This paper investigates the impact of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) on China's inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stocks. Using data from the International Monetary Fund CDIS database and the World Bank RTA text depth database, the authors analyze the effects of various RTA provision depth indexes (total depth, core depth, WTO+ provisions depth, and WTO-X provisions depth) on FDI. The study finds that improvements in all four depth indexes significantly promote China's inward FDI stocks, a conclusion robust to various endogeneity and robustness tests. Further analysis reveals greater effects on FDI from developing countries and Belt and Road countries, with significant heterogeneity across different RTA provisions.

Wen Yue, Qingxia Lin, Siyu Xu