By Li Shantong & He Jianwu, Department of Development Strategy and Regional Economy, DRC, Zhang Hongmei, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University & Zhu Lingxiu, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Research Report, No.218, 2018 (Total 5493) 2018-12-13

Abstract: Against the backdrop of global value chain, the added value created by trade can reflect a country’s gains in international trade. In the process of striding forward toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain, it is worth studying whether the provincial value-added in export (VAX) can be taken as an indicator of development quality. Based on the analysis of provincial data in China, it is concluded that there is a N-shaped connection between the provincial VAX and the development level; there is a U-shaped connection between each sector’s provincial VAX and their development level; the provincial VAX among different industries shows a U-shaped change trend, that is, the provincial VAX of agricultural and service sectors is higher than that of industrial sector, and the provincial VAX of labor-intensive manufacturing industries is higher than that of capital- and technology-intensive manufacturing industries. Under the structural-led effect, provincial VAX in regions with lower development level is likely to be higher. Therefore, the provincial VAX can’t be simply taken as an indicator to measure the quality of development and the development stage and structural features need also to be taken into consideration.

Key words: provincial value-added in export, global value chain, development quality