Intra-Product International Specialization, Global Value Chain and China's Manufacturing Industries Upgrading

Abstract

This paper analyzes the theory of global value chain and the process in which the value hierarchy of global value chain matches the global hierarchy of comparative advantages throughout the world is also the process of global vertical separation and spatial reconstruction of the value nodes in the network of intra-product international specialization. Currently, there exists the possibility for the developing countries located at the low-end position of the global value chain to upgrade, and the specialization at different nodes of value chain of the manufacturing industry has become the mainstream of modern international specialization in manufacturing industry. China's manufacturing sectors need to make full use of its own comparative advantages, including abundant labor resources, powerful manufacturing capacity and vast market, and to actively integrate into the system of global value chain dominated by transnational corporations. And only by mastering the core technology through innovation and by possessing independent intellectual property rights could China hold the strategic high ground in the new-type international specialization.