Spatial pattern and trade structure of foreign trade in western China

Since the implementation of "Western Region Development Program", western China has embraced a foreign trade boom. The foreign trade evolvement in western China not only creates a broader scope for the national economic development, but also completes the overall opening-up of China. Under this background, this paper uses several indices(such as trade intensity index, revealed comparative advantage, coefficient of variation, export similar index) to analyze the spatial pattern and trade structure of foreign trade in western China. The research results show that western China has witnessed a divergence in provincial foreign trade expansion. As trade of Sichuan and Chongqing grows quickly and turns into the core driving force of the whole trade in the western region, while Xinjiang, Yunnan and Guangxi have become the pioneer in the western frontier region. Second, the results illustrate that the major trade partners by scale are traditional major traders such as USA, and resource-exporters such as Australia and Kazakhstan. In contrast, neighboring countries and developing countries in Africa are the closest trade companions of western China. Third, western China has a gradually optimizing export structure with the improving proportion of mechanical and electrical equipment, whereas the most competitive commodities are still resource and labor intensive products. Fourth, provinces in western China can be divided into two export groups and three import groups based on the trade structure similarity. The first export group, including Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Guangxi and Gansu, is featured by exporting mechanical and electrical equipment; the second group, consisting of Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Qinghai, mainly export textiles, clothing and chemicals. The first import group, including Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Qinghai, focuses on mechanical and electrical equipment; the second import group, consisting of Guizhou, Yunnan and Gansu, with ores, slag and ash as leading imports; the third import group, including Xinjiang, Guangxi and Inner Mongolia, is featured by importing mineral fuels and its products.