Author(s)

Tonghui Zhang

Corresponding Author

Tonghui Zhang

Abstract

With the rapid development of the world economy and the continuous upgrading of the industrial structure, the importance of trade in services is becoming more obvious. Trade in services has become an important tenet of the current economic strength and international competitive advantage for various countries. The United States, as the world largest economy, has inherent competitive advantages. Japan, at the core of East Asian economic circle, is also becoming more competitive in the trade of services. China, the second largest economy in the world, has seen a sharp rise in the trade of services in recent years. The three countries are also important trading partners with each other. This particular setting raises questions about whether trade in services between these countries shows competitiveness and complementarities. This paper makes use of the service trade data from China, Japan and the United States from 2011 to 2018. Through forming RCA and CA indexes we look at the level of competition. We also analyze the complementarity in the bilateral trade through TCI and IIT indexes. The results lead to a few insights about China's development strategy for trade in services.

Keywords

Service trade, Competitiveness, Complementarity