Study On The Impact Of Digital Economy Development On China’s Low-Carbon Trade Competitiveness

The sustainable development of economy and environment has become a global issue widely concerned and studied by the society.In recent years,the United Nations has been emphasizing that countries around the world should be committed to taking strong measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.At the same time,the low-carbon development of international trade is considered as a development model to achieve the dual goals of economic growth and environmental protection.With the vigorous development of digital economy,the new round of global industrial and technological changes represented by big data,Internet of Things and smart manufacturing technology industries are playing a great role in optimizing resource allocation,improving energy utilization efficiency and promoting green economic development,which are profoundly affecting the development of social economy and providing opportunities for global low-carbon transformation and energy conservation and emission reduction.Along with the continuous growth of total foreign trade,the import and export trade sector has emitted a large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.In the context of global green development,the low carbon level of the export sector will have a greater impact on the competitiveness of countries’ export trade.In the era of digital economy,services such as green and low-carbon technologies provide strong basic support for the trade sector to achieve green transformation,and are an important means to promote the green development of relevant foreign trade industries and sectors.At the same time,the shock of the external trade environment has caused a major impact on the development of the world economy,and green low-carbon development and the digital economy are becoming a new opportunity for cooperation among countries.Especially under the situation that China’s domestic industries are in urgent need of transformation and upgrading,international competition is intensifying and the terms of trade are deteriorating,the green technological innovation brought by the digital economy provides a new direction for the green and high-quality development of China’s foreign trade.Based on the study,this paper systematically proposes the influence path of digital economy development and green technological innovation on China’s low-carbon trade competitiveness by combing relevant research literature.On this basis,the principal component analysis and trade competitiveness index model are applied to measure China’s digital economy development index and low-carbon trade competitiveness index respectively.Then the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2011-2020 are selected to empirically test the direct impact of digital economy development on China’s low-carbon trade competitiveness,and further analyze the indirect impact of China’s digital economy development index on the low-carbon trade competitiveness index through the medium of green technological innovation from the perspective of the mediating effect of green technological innovation.The results find that: First,during 2011-2020,China’s carbon productivity and low-carbon trade competitiveness index show a steady improvement trend overall,but still have a large gap with major importing countries,and most provinces’ low-carbon trade competitiveness index is in a relatively inferior position,and there is still a large potential for improvement.Second,the development of digital economy can not only significantly enhance the level of low-carbon trade competitiveness,but also indirectly promote the level of low-carbon trade competitiveness by influencing green technological innovation.Third,the regional heterogeneity test shows that the development of digital economy in the eastern region has a positive driving effect on the improvement of low-carbon trade competitiveness level,while the promotion effect on the central and western regions is limited.Based on the research findings,this paper proposes corresponding countermeasures to enhance China’s low-carbon trade competitiveness,with a view to providing reference suggestions for China to promote export competitiveness through the development of digital economy,help achieve emission reduction targets and promote global sustainable development.