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China’s Export Evolution in the Dynamic Global Product Space from 2000 to 2011


Affiliations
1 School of Geography and Planning, Urbanization Institute, and China Regional Coordinated Development and Rural Construction Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 135 Xingang West Road, Guangzhou, 510275, China
2 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Goods Shed Village Street, Docklands Vic 3008, Australia
 

China’s massive export trajectory can enlighten many developing countries regarding foreign trade. Based on the ‘product space’ theory, the present study analyses the evolution of China’s export economy from three perspectives: (1) comparative advantage from a longitudinal perspective, (2) diversification from a horizontal perspective, and (3) location in dynamic global product space from a spatial perspective. Results show that China’s export economy is becoming more diversified and has evolved from a polarized structure to a relatively balanced system. At the same time, China has been moving from a peripheral location to a core place in the clusters of global product space. This study concludes that both path dependence and path creation are important in driving China’s export evolution process.

Keywords

Developing Countries, Export Evolution, Foreign Trade, Global Product Space, Path Creation, Path Dependence.
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  • China’s Export Evolution in the Dynamic Global Product Space from 2000 to 2011

Abstract Views: 379  |  PDF Views: 109

Authors

Shan Li
School of Geography and Planning, Urbanization Institute, and China Regional Coordinated Development and Rural Construction Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 135 Xingang West Road, Guangzhou, 510275, China
Xun Li
School of Geography and Planning, Urbanization Institute, and China Regional Coordinated Development and Rural Construction Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 135 Xingang West Road, Guangzhou, 510275, China
Haohui
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Goods Shed Village Street, Docklands Vic 3008, Australia
Wei Lang
School of Geography and Planning, Urbanization Institute, and China Regional Coordinated Development and Rural Construction Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, No. 135 Xingang West Road, Guangzhou, 510275, China

Abstract


China’s massive export trajectory can enlighten many developing countries regarding foreign trade. Based on the ‘product space’ theory, the present study analyses the evolution of China’s export economy from three perspectives: (1) comparative advantage from a longitudinal perspective, (2) diversification from a horizontal perspective, and (3) location in dynamic global product space from a spatial perspective. Results show that China’s export economy is becoming more diversified and has evolved from a polarized structure to a relatively balanced system. At the same time, China has been moving from a peripheral location to a core place in the clusters of global product space. This study concludes that both path dependence and path creation are important in driving China’s export evolution process.

Keywords


Developing Countries, Export Evolution, Foreign Trade, Global Product Space, Path Creation, Path Dependence.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv117%2Fi3%2F470-479