This in-depth research has applied both qualitative and quantitative approaches to
discuss the relationship between international trade and China’s economic growth.
Based on the comprehensive literature, it reviewed the evolution of China’s trade
regime as well as trade policy. This was followed by the use of both econometric and
non-parametric methods to estimate China’s provincial efficiency and to examine the
major determinant factors in terms of participation in international trade. For the
econometric approach, stochastic frontier production function was applied to evaluate
the effects of international trade on China’s economic growth.