Trade Integration of Yunnan and Guangxi with the Greater Mekong Sub-region Re-visited

摘要

This paper aims to examine the trade integration of Yunnan and Guangxi of China with the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) by using the gravity trade model during the 2000s. The strategic purpose is to investigate whether the two Southern border areas of China as a gateway have tended to be integrated with GMS or with the other ASEAN, in other words, whether the hypothesis of Poncet [Poncet, S. 2006. "Economic integration of Yunnan with the Greater Mekong subregion." Asian Economic Journal, 20(3): 303-317] presenting a re-orientation "beyond GMS" of Yunnan trade in 1990s can be applicable to the 2000s' trend in its trade and in Guangxi trade. The main findings were: The trade integration of Yunnan with GMS has exceeded by far above the gravity-model standard in the 2000s, which is different from the Poncet hypothesis; and Guangxi trade has shown a different picture from Yunnan one in that Guangxi trade has exceeded the gravity-model standard for both GMS and the other ASEAN.