| Recently,world is facing "major changes unprecedented in a century".With the occurrence and continuation of the pneumonia epidemic,the global value chain,industrial chain and supply chain have faced restructuring,and the world economy has entered a period of deep adjustment,which undoubtedly presses the acceleration button for the reshaping of the international economic and trade pattern.Based on the changes in the balance of forces in the economic and trade pattern,the international economic and trade rules are bound to be rewritten.Developed countries,such as the United States and EU,have implemented high-standard international economic and trade rules led by them through the super-large cross-regional trade agreements such as CPTPP,CETA,EJEPA,and TTIP,and have imposed "regulations" on China and other developing countries.High-standard international trade rules conform to the needs of the development of global value chains and the interests of developed countries,and have gradually been accepted by many countries and have gradually become a trend.At the same time,China’s economy has entered a new era of high-quality development,facing major economic changes such as the transformation of development momentum,industrial transformation and upgrading,and further expansion of opening up to the outside world.Faced with the dual pressure of external "regulation" and internal deepening reform,China has taken the initiative to benchmark high standards of international trade rules and put forward directions for China to solve problems.This paper studies the path of international trade rules with high standards,mainly answers three questions,"why does China benchmark","what does China benchmark" and "how does China benchmark",from the construction of the theoretical system to the path design,more systematically expounds the overall path and specific path of China’s international trade rules with high standards.The chapter 1 is the introduction part.First of all,the international trade rules and"high standards" give clear definitions.The scope of international economic and trade rules is divided into narrow and broad sense.This article is to study the narrow scope of international trade rules,mainly including multilateral,regional and bilateral trade agreements.By combing through the regional trade agreements signed by the United States and EU in recent years,the "high standard" rule is defined as an international trade rule based on the "three zeros" principle,with the goal of promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation,and characterized by a wide coverage and emphasis on the consistency of the domestic business environment.The content of the"high standard" rules is mainly reflected in the upgrading of traditional issues,the inclusion of new post-border issues and the improvement of their standards,forming a wide range of coverage involving trade in goods,trade in services,investment and intellectual property rights,competitive neutrality,labor,environment,supervision and other post-border rules.Secondly,it clearly puts forward the theoretical significance and practical significance of the research,which has two theoretical significances:one is to provide a solid theoretical foundation for China’s high-standard international trade rules;the other is to study the trade impact of the depth of the post-border rules.There are four practical significances:the first is to point out the direction for deepening domestic reform;the second is to provide theoretical support for China’s active participation in multilateral negotiations to build a Chinese template;the third is to provide specific path suggestions for China’s accession to the CPTPP;the fourth is to provide solution options for China to upgrade the signed RTAs and negotiate RTAs with developed countries in the future.Thirdly,to illustrate the proposed innovation points and deficiencies of this paper,there are four main points of innovation in this paper:the first is to give a clear definition of the concept of "high standards";the second is to use a multi-dimensional gradient scoring method to assign and score the depth of representative post-border rules such as digital trade,competitive neutrality,intellectual property protection,labor standards and environmental protection;the third is to make an empirical analysis of the impact of the depth of 5 representative post-border rules on bilateral trade,and further analyze heterogeneity;fourth,from domestic reform,multilateral negotiation and regional negotiation,this paper comprehensively and meticulously proposes the path of China’s international trade rules with high standards.There are three shortcomings of this paper:the first is that the scope of specific rule analysis is not enough;the second is that the economic effect of empirical testing is relatively single;and the third is that the measurement method of empirical research is more traditional.Finally,the chapter 1 also describes the content of the research,key issues,research methods and technical routes.Chapter 2 is a literature review.This chapter mainly reviews the research from three aspects:the development of international trade rules,the study of high-standard international trade rules,and the study of China’s trade rules.Among them,the literature review on the development of international trade rules is mainly from three aspects:the historical evolution of international trade rules,the development of specific trade rules,and the shortcomings of existing international trade rules.In the research of highstandard international trade rules,it is mainly from the analysis of specific highstandard economic and trade rules,the empirical analysis of the similarities and differences between the high-standard rules of the United States and EU,and the empirical analysis of the impact of post-border rules on trade;the research of China’s trade rules,mainly from the development process of China’s trade rules.The literature review of the impact of high-standard trade rules on China and the study of the upgrading path of China’s trade rules.On the basis of the existing research,the chapter 3 of this paper analyzes the theoretical basis of China benchmarking high standard international trade rules and answers the question of "why does China benchmark".This chapter sorts out the evolution of international trade rules,summarizes the reasons for evolution,and then finds the theoretical basis for evolution.On this basis,we analyze the theoretical basis of China benchmarking the high-standard international trade rule.First,according to the different emphases of international economic and trade rules,we divides international trade rules into three stages:international trade rules represented by GATT that emphasizes tariff reduction,international economic and trade rules represented by the WTO that emphasizes the reduction of non-tariff barriers,and high-standard international trade rules represented by the CPTPP.By analyzing the background,causes,formation path,rule characteristics and rule defects of the establishment of international trade rules at various stages,we summarize which power could change the international trade rules.Second,we expound the theoretical basis for the evolution of international trade rules.The fundamental reason for the change of international trade rules is the international superstructure,and the fundamental reason for its change is that the international economic base has changed,and the change in the international economic base is determined by the change in the international productive forces and the change in the international production relations(the international division of labor system).Therefore,the fundamental reasons for the evolution of international trade rules are the change of international productive forces and the international division of labor system.The direct cause is the change in the international trade pattern,and the game between developed countries,between developed countries and developing countries.Third,according to the analysis of the evolution of international e trade rules and the theoretical basis,we sort out the evolution logic of international trade rules and lay a solid foundation for predicting the development trend of international trade rules.Fourth,combined with the evolution logic and shortcoming of international trade rules,we could prejudge the development trend of international economic and trade rules,which provides theoretical support for Chapter 7 the path of benchmarking international trade rules.Finally,we systematically expound why China should benchmark highstandards trade rules,mainly including China’s economic development needs,effective response to the "lockdown",and the needs of China’s participation in global governance,providing a theoretical basis for China benchmarking international high-standard trade rules.Chapters 4,5 and 6 mainly analyze the five representative post-border rules of digital trade,competitive neutrality,intellectual property protection,labor standards and environmental protection,the current highest standard rules in China and their gap with international high standard rules,and the trade impact of empirical testing of the depth of the five rules,answering the question of "what does China benchmark against".The chapter 4 studies the development process and trend of the representative rules of high-standard agreements.We mainly summarize the development history,the current highest standards and development trends of the five post-border rules of digital trade,competitive neutrality,intellectual property protection,labor standards and environmental protection.Firstly,we elaborate the selection criteria of representative post-border rules;secondly,we sort out and analyze the similarities and differences of five representative rules under the American template and the European template from the development history and respective characteristics;through comparison,we find that the current highest standard is the USMCA;finally,we analyze the development trend of the five rules.First,regarding digital trade rules.There are mainly divided into American and European templates.The standard of American templates is higher than that of European’s.American templates emphasize a high degree of cross-border data free flow and high digital intellectual property protection,and European templates emphasize a high degree of cross-border data supervision.The current highest standard of digital trade rules is the USMCA,which is mainly reflected in:the nondiscriminatory treatment of digital products is extended to broadcast service products;the free flow of cross-border data has been improved,and domestic regulatory measures in various countries are not considered;the protection of personal information only needs to comply with the APEC framework and OECD guidelines;the scope of nonlocalization of data storage is expanded,excluding regulatory exceptions and public policy objectives;and the scope of digital intellectual property protection is expanded,including source code,algorithms and encryption technologies Waive third-party tort liability of Internet service providers.The development trend of digital trade rules is:first,the trend of free flow of cross-border data is gradually becoming trend;second,the strengthening of personal information protection;third,the enhancement of digital intellectual property protection;and fourth,the gradual increase in the requirements for cooperation and regulatory consistency.Second,with regard to competitive neutrality rules,there are four main models:the domestic law model(the Australian model),the international soft law model(OECD model),the EU model,and the US model.The USMCA’s competitive neutrality rules are currently the highest international standards,including a clear definition of state-owned enterprises,strict transparency rules,nondiscriminatory treatment and non-commercial assistance provisions.The development trend of competitive neutrality rules is manifested as follows:first,the gradual penetration of international soft law into domestic regulations;second,gradual development into regulation of state-owned enterprises;third,clear definitions of stateowned enterprises and strict requirements;fourth,the expansion of the scope of application of countervailing measures;and fifth,higher and higher transparency rules.Third,with regard to the rules for the protection of intellectual property rights,there are four main stages:harmonized intellectual property rules(WIPO),trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights agreements(TRIPs),anti-counterfeiting trade agreements(ACTA),and CPTPP intellectual property rules.Intellectual property rules are mainly divided into American rules and European rules,and the characteristics of American rules are:first,pay attention to the interests of rights holders,second,the scope of protection is extensive and dynamic,and third,it has strong enforcement power,enhances civil penalties and criminal penalties,and expands the scope of border law enforcement.The main characteristics of European rules are:firstly,the rules show a gradual development;secondly,the rules converge with the American template rules,and the level of protection is relatively moderate;thirdly,it is to implement different degrees of protection for different rights.The USMCA is the highest international standard for intellectual property protection rules.The development trend of intellectual property protection rules is mainly reflected in:first,the strengthening of traditional intellectual property rights protection such as trademark rights,copyrights,geographical indications,and patent rights;second,the increase and establishment of intellectual property protection categories,strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights such as drugs and biological products test data;third,strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights;and fourth,gradually attaching importance to the enforcement of the digital environment.Fourth,regarding labor standards,there is an overall upward trend,but the standards of the United States and Europe are more divergent.The main differences between the US and European models are:First,the implementation methods focus on different aspects.The US model belongs to the hard law model,and the EU model belongs to the soft law model.Second,labor standards are linked to trade in different ways,with the United States modeled on the North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA)and the European Union taking the 1998 Declaration as the standard.Third,the management mechanism is different.The United States has set up a labor council with a wide range of responsibilities;the European Union has set up a labor sub-committee,which is mainly responsible for strengthening communication.USMCA labor standards are the highest international standards.The development trend of labor rules is manifested as follows:first,the scope of protection is expanding and applying labor standards to a country’s export processing zones and free trade zones;second,the dispute mechanism is gradually improved,and the labor council committee is established,and dispute mediation involves three levels of consultation;third,the law enforcement is more stringent,adopting a continuous model and practice model;fourth,it is deeper into the domestic regulation of member countries and requires the reform of domestic labor laws in member countries;fifth,deepening the linkage between labor and trade,and prohibiting the import of goods produced by forced labor.Fifth,with regard to environmental protection rules,the main models are divided into multilateral conventions and The American model.Multilateral environmental rules are scattered across multiple documents,and separate environmental agreements have not yet been reached.The development phase of environmental rules in the United States includes the NAFTA rule incorporation phase,the gradual strengthening phase,and the USMCA high standard environmental protection phase.The USMCA Environmental Protection Rules are the highest international standards in force.The development trend of environmental protection rules is mainly reflected in:first,the definition is more clear,and the domestic laws that Contracting States need to comply with are clearly stipulated in the RTAs;second,the scope of protection is expanded,the content is more specific,and cooperation between member states is strengthened;the third is to set up public participation systems and procedures;fourth,the dispute resolution procedures are more perfect,and a three-level consultation mechanism and dispute resolution mechanism are set up.The chapter 5 analyzes the differences between China’s current rules and highstandard rules.From the international rules and domestic legal,we sort out the five representative post-border rules in China’s current highest standards,and compare with the corresponding high-standard international rules to find the gap.First of all,by combing through the text of RTAs and domestic laws and regulations,it is found that in terms of digital trade,intellectual property protection,and environmental protection rules,the specific rules in RCEP are the highest standards in China;in terms of competitive neutrality rules,the competitive neutrality rules in the China-EU Comprehensive Investment Agreement(CAI)are the highest standards in China;in terms of labor standards,China’s current standards are mainly reflected in domestic legislation.Second,compare the gap between China’s current rules and high-standard rules to find the specific gaps.Firstly,with regard to digital trade rules,the gap between China and the highest standard rules lies in:first,there is no discriminatory treatment;second,it does not involve digital intellectual property protection;third,it does not make mandatory provisions on electronic transmission tariffs;fourth,it does not involve open network access.China’s position and proposition:first,to eliminate digital trade barriers;second,to protect the rights of users;third,to maintain the space for national regulation;fourth,to promote the sustainable development of the digital economy.Secondly,with regard to the rules of competitive neutrality,the differences between China and high standards are reflected in:first,the goals are different,and the rules of competitive neutrality advocated by China are based on marketization and standardize the system of state-owned enterprises participating in the market,so as to avoid the distortion of the market by state-owned enterprises and maintain fair competition in the market;second,the rules of subsidy are different,at this stage in China,the subsidies of governments and departments at all levels to state-owned enterprises are relatively messy,and there is no unified subsidy system,subsidy scopes and subsidy standards;third,China and EU reached a consensus,only agreed to negotiate a solution,and no compulsory sanctions should be imposed;fourth,the rule of transparency,China requires,which only when the interests of one party are damaged,there is an obligation to disclose information;fifth,the determination of damage,China has no provisions in this regard.Thirdly,with regard to the rules for the protection of intellectual property rights.The gap between China and high standards is reflected in:first,there are fewer multilateral agreements on the rules for the protection of intellectual property rights in China;second,copyrights have not set a clear time limit;third,odors have not been included in the scope of trademark protection;fourth,in terms of patents,there is no provision for the patent grace period;fifth,civil remedies and criminal penalties are lower;sixth,the enforcement of the digital environment only applies to infringement of copyright and trademark rights in the digital environment.Fourthly,with regard to labor standards,the gap between China’s labor standards and high standards is mainly reflected in:first,China has not included the discussion of labor standards in regional negotiations;second,the scope of labor standards only includes 4 core labor standards,and has not joined the labor conventions on forced labor and collective bargaining rights;third,in the implementation of labor protection,China only requires compliance with domestic laws and international conventions that it has acceded to;fourth,dispute settlement,and China insists on consultation as a way to resolve disputes.Fifth,with regard to environmental protection rules,the gap between China’s environmental protection rules and high-standard rules is mainly reflected in:first,the scope of the definition is not clear,and China only proposes to follow domestic laws;second,the specific protection regulations are not clear,and China only formulates principled rules in terms of the scope of protection,emphasizing that countries have the autonomy to set the scope of protection,enjoy sovereign power in the designation of laws and policies,give countries greater autonomy,and do not have strong constraints on the selection of the scope of protection;third,the cooperation mechanism is not perfect.China only stipulates the establishment of contact points to strengthen exchanges and communication between all parties;fourth,China insists that environmental disputes do not apply dispute resolution procedures;fifth,it lacks a mechanism for public participation.Chapter 6 studies about the trade effects of representative high-standard postborder rules under the framework of RTAs.First,this paper scores five of the 107 RTAs with all or some of the five representative rules concluded by the world’s top 15 economies,drawing on the multi-dimensional gradient scoring method of zhou Nianli and Chen Huanqi(2020)digital trade rules.Second,according to the review of the development process of each rule in Chapter 4,each rule is set to three gradients,assigned 1,2,and 3 points respectively,and then according to the characteristics of the terms of each specific rule,the scoring dimension is set,and finally the "depth"indicator of the 5 rules is obtained.Drawing on the methods of Lin Xi and Bao Xiaohua(2018),based on the extended gravitational model,an econometric model is constructed,and empirical research is conducted using the bilateral trade panel data of the contracting parties from 2000 to 2019.First of all,the PPML method was used to return to the static panel benchmark model,and the empirical results showed that the depth of the five representative post-border rules can effectively promote bilateral trade,of which the improvement of digital trade rules and standards has the greatest effect on bilateral trade promotion,followed by competitive neutrality rules and labor standards,and the least promoting role is intellectual property protection rules.Secondly,in order to test the robustness of the benchmark model,this chapter uses the substitution estimation method and the exclusion of extreme values for robustness testing,and the results show that the impact of the depth of the five representative post-border rules on bilateral trade is consistent with the benchmark regression results,indicating that the impact of the depth of the five representative post-border rules on bilateral trade is stable,whether it is a substitution method or the elimination of extreme values.Thirdly,considering the possible endogenous problems of the benchmark model,this paper adopts the 2SLS and GMM estimation methods,and the core explanatory variables lag phase I and lag phase II are tool variables,and the robustness test of the regression results is carried out,and the results are consistent with the benchmark regression results.Third,this paper conducts a heterogeneity analysis,and further explores the trade effects of five representative post-border rules according to the different degrees of economic development of export economies,different trade classifications and different contracting environments.First,the top 15 economies are divided into developed economies and emerging economies,and the empirical results show that the improvement of the five rules and standards has a greater role in promoting trade in emerging economies than in advanced economies.It should be noted that this paper has not yet conducted a separate empirical test for China,because among the RTAs that have been signed into force in China,the number of 5 representative post-border rules contained in China is small and the standard is low,and the empirical test alone is not enough to obtain empirical support.Secondly,according to the different trade classifications,the bilateral trade is divided into trade in goods and trade in services for empirical analysis,and the results show that the five rules have a positive promotion effect on trade in goods and trade in services,and the promotion effect on trade in services is greater.Finally,according to the different treaty environments,indicators that can intuitively reflect the contracting environment-institutional constraints and infrastructure construction indicators-are selected for empirical testing.The improvement of the institutional environment of the import economy and the completion of infrastructure construction have a positive impact on the trade marginal effect of the five rules,and the improvement of the institutional environment of the export economy and the completion of infrastructure construction have a positive impact on the trade marginal effect of the other four rules in addition to the digital trade rules.The chapter 7 is China’s benchmarking path.From the three dimensions of domestic reform,multilateral negotiation and regional negotiation,we comprehensively and meticulously analyze the China’s benchmarking path,and answer the question of "how does China benchmark".Benchmarking is nor copy or comprehensive acceptance.It is necessary to choose rules that are suitable for China’s economic development,and to benchmark them,which rules we could negotiate to reach the same goal and which rules we don’t agree that we need to insist China’s point and to realize the development of China’s economy.First,before designing the benchmarking path,we propose three major benchmarking principles from the three aspects of benchmarking,benchmarking methods and benchmarking core appeals,namely,in line with the fundamental requirements of China’s development concept,risk prevention and control,step-by-step benchmarking methods,and the core demands for promoting China’s high-quality development.Second,we establish the benchmarking target from the two aspects of the benchmarking object and the expect benchmarking effect.In the future,there are high-standard rules that are very likely to be established in the multilateral process,and China needs to take the lead in benchmarking.Through the high standard rules,to promote the coordination of domestic regulations and international rules and the construction of China’s new development pattern,to achieve the promotion of the global governance concept of "consultation,co-construction and sharing" and the construction of "community of human destiny".Third,on the basis of clarifying the benchmarking principle and the benchmarking goal,the general path of the rule benchmarking is proposed.From the two aspects of domestic reform and international negotiations,the general path of benchmarking is proposed for China to accept rules that are more difficult and rules that are far from high standards.In terms of domestic reform,the first is to expand opening up to the outside world and reduce market access standards;the second is to accept rules that are less difficult or involve the overall situation for China,and carry out benchmarking reform nationwide;the third is to accept more difficult rules for China,test the waters under pressure in the free trade zone or port,according to the different key functional positioning of the free trade zone,try the high-standard rules first,and at the same time,improve the fault tolerance mechanism and risk control mechanism to escort the benchmarking reform of the free trade zone or port.In terms of multilateral negotiations,China should uphold the principle of safeguarding the sovereignty and right to development of developing countries,agree to appropriately upgrade the rules and standards,and build fair multilateral trade rules.In terms of regional negotiations,China should achieve the benchmarking of high-standard economic and trade rules by upgrading the level of regional trade agreements,and the main path is to upgrade the signed FTAs and carry out high-level regional trade agreement negotiations with developed countries.Finally,specific benchmarking paths are proposed for representative post-border rules.By analyzing the high-standard digital trade rules,competitive neutrality rules,intellectual property protection rules,labor standards and environmental rules,the possibility of multilateral promotion and the feasibility of China’s benchmarking of the corresponding CPTPP rules,we will understand the content,difficulty and necessity of the specific provisions that China needs to benchmark.Then,from the two aspects of domestic reform and international negotiations,we will design a benchmarking path,put forward practical domestic reform plans and specific rules and suggestions for China in multilateral and regional negotiations.Chapter 8 is the conclusion and policy recommendation,through summarizing the full-text research conclusions,clarifying the research conclusions of theoretical research,rule research,empirical research and path design,so that the conclusions of the whole text are clearer.Since Chapter 7 already proposes the overall path and specific path of China’s benchmarking rules,this chapter only makes policy recommendations at the macro level.First,take the "post-border" measures as the focus of reform and accelerate the construction of a new economic system;second,actively participate in the negotiation of international rules and put forward Chinese demands in the negotiation of new rules;third,make good use of the "Belt and Road" and free trade port/zone platforms to promote the Chinese template. |
