Comparative Study On The International Competitiveness And Factors Affecting Digital Service Trade Between China And The US

In the 21 st century,the "digitalisation" of industry will change the distribution of industry worldwide as the digital economy evolves.The fact taht more and more online design,manufacturing and trading activities based on digital technologies are taking place has a positive impact on the development of digital service trade.Digital service trade is becoming an increasingly important element in global competition between countries around the world.The United States is now the world’s largest economy and is leading the world in services trade and information technology development,resulting in rapid growth in digital services trade and leadership in the exploration and application of related fields.In recent years,China’s digital services trade deficit has shown a downward trend,a critical moment for the development of service trade innovation.However,there is little research on the competitiveness of China-US digital services trade and related industries.Therefore,there is a need to clarify the differences between China and the US in digital services trade and to compare and analyze the competitiveness of digital trade between China and the US.This paper first defines the concepts and sectoral classifications related to digital services trade,and compares and summarizes the national and international literature,which will serve as a basis for further analysis of the scale and structure of trade in digital services between the US and China.Second,the comparative analysis of the volume and structure of China-US digital services trade shows that China’s digital services trade development is relatively lagging behind,the scale of many service sectors is far behind the US,but the development trend of various services is relatively good,and ICT services and other business services are key growth points for China’s digital services trade exports.In order to make a comparison of differences in international competitiveness between China and the US in digital services trade in general and in different service sectors,a comparative analysis of three indices,namely the Trade Competitive Advantage Index,the Comparative Advantage Index and the International Market Share Index,was carried out.The result showed that China’s competitiveness in digital service trade is growing both overall and by sector,with ICT services playing a key role,and China’s international competitiveness has surpassed that of the US in this sector over the same period.In the following,principal components analysis is used for regression analysis to investigate the factors influencing the competitiveness of China-US digital services trade.It is found that the level of urbanisation,internet penetration,R&D intensity,GDP per capita and growth in merchandise exports promote the export of digital services trade between China and the US,while FDI and openness hinder it.Against this backdrop,this paper makes policy recommendations for the development of China’s digital trade.