Service Trade Cooperation and Servitization of China's Manufacturing Industry:Technological Upgrading or Industrial Transfer?An Example of Countries along the Belt and Road
With the global economy shifting towards a service-oriented model,the transition of manufacturing enterprises from production to service has emerged as a prevailing trend.Facilitating the deep integration of advanced manufacturing and the modern service industry stands as a crucial approach to bolstering the core competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.The current research indicates that the expansion of service trade contributes to fostering industrial integration within a country and elevating its level of manufacturing servitization.Over nearly a decade since the inception of the Belt and Road Initiative,significant strides have been made by China and the countries along its route in terms of overall scale,trade structure,and coordinated development in service trade.Given the pivotal role of service trade in manufacturing servitization and the rapid growth of service trade between China and the countries alongside the Belt and Road,this paper examines how the cooperation in service trade between China and these countries contributes to enhancing China's manufacturing servitization and at the same time explores its underlying mechanisms.Theoretically,on the one hand,trade in services with countries along the Belt and Road can directly or indirectly promote the enhancement of China's manufacturing servitization through technology spillover,industry correlation,market competition,and other mechanisms;at the same time,the role of service imports is more prominent.On the other hand,the service trade cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road primarily enhances the output servitization of China's manufacturing industry through economies of scale,resource transfer,and other effects.Meanwhile,service exports play a more significant role.Technology upgrading and industrial transfer are the primary means by which service trade under the Belt and Road Initiative promotes servitization within China's manufacturing industry.The effect of technology upgrading from service imports is robust,while the impact of industrial transfer from service exports is relatively prominent.Empirical results demonstrate that the overall service trade with countries along the Belt and Road significantly promotes both input and output servitization within China's manufacturing industry.Notably,it has a more pronounced effect on output servitization.From an intermediate mechanism perspective,the cooperation in service trade with countries along the Belt and Road mainly drives transformation within China's manufacturing industry through technology upgrading and industrial transfer pathways,herein the influence of industrial transfer is particularly significant and extensive.In addition,industry heterogeneity testing reveals that while industry characteristics do not alter how service trade affects manufacturing servitization directionally.Capital-intensive industries weaken its impact on input servitization whereas labor-intensive industries diminish its effect on output servitization.The paper's innovation lies in the following aspects:Firstly,it examines the relationship between regional service trade cooperation and the domestic manufacturing services with the countries along the Belt and Road as samples,thereby contributing to enriching research on national differences in this field.Secondly,while previous studies have mainly focused on service import as a whole within service trade,this paper distinguishes between the interaction mechanisms of service trade exports and the imports on domestic manufacturing services.It explores specific channels for input and output services separately.Thirdly,it categorizes the impacts of service trade into industrial transfer effect and technology upgrading effect,providing a concrete demonstration of these effects within the context of service trade cooperation with the countries along the Belt and Road.Therefore,it aims at offering guidance for governments and enterprises in formulating more specific cooperation policies.
service tradeservitization of manufacturing industrytechnological upgradingindustrial transferthe Belt and Road
万方数据
