Impact of Digital Trade on the Export Efficiency of China’s Agricultural Products

The surge of digital trade has boosted China’s export trade, notably in agricultural products, which show significant growth. This novel trade environment has revolutionized traditional trade practices, leveraging the convenience and efficiency of digital technology and the digital economy. Through digital trade platforms, enterprises worldwide can access advanced management techniques and trade expertise, thereby enhancing their efficiency and productivity. This paper focuses on agricultural product export efficiency, defined as the gap between actual trade values and potential optimal trade values. Theoretically, the application of digital trade can facilitate the convergence of actual trade values towards potential optimal values, thereby enhancing trade efficiency. This study selects the top nine countries in terms of China's agricultural product export volumes as samples, collects data spanning from 2013 to 2023, and constructs a Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model and Trade Inefficiency Model to analyze the extent to which digital trade influences agricultural product export efficiency. The research aims to provide targeted policy recommendations for enhancing China's agricultural product export efficiency, strengthening international cooperation, and uncovering new mechanisms of digital trade influence.