Research On The Impact Of Digital Trade Development On Carbon Emission

Since the introduction of China’s Double-Carbon Policy,it is significant to pay attention to the low-carbon development.Effectively promoting carbon emission reduction has become the focus of attention for countries.At the same time,in the context of globalization,digital technologies such as the Internet,big data and cloud computing are also developing rapidly.Driven by digital technology innovation,international trade will enter the era of digital trade.China is also actively developing digital trade under the requirements of "carbon neutrality"and "carbon peak".In order to promote carbon emission reduction,it is important to investigate the relationship between trade and low-carbon and explore how the digital trade affects China’s carbon emission intensity.Existing studies have measured the current situation,measurement methods and interfering factors of carbon emissions in China.However,most of the existing studies have focused on internal factors and the role of digital technology has been neglected.The research examing the impact of digital trade on the carbon emission intensity is relatively scarce.Firstly,this paper defines the concept of digital trade,summarizes existing studies at home and abroad,providing theoretical support for subsequent analysis on the impact of the development level of digital trade on carbon emission intensity.Secondly,this paper measures the development level of digital trade in China by using the panel data of 280 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019,through the Principal Component Analysis,so as to clarify the reality of the development of digital trade in various regions.Finally,this paper establishes an econometirc model to analyse the impact of digital trade on carbon emission intensity and verified the intermediary transmission mechanism of large-scale economies effect,structural optimization effect and technological innovation effect.In addition,it also carried out a certain degree of expansion analysis that considered it from a spatial perspective,providing a new perspective to interpret the development of China’s digital trade and guide carbon emission reduction activities.Results show that China’s digital trade started late but the development momentum is good.Regional differences are more significant but most regions show an upward trend.The empirical analysis results show that the digital trade in China has a significant inhibitory effect on the carbon emission intensity and the empirical results are still valid after a series of robustness tests and the impact is heterogeneous.Specifically,the impact of digital trade on carbon emission reduction should be more obvious in eastern regions and cities with good digital trade foundation and low dependence on resources.The mechanism test shows that the carbon emission reduction of digital trade can be achieved through promoting economic development,industrial structure upgrading and scientific and technological innovation.The spatial effect analysis shows that the carbon emissionnintensity of a city will increase the carbon emission intensity of its neighboring cities and the development level of digital trade will also restrain the carbon emission intensity of surrounding cities to a certain extent.Based on the findings of the study,this paper puts forward relevant policy recommendations on guiding digital trade activities and curbing carbon emissions.It is necessary to strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure,accelerate the development of digital trade,attach great importance to training high-end technical personnel,optimize the industrial structure and boost the development of low-carbon economy.