Global Value Chains as a Driver of China’s IT Industry

Effective integration into global value chains (GVCs) has enabled China’s technological progress and economic growth. Studying how China has built interactions with other countries within these GVCs and how it has transformed its GVCs in the electronics and IT equipment industries is of high scientific and practical significance. Using the TiVA 2023 value-added database published by the OECD, this article aims to examine the transformation of China’s GVCs in the development of IT production and exports from 1995 to 2022 and then to characterize the current situation and prospects. The study calculates indices of China’s upward and downward participation in electronics and IT equipment GVCs, as well as the role of this industry in the creation of final demand in other countries. The results of the study reveal the sustainability of the export potential China has created through its participation in GVCs, primarily in the consumer electronics and telecom equipment segments. China has been able to make significant inroads into GVCs, replacing essential products and technologies from Western countries while simultaneously increasing the dependence of their GVCs and final consumption on its IT industry. Under conditions of technological decoupling, the participation of both China and other countries in GVCs will gradually decline and/or develop toward regionalization. For China, this does not pose a threat of losing its leading position in the global market for most IT products, with the exception of semiconductors