Research on the Impact of Digital Infrastructure Construction on China's Export Resilience
TL;DR
The improvement of digital infrastructure significantly enhances regional export resilience, and this conclusion remains valid after robustness tests; mechanism analysis shows that enhanced supply chain flexibility and expanded openness are important transmission channels; heterogeneity analysis indicates that the empowering effect of digital infrastructure is more pronounced in central and western provinces and in regions with high e-commerce activity.
Abstract
Against the backdrop of persistent turbulence in the global trade environment, enhancing export resilience is crucial to the high-quality development of China’s foreign trade. As the underlying foundation of the digital economy, digital infrastructure plays a vital role in stabilizing exports and withstanding external shocks. This paper employs provincial panel data from China spanning 2010 to 2023, constructs a comprehensive index to measure the level of digital infrastructure development, and calculates an export resilience indicator. Using a two-way fixed-effects model for empirical analysis, the study finds that: the improvement of digital infrastructure significantly enhances regional export resilience, and this conclusion remains valid after robustness tests; mechanism analysis shows that enhanced supply chain flexibility and expanded openness are important transmission channels; heterogeneity analysis indicates that the empowering effect of digital infrastructure is more pronounced in central and western provinces and in regions with high e-commerce activity. Based on these findings, the paper proposes policy recommendations such as differentiated deployment of regional digital infrastructure and coordinated development of hardware construction and market applications, providing decision-making references for fostering foreign trade risk-resistance capacity.