The impact of logistics performance on China's cross-border e-commerce trade

Abstract

Cross-border e-commerce (CBEC), a new engine of foreign trade under the epidemic, is highly dependent on international logistics. Although recent studies deal with the impact of logistics on international trade, this impact on electronic commerce is still an open research question. Moreover, these studies usually do not consider the influence of all components of the logistics on trade. This paper, therefore, aims at identifying the role of logistics performance in cross-border e-commerce imports and exports between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE) in the Belt and Road Initiative. Using an extended gravity model, we examine whether the indicators of the World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI), adopted as a proxy of logistics efficiency, are an important determinant of bilateral e-commerce trade facilitation. The results lead to the conclusion that the logistics performance has statistically significant and positive correlation with cross-border e-commerce, especially on exports. Specifically, great importance was placed more on the customs, followed by shipment, infrastructure, and services. Factors like tracing and timeliness have the least importance.