Research On The Establishment Of China’s Inland Pilot Free Trade Zone On Regional Economic Growth

In order to better integrate into the wave of world economic development,many countries have chosen to build free trade zone to raise the level of opening up and enhance their economic strength and competitiveness.In this context,China has also begun to explore a new round of opening up,and in 2013,approved the establishment of the first pilot free trade zone in Shanghai.Since then,the construction of pilot free trade zones has been accelerated gradually.Up to now,21 pilot free trade zones have been set up in batches.From the perspective of spatial distribution,they extend from the coastal areas to inland and border areas,forming a new pattern of comprehensive opening up with no gaps.In 2017,the establishment of the first batch of inland free trade pilot zones in Henan,Hubei,Chongqing,Sichuan and Shaanxi is a new measure to promote the economic opening and development of inland areas in China,which has injected new vitality into the relatively low degree of openness of inland areas.At present,it has been years since the establishment of this batch of inland free trade pilot zones.It is of great significance to evaluate the policy effects that will affect the regional economic growth after the establishment of the inland free trade pilot zones through scientific methods,which will further improve the policies of the inland free trade pilot zones and promote the coordinated development of China’s regional economy.This paper first summarized the research literature on the pilot free trade zone at home and abroad,and analyzed the different mechanisms that affect regional economic growth after the establishment of the pilot free trade zone from the theoretical level in combination with relevant policy documents.It found that the mechanisms can be divided into trade effects,investment effects,innovation effects and industrial structure effects.Then,it states the economic development of the provinces where the five inland pilot free trade zones are located,and further introduces the construction of each pilot free trade zone.On this basis,select appropriate variables and provincial panel data from 2005 to 2019,and use Synthetic Control Method to empirically analyze whether the policy effects that affect regional economic growth after the establishment of the inland pilot free trade zone are significant,and conduct a comparative analysis of the regional differences of the impact effects of different pilot free trade zones.Furthermore,the mechanism of the above analysis is further tested by building a multiple mediating effect model.The research results show that the establishment of the pilot free trade zones in Henan,Hubei,Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces has promoted the economic growth of their respective regions,but the specific effects vary from region to region,and the results have passed the effectiveness test.However,the establishment of Chongqing Pilot Free Trade Zone has not produced significant policy effects on local economic growth.The mechanism test results show that foreign trade,two-way investment and industrial structure upgrading have all played an intermediary role in the process of promoting regional economic growth after the establishment of the inland pilot free trade zone,while the mediating effect of improving innovation level is not obvious.Finally,according to the above research contents and conclusions,the paper puts forward corresponding policy suggestions,such as that each inland free trade pilot zone should explore the differentiated development path based on the situation of their province,and continue to improve the relevant policy formulation to promote the open development of the economy.