Understanding the One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI) influence on exportations of Chinese smartphones: The moderating role of the GDP per capita

The One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI) has been the subject of multitudinous studies from various angles. Most previous studies have focused on BRI’s economic, geopolitical, or commercial implications for China. However, the few studies that focused on BRI’s influence on the exportations or importations of Chinese products via the Chinese Cross-border Electronic Commerce Market (CCBECM) have been carried out based only on authors’ opinions rather than on empirical evidence. Therefore, the actual effect of BRI on the exportations of Chinese product brands via CCBECM in BRI countries still needs to be discovered. Utilizing B2C exportation data of Chinese smartphones and a Difference-in Difference Model (DIDM), we have first examined the actual and direct impact of BRI policy on Chinese smartphone brands exportations via the Chinese Cross-border Electronic Commerce Market (CCBECM) from 2012 to 2019 in BRI countries. Secondly, we assessed the moderating role of GDP per capita (GDP) and Internet Access Rate (IAR) between BRI policy and exportations of Chinese smartphone brands. The results showed that the impact of BRI remains insignificant on the exportations of Chinese smartphones via CCBECM in BRI countries. However, it could be significant if BRI includes more developed and economically strong countries. The study also highlighted a negative moderating role of GDP per capita between BRI policy and exportations, showing that the higher the BRI effect is, the less GDP per capita will influence Chinese smartphone exportations in BRI countries.