Determinants of Export Performance: Evidence from Chinese Industries

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the determinants of Chinese export performance using cross-sectional data at the industry level. We find that the export performance of different industries is significantly influenced by labour costs, foreign direct investment (FDI) and firm size, and thus open to a variety of explanations offered by traditional and new trade theories. These findings indicate that Chinese industrial sectors have realised their comparative advantages, but point to the need for the industries to upgrade their export structure in order to sustain growth.