Measurement and Characteristics of the Integration of China’s Trade in Services into Digital Global Value Chain

Abstract In this paper, the characteristics of digital trade in services of China are measured and revealed from the perspective of digitalization of trade in services. A digital global value chain is constructed and comprehensively analyzed at the three levels of path decomposition, two-way digital connection and bilateral connection. The study finds that the digital added value of China’s services driven by domestic demand outweighs that driven by foreign demand, and most countries engage in digital trade in services with China through simple participation; the role of China’s services in the digital global value chain is shifting from “digital value input” to “digital value output”, but its relative position is still low; China’s dependence on the import of digital intermediate products from developed countries has been significantly reduced, and the country has become the main source of digital intermediate imports for most countries, acting as a “hub” in the digital global value chain. This study comprehensively evaluates the strategic positioning and paths of integrating China’s services into the digital global value chain in multiple dimensions under the unified accounting framework. It provides the reference for further improving the statistics accounting framework of China’s digital trade and promoting the high-quality development of the digital economy.