Research On The Influence Of Digital Trade On The International Competitiveness Of China’s Manufacturing Industry

The continuous innovation and comprehensive application of the new generation of digital technology have helped the "digital trade" to develop rapidly as never before.Under the background of the rapid development of digital trade,the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry is enhanced by improving the quality and efficiency of the traditional manufacturing industry and increasing the proportion of the high-tech manufacturing industry,which will eventually help China transform into a "manufacturing power." So,will digital trade impact the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry?The discussion of this question provides a feasible new direction for improving China’s international manufacturing competitiveness.To begin with,based on the study of a large amount of literature,this paper defines the concept of digital trade,the manufacturing industry,and the international competitiveness of the manufacturing industry,and finds out the mechanism of digital trade affecting the global competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry by combining international trade related theories.The evaluation indexes are constructed from three dimensions of digital infrastructure,technological innovation capability and digital trade capability,and the Entropy-Weigh ted TOPSIS method is used to measure the development level of China’s digital trade;the factor analysis method is used to combine five single indexes measuring international competitiveness,namely Export Contribution,International Market Share,Revealed Comparative Advantage Index,Trade Competitiveness and Michaely Volatility Index.The results show that the development level of China’s digital trade and the international competitiveness of manufacturing industry both show a geographical distribution pattern of "strong in the east and weak in the west",and the perfect infrastructure construction,high level of economic development and openness to the outside world make the provinces and cities in the eastern region of China gain the first advantage of developing digital trade and improving the international competitiveness of manufacturing industry.Then,based on the results of measuring the development level of digital trade and the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry,a multidimensional panel fixed-effects model is established for empirical analysis by introducing economic development level,wage level,profit level,and foreign investment level as control variables.The hypotheses made in the mechanism analysis are tested one by one.The results of the empirical research analysis show that the development of digital trade can help promote the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry,and this improvement is more evident in the provinces and cities in central and western China.The development of digital trade can enhance the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry through two transmission mechanisms:upgrading industrial structure and strengthening technological innovation.Finally,based on the results of the quantitative analysis,policy suggestions are given for the development of digital trade to promote the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry,including actively developing digital trade,accelerating the pace of industrial structure upgrading,promoting the enhancement of technological innovation capacity,strengthening the deep integration of digital trade and manufacturing industry,and gradually narrowing the development level gap between regions.This paper empirically analyzes the impact of digital trade on the international competitiveness of China’s manufacturing industry from a new data perspective,enriching and expanding to some extent the research on the relationship that exists between them.In future economic development,the provincial and municipal governments should actively plan and implement related policies so that China’s manufacturing industry’s overall level of the international competitiveness can reach a new high level and steadily move toward the goal of"manufacturing power."...