A comparative study of service trade competitiveness for green innovation development using the WWYZ model - based on China and the 26 countries along 'the Belt and Road'

The service industry is known as the 'green engine' of economic development due to its low pollution and high efficiency. We found that China's service industry is slowly participating more in the upstream production activities of the GVC for green innovation development. The degree of GVC forward participation in China's service industry was significantly affected by the 2008 financial crisis, showing a downward trend. The degree of GVC backward participation continued to decline except for 2009-2011, during which it varied more greatly than of the degree of GVC forward participation. Although China's degree of GVC participation is relatively small compared to the 26 countries along 'the Belt and Road', its GVC position is comparatively high. Therefore, China should strengthen its industrial complementation with the 26 countries along 'the Belt and Road' through capacity cooperation and achieve mutual benefits from green innovation development.