Xu Jun | Research on the Cooperative Pattern and Determinants of Global Free Trade Agreements—Based

Recently, the 2021 "International Trade Disputes and Globalization Restructuring Academic Symposium" was successfully held online.Xu Jun, doctoral candidate at the School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang UniversityAttendTrade Agreement Thematic Sub-Forum 5And shared with collaborators (see below) a topic titledA Study on the Cooperation Pattern and Determinants of Global Free Trade Agreements—Based on Social Network Methodology and Dynamic Panel Data ModelThe article.

Article author

Xu Jun, a member of the Communist Party of China, is a doctoral candidate in World Economics at the School of Economics and Management, Xinjiang University, class of 2019. He is pursuing his doctoral degree through a combined master's and doctoral program and has published more than 10 articles in journals such as *World Economic Research*, *International Trade and Economic Exploration*, *International Business*, and *International Business Research*. He has participated in research projects such as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps' "14th Five-Year Plan" strategy research and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Department's project approval system reform. He has also co-authored monographs such as *Economic Development Report of Central Asia and Russia* and *Economic Development Quality Report of Countries along the Belt and Road Initiative*.

Xu Jun

In an article with his collaborators, Xu Jun mentioned thatThe world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and the multilateral trading system is facing severe challenges. Free trade agreements (FTAs) have become a "stabilizer" for promoting trade liberalization. This paper constructs a global FTA cooperation network from 2001 to 2019 and studies the factors influencing the evolution of national positions within this network. The study finds that the number of countries signing FTAs ​​and the number of agreements themselves have both increased significantly, and the network of agreements is becoming increasingly close, exhibiting a "small world" characteristic. Based on the closeness of relations between countries, the network can be further divided into European trade associations, North American trade associations, CIS trade associations, Asia-Pacific trade associations, and South American trade associations. European countries have a relatively stable position in the network, while emerging economies, represented by China, have seen a significant rise in their status. The entire network exhibits regional differentiation. Further research reveals that agreements reached in the early stages have a certain "demonstration effect," and there is an asymmetry between a country's level of economic development and its position in the network. A country's level of foreign trade cooperation, economic system, legal system, and political system all significantly influence its position within the network. Marginal effects studies have revealed that the impact of institutional quality on a country's position within the network of agreements exhibits a distinct structural characteristic. This article provides a reference for further leveraging the advantages of free trade agreements, maintaining the effective operation of the global multilateral trading system, and contributing to the construction of an open world economy.

(Compiled from paper abstracts provided by the guest) 

 Zhou Lingling

Zhou Lingling, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua UniversityThe article was reviewed, briefly summarizing its main content and structure. It was deemed logically clear and meticulously written, offering policy recommendations for the effective operation of the global multilateral trading system. Zhou Lingling then offered four suggestions: First, the number of agreements given in 2019 was inconsistent; further explanation of the selection criteria for the research subjects is needed. Second, the basis for classifying trade associations should be further explained, ideally with a comparison and contrast analysis with previous scholars' classification methods. Third, justification for including coastal location as a geographical factor could be added. Fourth, when using betweenness centrality as the explained variable, the possibility that the observations are not independent needs to be considered.

(The volunteers compiled and wrote the script based on the live stream content.)

Trade Agreement Special ReportandGuest scholars