Unleashing the Impact of Outward Foreign Direct Investment on the High-Quality Development of High-Tech Manufacturing Industry: Evidence from China

Wei Wei (), Qiyuan Li (), Qianqiu Jin () and Chunyan Huang ()
Additional contact information
Wei Wei: Dalian Maritime University
Qiyuan Li: Dalian Maritime University
Qianqiu Jin: Dalian Maritime University
Chunyan Huang: Dalian Maritime University

Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2025, vol. 16, issue 3, No 75, 13080-13097

Abstract: Abstract China has shifted from a high-speed growth stage to a high-quality development (HQD) stage and is currently in a critical period of transforming its development model, optimizing its economic structure, and changing its growth momentum. The country should seize opportunities in technological innovation and industrial transformation at the forefront of the world to promote industrial optimization and upgrading, thereby accelerating the economy’s evolution toward a more advanced form, a more complex division of labor, and a more reasonable structure. Therefore, improving the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and promoting the development of a high-tech manufacturing industry (HTMI) are vital for the HQD of China’s economy. The benchmark regression results of this paper indicate that outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) positively affects the HQD of China’s HTMI, and this finding remains robust after a series of tests. From the perspective of the mechanism test, the results confirm that OFDI influences the HQD of the HTMI through market competition, and this influence is affected by the degree of openness to the outside world. This paper further analyzes heterogeneity from two perspectives: dimension and region. The results show that OFDI significantly impacts HTMI’s innovation ability and industrial efficiency. At the same time, the development of OFDI does not have a significant effect on the industrial structure of the HTMI. OFDI in the eastern and central regions plays an essential role in promoting the HQD of high-tech manufacturing. In contrast, OFDI in the western regions adversely affects the HQD of high-tech manufacturing. Finally, based on the research findings and conclusions presented, this paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions for accelerating the pace of “going out,” gradually improving the opening-up policy, and focusing on the coordinated development of the regional HTMI.

Keywords: Outward foreign direct investment; High-tech manufacturing; High-quality development; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-024-02363-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:16:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s13132-024-02363-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/13132

DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02363-4

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Knowledge Economy is currently edited by Elias G. Carayannis

More articles in Journal of the Knowledge Economy from Springer, Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET)
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().