Evolution of the specialization of China’s exports according to their technological content

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyze how China’s export specialization (and its global trade position in general) has evolved according to technological content for the 1987–2015 period. To that end, first, exports are classified by technological content to analyze the evolution of their composition. Second, the export specialization is studied using the Revealed Comparative Advantage Index. Then, the evolution of China’s competitive position in the world trade in goods is analyzed according to their technological content using three indices that combine export and import data: the Relative Trade Balance index, the Contribution to the Trade Balance index and the Market Position index. The results obtained confirm that the technological content of Chinese exports has shown a remarkable improvement, mainly in some high-technology (electrical and electronic products) and in medium-technology (mechanical engineering products) products. Nevertheless, China’s greatest trade strength continues to be products with low technological content.

Keywords:

• China
• foreign trade
• exports
• technology content
• comparative advantages

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The selection of 1987 as beginning of the study period is due to the previous selection of technological classification chosen in this work, which takes as reference the data for exports through the SITC Rev 2 classification, dis-aggregated in three digits. The year 1987 is the first in which dis-aggregated data exist for China at that level for the database utilized.

2 In fact, it is common to find references to this in the literature under the name Balassa Index.

3 As an alternative, other authors have highlighted the influence of other factors that are very diverse, for example, Berger and Martin (2013). These authors suggested that behind the success of China’s export style and their export technology are sectorial issues and situations that are specific and partially fortuitous.

4 If all products that are imported and then later re-exported due to this type of commerce can be found within one same category, the effect would be completely eliminated. If such were not the case, the effect would not necessarily be annulled but certainly reduced.

5 As happens with many indicators, within the literature, it is possible to find different formulations for the calculation of the CTB index; in this work, we have opted for one of them, perhaps the most common, sometimes called the Guerrieri method; see, for example, Guerrieri (1999).

6 All figures and tables were made by the authors with data from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ana Salvador

Ana Salvador is senior lecturer at the Department of Economics and Statistics, University of León, Spain. Her current research interests include international trade and foreign direct investment, Chinese economy and global political economy.

Eduardo Fernández-Huerga

Eduardo Fernández-Huerga is senior lecturer at the Department of Economics and Statistics, University of León, Spain. His current research interests include international economics, global political economy, heterodox economics and employment and labour relations.

Ana Pardo

Ana Pardo is senior lecturer and deputy head of the Department of Economics and Statistics, and coordinator of the Degree in Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at University of León, Spain. Her current research interests include input output analysis, regional economics studies and international economics.