Study On The Impact Of Investment Facilitation In RCEP Countries On China’s OFDI

On 15 November 2020,the eight-year negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(RCEP),with the ten ASEAN countries at its core,was finally formally signed,with the objective of maintaining the multilateral free trade system and establishing an open and mutually beneficial world economy,encompassing China,Japan,South Korea,Australia,New Zealand and the ten ASEAN countries,making it the most populous,largest economic and trade scale and most promising It has become the most populous,largest and most promising free trade zone.In an increasingly complex international environment,the signing of RCEP is particularly important for countries in the region to establish good cooperation,especially for economic recovery under the impact of the new crown epidemic.A total of eight RCEP member countries are on the list of China’s top 20 important economies in terms of OFDI flows in 2019,while RCEP countries occupy five seats in the list of top 20 economies in terms of stock,which shows that RCEP countries have become an important destination for China’s outward foreign direct investment(OFDI).Against this backdrop,the need to study China’s direct investment in other RCEP countries is self-evident.Firstly,based on the analysis of the current situation of China’s direct investment to other RECP member countries,this paper constructs a comprehensive level measurement system of investment facilitation containing 5 primary indicators and 24 secondary indicators,and uses the entropy evaluation method to measure the comprehensive quality of investment facilitation in RCEP countries.scores vary greatly,with Singapore,New Zealand and Japan ranking in the top three in terms of investment facilitation construction scores;and from the perspective of each dimension,infrastructure quality and regulatory and protection conditions facilitation construction scores are higher,followed by business investment environment and financial services efficiency,while macroeconomic conditions facilitation level scores the lowest.Secondly,based on the extended investment attraction model,this paper empirically tested the relationship between investment facilitation in RCEP countries and the cumulative net amount(stock)of Chinese OFDI absorbed by the country using the fixed-effects panel regression method,and the results showed that: the composite index of investment facilitation in each host country has a significant positive contribution to China’s contribution to its OFDI;the business investment environment,financial services efficiency,and The results show that: the level of facilitation under the three dimensions of business investment environment,financial services efficiency and regulatory and protection conditions has a significant positive effect,among which the effect of business investment environment facilitation is prominent;the empirical results of "China-RCEP developed economies" and "ChinaRCEP" are the closest,and the level of investment facilitation has a significant positive effect on the former.The empirical results are the closest between "ChinaRCEP developed economies" and "China-RCEP",and the marginal contribution of the level of facilitation to the former is significantly enhanced.Finally,based on the above empirical findings,policy recommendations are proposed on how to better enhance the level of regional investment facilitation,unleash China’s investment potential in other RCEP member countries,and promote win-win cooperation among RCEP regions,taking into account the relevant provisions in the investment chapter of the RCEP agreement.