Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Internet Finance and Digital Economy (ICIFDE 2025)

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Impact Mechanisms of Digital Trade on the Development of Open Economies: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta Region

Authors
Jingmin Zhao1, Haoxiang Jia1, Xiulian Jiang1, *
1Business School, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, China
*Corresponding author. Email: jxl@xzit.edu.cn
Corresponding Author
Xiulian Jiang
Available Online 6 November 2025.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_11How to use a DOI?
Keywords
digital trade; Yangtze River Delta; TOPSIS; mediation effect
Abstract

As an offshoot of the digital economy, digital trade fuels socioeconomic growth and supports China’s rise as a trading power. The Yangtze River Delta (YRD), one of the nation’s most vibrant and open regions, has led digital-trade expansion since 2013. Using data from 2013 to 2022, we first construct an entropy weighted TOPSIS index to measure digital-trade development. We then estimate its impact on open-economy growth with an OLS baseline model and explore two pathways, namely tertiary industry upgrading and technological innovation, through mediation model analysis. Findings are threefold. First, YRD digital trade increased steadily over the decade, yet provincial gaps persist, and Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai outperform Anhui. Second, stronger digital-trade activity enlarges the region’s open economy. Third, service-sector growth and innovation progress partially transmit this positive relationship. These results provide a basis for policy measures that can leverage digital trade more effectively and advance regional openness.

Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Internet Finance and Digital Economy (ICIFDE 2025)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
6 November 2025
ISBN
978-94-6463-886-8
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_11How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2025 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Jingmin Zhao
AU  - Haoxiang Jia
AU  - Xiulian Jiang
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/06
TI  - Impact Mechanisms of Digital Trade on the Development of Open Economies: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta Region
BT  - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Internet Finance and Digital Economy (ICIFDE 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 93
EP  - 115
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_11
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-886-8_11
ID  - Zhao2025
ER  -