Analysis Of Dgital Trade Promoting International Competitiveness Of Yangze River Economic Belt

With the accelerated pace of Internet development,digital trade has become a new direction for the transformation of traditional trade.Countries have reoriented their development policies to highlight the development of intellectual manufacturing.As one of the most economically dynamic and important regions in China for the digital transformation of industries,investigating the level of digital trade development and the level of international competitiveness of manufacturing in the Yangtze River Economic Zone can help identify the characteristics of the regional development stage and promote the high-quality development of digital trade and manufacturing in China.Firstly,the literature is sorted out from the connotation,measurement and economic effect of digital trade,and the connotation and measurement of international competitiveness of industry.The content related to competitive advantage theory,industrial agglomeration theory,iceberg cost theory and Internet theory is elaborated.Based on the logical connection between digital trade and international competitiveness of manufacturing industry,the impact of digital trade on international competitiveness of manufacturing industry is theoretically analyzed.Secondly,the basic conditions for the development of digital trade in the Yangtze River Economic Belt are analyzed in three dimensions: economy,technology and industry;combined with digital trade related influencing factors,19 indicators are selected to build an evaluation system for the development of digital trade in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in five dimensions: network infrastructure,logistics environment,digital talent pool,digital-industry integration and trade potential,and the comprehensive score for the development of digital trade in the Yangtze River Economic Belt is measured by the entropy weight method After that.Then the indicative comparative advantage index and the international market share index were selected to evaluate the international competitiveness level of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt,and the gap between the international competitiveness level of the manufacturing industry in the upper,middle and lower echelons of the region was analyzed,a classification comparison was made based on the factor intensity of each manufacturing industry and the different technology levels of the industry.Finally,a panel data fixed-effects model is used to empirically test the effect of digital trade on the international competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.The main key findings are as follows:(1)From 2012 to 2021,the level of digital trade development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt has been increasing annually,but there are significant differences between different regions.In general,the development level of digital trade in the Yangtze River Economic Belt shows a pattern of "strong in the east and weak in the west",with the downstream region having the highest level of digital trade development,the upstream region,especially Yunnan and Guizhou,having a low level of digital trade development,and the rest of the provinces and cities being in the middle echelon of digital trade development.(2)The international competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt as a whole still needs to be strengthened,with the downstream region having stronger international competitiveness and the middle and upper regions weaker,but the middle and upper regions will gradually improve between 2012 and 2021 and have better development prospects.The international competitiveness of capital-intensive manufacturing and technology-intensive manufacturing is significantly higher in the downstream regions than in the midstream and upstream regions,but the international competitiveness of labour-intensive manufacturing is not high overall,and there is no obvious geographical gap between provinces and cities.(3)Digital trade development helps to improve the international competitiveness of manufacturing industries in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.Based on the heterogeneity analysis of the factor intensity and technology level of manufacturing industries in the Yangtze River Economic Belt,it is found that digital trade development plays a more significant role in promoting the international competitiveness of high-tech manufacturing industries and capital-intensive manufacturing industries in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.Policy recommendations:(1)strengthen infrastructure construction,cultivate digital talent system;(2)promote digital trade technology innovation,improve international cooperation in digital trade;(3)promote the integration of digital trade and industry,push forward the construction of smart manufacturing;(4)promote coordinated development of digital trade,establish regional linkage mechanism;(5)improve enterprises’ independent innovation capability,grow and cultivate new industries.