Effects of Free Trade Agreements on Chinese Forestry Industry: A Context Analysis with the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Countries

Abstract

Tang, L.; Jin, C.; Tian, Y., and Li, L., 2020. Effects of free trade agreements on Chinese forestry industry: A context analysis with the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road countries. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 290–294. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.With the deepening of economic globalization, signing trade agreements has become the most important way to promote trade cooperation among countries. With the implementation of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, China is committed to continue expanding the opening and deepening of regional economic and trade cooperation in this region. Using the data of 58 countries along the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road from 2003 to 2017, this study uses the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences method to explore the free trade agreement (FTAs) impact on Chinese forestry industry. The results show that FTAs have a significantly positive impact on exports of Chinese forestry industry. After controlling for the impact of the global financial crisis in 2008 and removing the extreme values in the sample, FTAs still have a significantly positive impact on exports of Chinese forestry industry.