Can The Opening Of China Railway Express Promote The Conversion Rate Of Foreign Trade

The 19th National Congress report emphasizes the need to expand high-level opening-up and “promote the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive openness”.It advocates for using openness to drive reform,with a focus on the “Belt and Road” Initiative as a key element of development.This aims to establish an open pattern of interconnectedness between land and sea,and between the east and the west.The China Railway Express,as an international intermodal transport service connecting China with countries in Central Asia and Europe,serves as a bridge for the in-depth construction of the “Belt and Road” Initiative.It revitalizes the land transportation system of countries along the “Belt and Road”,injecting new vitality into their economic and trade relations.Foreign-invested enterprises,as a major component of China’s outward-oriented economy,play a crucial role in the country’s export trade and economic development.In terms of specific export performance,the share of foreign-invested enterprises’ total exports in China consistently remains above 40%,contributing to one-fifth of the manufacturing output.Therefore,it is particularly important to explore how to leverage the China Railway Express to further enhance the export conversion rate after foreign investment and harness its driving role in China’s economic structural transformation process.As an important component of the “Belt and Road” Initiative infrastructure connectivity,the opening of the China-Europe Railway has significantly reduced the outbound trade costs for our country.Especially for cities in central and western China,it has saved outbound transportation time and created new export advantages.As foreign-owned enterprises’ exports constitute a significant portion of our total exports,can the establishment of the China-Europe Railway further reduce trade costs and stimulate more foreign investment to engage in export activities in our country? Taking the normalized operation of the China-Europe Railway as a starting point,this article constructs a multi-period doubly difference model,conducts baseline regression analysis after controlling for various factors influencing the conversion of foreign investment exports at the prefecture level.The robustness of the conclusions is enhanced through various robustness tests such as instrumental variable method.By conducting heterogeneous analysis from the perspectives of geographical location and economic development,more practical application areas are explored,and the working mechanisms are examined to propose targeted policy recommendations.Through theoretical research and empirical analysis,this article presents the following main conclusions: First,the operations of China Railway Expresss in various regions have rapidly expanded in terms of frequency and coverage,leading to a gradual expansion of their reach.Additionally,the railway import and export volume of countries connected to the China Railway Express network has increased annually,facilitating greater trade exchanges since the opening of these train services.Second,the results of the baseline regression indicate that regions where China Railway Expresss are operational and regularly running can leverage these trains to enhance the foreign trade conversion rate of cities.This conclusion has been verified through a series of robustness tests.Third,through heterogeneity tests based on geographical location and economic development,it is found that the opening of China Railway Expresss has a greater impact on the foreign trade conversion rate in the central and western regions compared to the eastern region.Moreover,cities utilizing the Western and Central corridors for export experience higher increases in their foreign trade conversion rates.Additionally,the impact of the opening of China Railway Expresss on the foreign trade conversion rate is only effective in mega-cities and cities of similar scale.Furthermore,both logistics nodes designated in the "Planning" and the establishment of free trade zones at the national level contribute to a greater increase in the foreign trade conversion rate for the regions where the train services are opened.Fourth,the opening and regular operation of China Railway Expresss can enhance the level of industrial upgrading in the relevant regions,helping cities create a favorable business environment,and thus promoting the conversion of foreign investment exports through the China Railway Express service.