Natural resources, geopolitical conflicts, and digital trade: Evidence from China

Globally digital trade has been increasing, exerting a positive economic impact, especially in China. Therefore, it is essential to escalate the volume and pace of digital trade in China. This empirical investigation explores the impact of natural resources rent and geopolitical risk on digital trade. Moreover, the study also highlights the combined impact of natural resources and geopolitical risk on digital trade. The results from the novel FARDL approach explain that natural resources promote digital trade whereas geopolitical risk mitigates it. On top of this, the combined impact of geopolitical risk and natural resources is also adverse. Based on these critical findings, we propose many policy suggestions to improve the volume of digital trade in China.