, high value-added aspects of the international manufacturing production value chain and to improve China’s manufacturing product export competitiveness.
|
PDF Full Text Request