Spatial Evolution of Chinese Enterprises’ Cross-border Trade Products in the Context of International Cooperation along the Belt and Road

Abstract

Abstract Based on the dynamic evolution of comparative advantage and product life cycle, this paper determines the measurement index for the spatial evolution of cross-border trade products of Chinese enterprises in the context of international cooperation along the Belt and Road, which mainly consists of the explicit comparative advantage index, proximity, the ability distance of products, and the opportunity return of products. Based on determining the measurement indexes of product spatial evolution in cross-border trade, we construct a product spatial structure evolution model based on product jumping decision and analyze the example of product spatial evolution in cross-border trade of enterprises. The results show that the proximity of food and activities (SITC0) to beverages and tobacco and alcohol (SITC1) is 0.528, to non-edible raw materials (SITC2) is 0.605, to manufactured products by natural materials (SITC6) is 0.536, and to miscellaneous products (SITC8) is 0.633. Compared to the other major products, the proximity of food and activities (SITC0) has the most excellent proximity, i.e., the smallest distance and the highest similarity, to these four product categories. This study investigates the relationship between spatial and dynamic comparative advantage of products and the development law in the context of the “Belt and Road”, to promote the better utilization of comparative advantage of the countries along the route.