 The Role of Chinese Panda Ambassadors in International TradeMattia Longhi and Caterina Morelli No 550, Working Papers from University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics Abstract: This paper examines the economic implications of China’s panda diplomacy — the practice of leasing giant pandas to foreign countries as part of its diplomatic engagement. In a period marked by heightened geopolitical tensions and fragile international relations, understanding whether symbolic diplomatic gestures can foster cooperation is increasingly important. We exploit the exogenous timing of panda cub births at foreign zoos as a political shock in relations with China to identify their effects on bilateral trade. We find that cub births are followed by a significant, though temporary, increase in host countries’ exports to China. The effect operates through political goodwill, as births are followed by increases in a monthly political relations index, and is concentrated in less politically aligned countries, where scope to improve relations makes such gains especially valuable. The findings suggest that even symbolic forms of diplomacy can generate short-term goodwill and economic engagement, highlighting the potential role of soft-power gestures in easing political frictions in a tense global environment. Keywords: China; International trade; Panda diplomacy; Political relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mib:wpaper:550 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in Working Papers from University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics Contact information at EDIRC. |
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