IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mib/wpaper/550.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Role of Chinese Panda Ambassadors in International Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Mattia Longhi
  • Caterina Morelli

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of China’s panda diplomacy—the practice of loaning giant pandas to foreign countries—on international trade, which prior literature has shown to be responsive to soft power influences. We investigate whether hosting giant pandas strengthens a country’s trade relations with China, particularly in years when a panda cub is born, as these animals serve as symbolic ambassadors that foster diplomatic and economic ties among the countries, while supporting China’s commitment to giant pandas conservation. To explore this, we construct a novel dataset tracking the movement of pandas as part of Chinas diplomatic initiatives and apply an augmented gravity model of trade using both annual and monthly data from UN-Comtrade. Our analysis reveals that countries hosting giant pandas experience a significant increase in exports to China between 5.9% and 7.2% in the year when a panda cub is born. This effect is short-lived, persisting up to four months after the cubs highly publicized 100-day naming ceremony. The impact is concentrated in specific sectors, including food and live animals, crude materials, and machinery.

Suggested Citation

  • Mattia Longhi & Caterina Morelli, 2025. "The Role of Chinese Panda Ambassadors in International Trade," Working Papers 550, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:mib:wpaper:550
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.dems.unimib.it/repec/pdf/mibwpaper550.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin, Faqin & Hu, Cui & Fuchs, Andreas, 2019. "How do firms respond to political tensions? The heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 73-93.
    2. Stone, Randall W. & Wang, Yu & Yu, Shu, 2022. "Chinese Power and the State-Owned Enterprise," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 76(1), pages 229-250, January.
    3. Edward D. Mansfield & Helen V. Milner & B. Peter Rosendorff, 2015. "Free to Trade: Democracies, Autocracies, and International Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Edward D Mansfield (ed.), THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE, chapter 7, pages 127-143, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Morrow, James D. & Siverson, Randolph M. & Tabares, Tressa E., 1998. "The Political Determinants of International Trade: The Major Powers, 1907–1990," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 92(3), pages 649-661, September.
    5. Cruzatti C., John & Dreher, Axel & Matzat, Johannes, 2023. "Chinese aid and health at the country and local level," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Toke S. Aidt & Martin Gassebner, 2010. "Do Autocratic States Trade Less?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 38-76, January.
    7. Gutmann, Jerg & Neuenkirch, Matthias & Neumeier, Florian, 2023. "The economic effects of international sanctions: An event study," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 1214-1231.
    8. Jianting Fan & Bo Lu, 2021. "The impact of summit visits on bilateral trade: Empirical evidence from China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3583-3608, December.
    9. Andrew K. Rose, 2019. "Soft power and exports," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 1573-1590, November.
    10. Isaksson, Ann-Sofie & Kotsadam, Andreas, 2018. "Chinese aid and local corruption," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 146-159.
    11. Pol Antràs, 2020. "De-Globalisation? Global Value Chains in the Post-COVID-19 Age," NBER Working Papers 28115, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Sonal S. Pandya & Rajkumar Venkatesan, 2016. "French Roast: Consumer Response to International Con flict--Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(1), pages 42-56, March.
    13. Rose, Andrew, 2018. "Agent Orange: Trump, Soft Power, and Exports," CEPR Discussion Papers 13139, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Andrew K. Rose, 2007. "The Foreign Service and Foreign Trade: Embassies as Export Promotion," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 22-38, January.
    15. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Cultural Biases in Economic Exchange?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1095-1131.
    16. Bing Li & Yixuan Ge & Yi‐min Lin, 2024. "Military alliance and international trade: Evidence from NATO enlargement," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 930-956, March.
    17. Volker Nitsch, 2007. "State Visits and International Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1797-1816, December.
    18. Axel Dreher & Andreas Fuchs & Bradley Parks & Austin Strange & Michael J. Tierney, 2021. "Aid, China, and Growth: Evidence from a New Global Development Finance Dataset," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 135-174, May.
    19. Jackson, Karen & Shepotylo, Oleksandr, 2024. "Political alliances and trade: Europe in a polarized world," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    20. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2019. "The impact of economic sanctions on international trade: How do threatened sanctions compare with imposed sanctions?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 11-26.
    21. Daniel Berger & William Easterly & Nathan Nunn & Shanker Satyanath, 2013. "Commercial Imperialism? Political Influence and Trade during the Cold War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 863-896, April.
    22. Pollins, Brian M., 1989. "Does Trade Still Follow the Flag?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 465-480, June.
    23. Christina L. Davis & Andreas Fuchs & Kristina Johnson, 2019. "State Control and the Effects of Foreign Relations on Bilateral Trade," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 405-438, February.
    24. Antrà s, Pol, 2020. "De-Globalisation? Global Value Chains in the Post-COVID-19 Age," CEPR Discussion Papers 15462, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    25. Heilmann, Kilian, 2016. "Does political conflict hurt trade? Evidence from consumer boycotts," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 179-191.
    26. Du, Yingxin & Ju, Jiandong & Ramirez, Carlos D. & Yao, Xi, 2017. "Bilateral trade and shocks in political relations: Evidence from China and some of its major trading partners, 1990–2013," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 211-225.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053, March.
    2. Yan, Jiaqiang & Zhou, Yonghong, 2021. "Economic return to political support: Evidence from voting on the representation of China in the United Nations," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. Fuchs, Andreas, 2016. "China’s Economic Diplomacy and the Politics-Trade Nexus," Working Papers 0609, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    4. Fuchs, Andreas & Klann, Nils-Hendrik, 2013. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 164-177.
    5. Fuchs, Andreas & Kaplan, Lennart & Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Schmidt, Sebastian S. & Turbanisch, Felix & Wang, Feicheng, 2020. "Mask wars: China's exports of medical goods in times of COVID-19," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 398, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    6. Christina L. Davis & Andreas Fuchs & Kristina Johnson, 2019. "State Control and the Effects of Foreign Relations on Bilateral Trade," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 405-438, February.
    7. Yaying Liu & Jin Chen & Churen Sun, 2022. "Partnership Diplomacy and China’s Exports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Jianting Fan & Bo Lu, 2021. "The impact of summit visits on bilateral trade: Empirical evidence from China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3583-3608, December.
    9. Lin, Faqin & Hu, Cui & Fuchs, Andreas, 2019. "How do firms respond to political tensions? The heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 73-93.
    10. Pao-Li Chang & Tomoki Fujii & Wei Jin, 2022. "Good Names Beget Favors: The Impact of Country Image on Trade Flows and Welfare," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7555-7596, October.
    11. Du, Yingxin & Ju, Jiandong & Ramirez, Carlos D. & Yao, Xi, 2017. "Bilateral trade and shocks in political relations: Evidence from China and some of its major trading partners, 1990–2013," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 211-225.
    12. Laurent Didier, 2019. "Soft power and exporters behavior in international trade," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(4), pages 2595-2614.
    13. Faqin Lin & Wenshou Yan & Xiaosong Wang, 2017. "The impact of Africa-China's diplomatic visits on bilateral trade," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(3), pages 310-326, July.
    14. Haoran Li & Xibo Wan & Wendong Zhang, 2024. "Do firms hedge against political tensions? Evidence from Chinese food importers of Norwegian salmon," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(8), pages 3618-3647, August.
    15. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Khalifa, Sherif, 2024. "The causes and consequences of official diplomatic visits: A survey," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(3).
    16. Yuren Wang & Yitao Tao, 2024. "The effect of fluctuations in bilateral relations on trade: evidence from China and ASEAN countries," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    17. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Khalifa, Sherif, 2021. "Do Leader’s Visits Increase Trade Flows?," MPRA Paper 105577, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2019. "The impact of economic sanctions on international trade: How do threatened sanctions compare with imposed sanctions?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 11-26.
    19. Bing Li & Yixuan Ge & Yi‐min Lin, 2024. "Military alliance and international trade: Evidence from NATO enlargement," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 930-956, March.
    20. Lukas Wellner & Axel Dreher & Andreas Fuchs & Bradley C. Parks & Austin M. Strange, 2022. "Can Aid Buy Foreign Public Support? Evidence from Chinese Development Finance," CESifo Working Paper Series 9646, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Panda Diplomacy; political relationship; international trade; China; soft power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F50 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - General
    • P33 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - International Trade, Finance, Investment, Relations, and Aid

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mib:wpaper:550. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Matteo Pelagatti (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dpmibit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.