The influence of trade facilitation on agricultural product exports of China: empirical evidence from ASEAN countries

The trade of agricultural products plays an essential role in agricultural development. Agricultural trade is more complicated and diversified than other industrial products, influenced by product characteristics for perishable. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is one of the most important markets for China's agricultural exports. This study aimed to analyze the impact of trade facilitation indicators on China's agricultural exports to ASEAN countries. A gravity model was adopted by taking the volume of Chinese agricultural exports to ASEAN countries from 2006-2020 as the dependent variable. Indicators such as economic freedom (EF), trade across borders (TAB), and infrastructure quality (Infra) were introduced that were representing trade facilitation as the core independent variable. Also, an empirical analysis was carried out using a mixed regression model. The results show that the three proxy indicators of trade facilitation had a significantly positive impact on the scale of China's agricultural exports to the ASEAN market. The results could play a guiding role in strengthening the cooperation between China and the ASEAN regarding trade facilitation and expansion of the scale of agricultural trade.