Foreign direct investment and regional export performance in China

This paper investigates the impact of foreign direct investment (FBI) on th e export performance of China at the provincial level. First, it presents a theoretical discussion of the impact of FBI on foreign trade, and then an empirical study of the impact of FBI on the export performance of regions i n China. It has been found that the impact of FDI on exports differs across three macro-regions in China. The effect is stronger in the coastal region than in the inland regions. Although FDI shows a positive and significant impact on exports from the central region, its impact on the western region is found to be insignificant.