Study On The Impact Of CHINA RAILWAY Express On The Export Structure Of Cities In Central And Western China

Since the reform and opening-up,China’s economy has maintained the high-speed development for a long time.However,with the shock of the global financial crisis in 2008 and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020,the world economy has been violently turmoiled.Trade frictions between China and the United States also escalated,which has led to the rise of trade protectionism and a decline in international market.Given the complex and changing international situation,China’s trade structure,especially the export structure,urgently needs optimization and upgradation.The CHINA RAILWAY Express was born to promote the transformation and upgradation of the export structure and fulfill high-quality foreign trade.The CHINA RAILWAY Express is an important carrier of the "Belt and Road" initiative and also a vital bridge and channel for economic trade between China and European countries,which connecting 180 cities in 23 European countries and regions.It not only promotes the development of trade in countries and regions along the route,but also breaks the traditional inward-oriented developmental mode in the central and western regions of China,and promotes the coordinated development of the regional economy.Based on such background,it is particularly important to study the effect of export structure optimization following the opening of the CHINA RAILWAY Express on China’s central and western regions.Through the methods including literature research,comparative analysis and empirical test,this study empirically analyzes the impact of the opening of the CHINA RAILWAY Express on the trade scale and export structure of 167 cities in the central and western regions of China.Firstly,this study composes the relevant literature,including the impact of transportation infrastructure on trade and export structure and the study of economic benefits of CHINA RAILWAY Express.Secondly,this study explores the mechanism of the effect of transportation infrastructure on trade scale and export structure to lay the theoretical foundation for the later study.In addition,this study summarizes the current situation of export structure in the central and western regions of China and the development of CHINA RAILWAY Express.On this basis,this study investigates the impact of the opening of the CHINA RAILWAY Express on the trade scale and export structure of cities in central and western China by using the Differences-in-Differences model and a series of heterogeneity tests based on the panel data of central and western cities from 2004-2020 and 2004-2016,respectively.Finally,given the above research,this study provides with recommendations to the corresponding policy for the high-quality development of the CHINA RAILWAY Express,hoping to provide effective help for the governments and enterprises to make strategic and developmental decisions.Hence to further promote the optimization and upgradation of the export structure and coordinated development of regional economy in the central and western regions of China.The findings of this study are as follows: firstly,in terms of export structure,the export commodity structure of China’s central and western regions is being continuously optimized,and the export scale of industrial manufactured goods continues to expand;the external region structure of exports is single,mainly concentrated in the developed countries and regions in Asia,Europe and North America,and the internal regional structure is more unbalanced,but the regional coordination is enhanced;the structure of export trade mode is gradually changing from general trade to processing trade.Secondly,in terms of the development of the CHINA RAILWAY Express,this study finds that the overall scale of the CHINA RAILWAY Express is expanding,the number of operations continues to increase,and the types of goods transported are gradually enriched.Finally,this study empirically finds that the opening of the CHINA RAILWAY Express can effectively promote the growth of trade scale and export structure optimization in the central and western regions of China.Based on the findings mentioned above,this study proposes recommendations in term of the scale and layout of the CHINA RAILWAY Express,market development and return cargo source,and the optimization of cooperation mechanisms among countries,which will finally provide valuable guidance for promoting the in-depth connection of domestic regions to the "Belt and Road" initiative further and achieving high-quality economic development.