Analysis of Digital Services Trade and Export Competitiveness

Abstract

With the accelerating development of digital economies worldwide, service trade is accelerating its transition to online delivery and platform-based models, driving profound changes in the structure of regarding global trade and labor specialization within global value chains. Especially against the backdrop of increasingly frequent cross-border data flows, digital service trade has gradually become a key indicator of a nation’s export competitiveness. This paper examines the relationship between digital services trade and export competitiveness by reviewing relevant definitions, theoretical mechanisms, and institutional barriers, summarizing domestic and international research progress, and focusing on analyzing China's practical pathways and shortcomings in institutional development, technological innovation, and market expansion. The study finds that China needs to systematically strengthen efforts in areas such as rule-making participation, platform construction, support for enterprises going global, and data governance aimed at improving its competitiveness in the international digital services sector. This research provides theoretical support for optimizing China's policies governing digital trade as well as narrowing the gap with members of high-standard trade systems, while also offering new perspectives on the transformation pathways for services trade in the context of the digital economy.