Existing studies on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP)mainly focused on institutional features,macro-economic impacts,and trade-network structures,while its geographic attributes and their implicati...Existing studies on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP)mainly focused on institutional features,macro-economic impacts,and trade-network structures,while its geographic attributes and their implications remain underexplored.Taking the RCEP as a case,this paper examines how the FTA reshapes China’s trade geography and validates these effects with an enhanced GTAP model,providing an empirical basis for advancing trade-geography theory.Key findings include:(1)RCEP significantly reduces regional trade costs.After full implementation of the agreement,the average tariffs among member countries will decrease to 40.5%of the pre-implementation level,while import and export trade facilitation levels improve by 34.3%and 29.6%,respectively.However,these improvements exhibit marked regional disparities.(2)RCEP asymmetrically promotes China’s foreign trade growth,with stronger import stimulation than export expansion,alongside significant product-specific variations.(3)The agreement reshapes China’s trade geography,driving a 7.66%increase in intra-RCEP trade while reducing extra-RCEP trade by 0.80%.(4)The restructuring of China’s trade patterns under RCEP emerges from the complex interplay of trade creation,diversion,and crowding-out effects.Accordingly,China should further harmonize regional tariff schedules,enhance trade-facilitation mechanisms,strengthen industrial competitiveness and expand multilateral partnerships.展开更多
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.42471202,No.72441005。
文摘Existing studies on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP)mainly focused on institutional features,macro-economic impacts,and trade-network structures,while its geographic attributes and their implications remain underexplored.Taking the RCEP as a case,this paper examines how the FTA reshapes China’s trade geography and validates these effects with an enhanced GTAP model,providing an empirical basis for advancing trade-geography theory.Key findings include:(1)RCEP significantly reduces regional trade costs.After full implementation of the agreement,the average tariffs among member countries will decrease to 40.5%of the pre-implementation level,while import and export trade facilitation levels improve by 34.3%and 29.6%,respectively.However,these improvements exhibit marked regional disparities.(2)RCEP asymmetrically promotes China’s foreign trade growth,with stronger import stimulation than export expansion,alongside significant product-specific variations.(3)The agreement reshapes China’s trade geography,driving a 7.66%increase in intra-RCEP trade while reducing extra-RCEP trade by 0.80%.(4)The restructuring of China’s trade patterns under RCEP emerges from the complex interplay of trade creation,diversion,and crowding-out effects.Accordingly,China should further harmonize regional tariff schedules,enhance trade-facilitation mechanisms,strengthen industrial competitiveness and expand multilateral partnerships.
