Analysis of China's Export Efficiency and Potential of Digital Products to RCEP Countries-based on the Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model

Objective: This paper analyzes the factors affecting China’s digital product exports to Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) countries, and puts forward relevant suggestions on this basis. It is hoped that China’s digital product exports to RCEP countries can be improved, and china’s international competitiveness in the digital field can be enhanced. Methods: This paper constructs a stochastic frontier gravity model to calculate the export efficiency, and analyzes the relevant factors affecting export efficiency based on the export efficiency model. Results: China’s overall export efficiency of digital products to RCEP countries is relatively high. China’s digital product trade with RCEP countries is positively affected by the GDP of the two countries, the population size of the RCEP countries, whether the two countries have a common language and whether they are adjacent to each other, and negatively affected by China’s population size and the geographical distance between the two countries. In addition, signing a free trade agreement, improving the level of digital infrastructure, intellectual property rights, tariff freedom, and government spending can effectively improve the efficiency of digital product export trade, while commercial freedom and monetary freedom have a suppressive effect on the efficiency of digital product trade. Conclusion: China can promote the export of digital products by signing free trade agreements and strengthening investment cooperation in digital infrastructure and intellectual property assistance with RCEP countries. Exporting countries can promote trade cooperation with other countries by moderately reducing tariffs and increasing government investment.