International Transport Corridors and the Growth of China's Environmental Goods Exports: Evidence from the China–Europe Railway Express

Abstract

This paper investigates the mechanisms and effects of international transport corridors on the growth of China's environmental goods exports. Using bilateral data between Chinese provinces and their trading partners, this study treats the opening of the China–Europe Railway Express (CRE) as a quasi-experiment and employs a staggered difference-in-differences method for empirical testing. The results show that the opening of the CRE has promoted the growth of China's environmental goods exports. This growth was driven by mechanisms that increased demand in the international market, diversified the export of environmental goods, stimulated environmental innovation, and enhanced China's capacity to supply environmental goods globally. Significant heterogeneity was observed in the trade of environmental goods due to differences in product types, exporting provinces, and importing countries. The findings suggest that the international transport corridors can generate mutual benefits in the trade of environmental goods.