The economic and environmental effects of the Belt and Road Countries' demand on China in the international trade

WANG Lianfen, LIANG Junyi, CHEN Xiangjie, ZHOU Saiqun

Systems Engineering - Theory & Practice ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (5) : 1249-1266.

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Systems Engineering - Theory & Practice ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (5) : 1249-1266. DOI: 10.12011/SETP2022-1046

The economic and environmental effects of the Belt and Road Countries' demand on China in the international trade

  • WANG Lianfen1, LIANG Junyi2, CHEN Xiangjie3, ZHOU Saiqun4
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Abstract

With the core of embodied carbon intensity, this paper constructs a comprehensive analysis framework of cross-border economic and carbon emission impacts, assessing the impacts of the Belt and Road on China's economy and environment. The results show that the demand of the Belt and Road places a more critical effect on China's value-added, carbon emission, and aggregate carbon intensity. Compared with other countries, the proportion of industries with high embodied carbon intensity in the demand of the Belt and Road is relatively higher, resulting in China's higher embodied carbon intensity, indicating that China has to benefit from specialization through more carbon emission. To achieve the vision of Green Belt and Road, South Asia is a key region. Mining and quarrying, petroleum, chemical and non-metallic mineral products, metal products are key sectors. The difference in supply chain production structure effect is the main reason for China's higher embodied carbon intensity, suggesting that the supply chain transformation plays a significant role in Green Belt and Road. This paper first systematically analyzes the economic and carbon emissions impacts of the Belt and Road on China through international trade, clarifying the challenge of building Green Belt and Road that is ignored in the previous literature and proposes three policy implications on key regional governance, key industrial governance, and transformation of the green supply chain. The comprehensive analysis framework of cross-border economic and carbon emissions effects proposed provides a methodological basis for other environmental indicators.

Key words

Green Belt and Road / Global multi-regional input-output analysis / embodied carbon intensity / synergy of economy and environment

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WANG Lianfen , LIANG Junyi , CHEN Xiangjie , ZHOU Saiqun. The economic and environmental effects of the Belt and Road Countries' demand on China in the international trade. Systems Engineering - Theory & Practice, 2023, 43(5): 1249-1266 https://doi.org/10.12011/SETP2022-1046

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Funding

Key Program of National Philosophy and Social Science Foundation (17AJL007)
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