Research On The Impact Of Infrastructure Conditions In ASEAN Countries On China’s Mechanical And Electrical Products Exports

With the continuous promotion of the "the Belt and Road" initiative,China has constantly promoted the construction of infrastructure networks with countries along the Belt and Road.Among them,ASEAN and China are geographically close.With its cost advantage and strong demand,ASEAN has become an important market for China to invest in overseas infrastructure construction.The connectivity of infrastructure also promotes the continuous expansion of the trade scale between China and ASEAN.According to China’s "the Belt and Road" Trade and Investment Development Report 2022,the trade volume between China and ASEAN will reach878.2 billion dollars in 2021,with a year-on-year growth of 28.1%,accounting for48.9% of the trade volume between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road".With the upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and the implementation of the RCEP Agreement,the potential for cooperation between China and ASEAN will also be accelerated.At the same time,under the trend of "anti globalization" such as trade protectionism,China’s electromechanical industry urgently needs transformation and upgrading.As an important emerging export market,ASEAN has become increasingly prominent.However,the development of infrastructure in the ASEAN region is extremely unbalanced,and the infrastructure construction of different countries is quite different,which to some extent restricts the deepening cooperation between China and ASEAN.Infrastructure has special attributes,and the impact of improving infrastructure conditions in ASEAN countries on China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products is also unclear.Therefore,this paper focuses on the impact of infrastructure conditions of ASEAN on China’s mechanical and electrical products exports,and reveals the relationship between them,which is of great significance for China and ASEAN countries to carry out infrastructure cooperation and unleash the trade potential of mechanical and electrical products in the ASEAN market.This article first summarizes and sorts out relevant content in previous literature on "infrastructure affects international trade" and "China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products to ASEAN",defines the concept of infrastructure,and determines the research objects,namely transportation and communication infrastructure,which have a significant impact on trade.Then it reviews the relevant theories of international trade and the new economic geography theory.On this basis,it analyzes the mechanism that the infrastructure of the importing country affects the export of mechanical and electrical products,which provides the corresponding analysis basis for this study.Then,this paper analyzes the current situation from the infrastructure of ASEAN countries and China’s export of mechanical and electrical products to ASEAN.On the one hand,the infrastructure status of ASEAN countries is described in detail from the three aspects of transportation,communication and the overall development environment,and the infrastructure evaluation index is constructed,and the infrastructure level is calculated using the principal component analysis method;On the other hand,from the angle of export scale,country structure and commodity structure,this paper expounds the export situation of China’s mechanical and electrical products in the ASEAN region.Based on this,this paper constructs an expanded gravity model,uses the panel data of ASEAN countries from 2005 to 2020,and uses the random effect model and the comprehensive FGLS method to test the impact of the infrastructure level and related control variables of ASEAN countries on China’s mechanical and electrical products exports,and deeply explores the impact effects of different types of infrastructure and the heterogeneity in countries with different income levels.The study found that improving the infrastructure of ASEAN countries is conducive to expanding the export scale of China’s mechanical and electrical products;The impact of different types of infrastructure will be different,and the promotion effect of improving transportation infrastructure is relatively greater;There is heterogeneity in the impact of improving infrastructure on exports in countries with different income levels.For high-middle-income countries,the mechanical and electrical products export of China’s is mainly promoted by improving communication infrastructure,while the promotion effect of improving transportation infrastructure level in lower-middleincome countries should be greater.Based on the previous analysis and research conclusions,this paper puts forward suggestions accordingly.First,expand the space for trade cooperation and promote the diversification of the export market of mechanical and electrical products;The second is to carry out targeted transport infrastructure cooperation and strengthen the joint construction with neighboring countries;Third,strengthen the construction of communication facilities and promote the interconnection of communication networks;Fourth,strengthen bilateral cultural communication and promote the construction of exchange and cooperation platforms.It will provide reference for China to further expand bilateral trade cooperation in mechanical and electrical sectors,as well as for the scientific nature of investment decision-making in ASEAN infrastructure construction.