The role of trade and foreign investment in China's blue economy: An ecological perspective on the fishing grounds footprint

Sefa Özbek; Muhammed Turgut

doi:10.12714/egejfas.42.4.02

EN TR

The role of trade and foreign investment in China's blue economy: An ecological perspective on the fishing grounds footprint

Abstract

China's rise in the maritime sector is notable on a global scale. China, which attaches great importance to developments in the blue economy as a national goal, is a world leader in aquaculture production. Developments in the blue economy are crucial for economic growth and the sustainability of international trade. Determining China's fishing grounds footprint, a subcomponent of its ecological footprint, is of critical importance for China, which has a significant trade volume in aquaculture production. In this context, the determinants of the fishing area footprint are being investigated in the Chinese economy. The relationship between the fishing grounds footprint and fishing production, trade globalization, foreign direct investment, and economic growth is investigated for the period 1980-2022. The A-ARDL method is chosen as the empirical method in the study, and cointegration estimators with various power characteristics are utilized. In this context, the FMOLS and CCr estimators are used. The DOLS estimator is used for robustness testing. According to the empirical results, the FMOLS, CCR, and DOLS (robustness) estimation results are consistent with each other. The results indicate that while increases in fishery production and trade globalization have contributed to a rise in the fishing footprint, economic growth appears to have had a mitigating effect, potentially due to increased efficiency, technological advancements, or sectoral shifts in the Chinese economy. These results offer important insights into development models that support sustainable development goals in China's marine sector.

Keywords

Çin'in mavi ekonomisinde ticaret ve yabancı yatırımın rolü: Balıkçılık Alanı ayak izine ekolojik bir bakış

Öz

Çin'in denizcilik sektöründeki yükselişi küresel ölçekte dikkat çekicidir. Mavi ekonomideki gelişmelere ulusal hedef olarak büyük önem veren Çin, su ürünleri yetiştiriciliği üretiminde dünya lideridir. Mavi ekonomideki gelişmeler ekonomik büyüme ve uluslararası ticaretin sürdürülebilirliği için kritik öneme sahiptir. Su ürünleri yetiştiriciliği üretiminde önemli bir ticaret hacmine sahip olan Çin için, ekolojik ayak izinin bir alt bileşeni olan balıkçılık alanı ayak izini belirlemek kritik öneme sahiptir. Bu bağlamda, Çin ekonomisinde balıkçılık alanı ayak izinin belirleyicileri araştırılmaktadır. Balıkçılık alanı ayak izi ile balıkçılık üretimi, ticaret küreselleşmesi, doğrudan yabancı yatırım ve ekonomik büyüme arasındaki ilişki 1980-2022 dönemi için araştırılmıştır. Çalışmada ampirik yöntem olarak A-ARDL yöntemi seçilmiş ve çeşitli kuvvet özelliklerine sahip eşbütünleşme tahmin edicileri kullanılmıştır. Bu bağlamda, FMOLS ve CCr tahmin edicileri kullanılmıştır. Sağlamlık testleri için DOLS tahmin edicisi kullanılmıştır. Ampirik sonuçlara göre, FMOLS, CCR ve DOLS (sağlamlık) tahmin sonuçları birbiriyle tutarlıdır. Sonuçlar, balıkçılık üretimi ve ticaretin küreselleşmesindeki artışların balıkçılık ayak izi üzerinde artırıcı bir etkisi olduğunu, ancak ekonomik büyümenin bu izi azaltıcı yönde etkide bulunduğunu göstermektedir. Bu azaltıcı etkinin, artan verimlilik, teknolojik gelişmeler veya Çin ekonomisindeki sektörel dönüşümlerden kaynaklanabileceği düşünülmektedir. Bu bulgular, Çin’in denizcilik sektöründe sürdürülebilir kalkınma hedeflerini destekleyen kalkınma modellerine yönelik önemli çıkarımlar sunmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ethical Statement

Ethical approval is not required for this study.

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Ecology (Other) , Environmental Management (Other) , Fisheries Management

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Sefa Özbek ^*
0000-0002-1043-2056
Türkiye

Muhammed Turgut
0000-0002-0868-7041
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

December 1, 2025

Publication Date

December 10, 2025

Submission Date

July 21, 2025

Acceptance Date

August 26, 2025

Published in Issue

Year 2025 Volume: 42 Number: 4

DOI

https://doi.org/10.12714/egejfas.42.4.02

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA26DK56HB

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Özbek, S., & Turgut, M. (2025). The role of trade and foreign investment in China’s blue economy: An ecological perspective on the fishing grounds footprint. Ege Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 42(4), 287-297. https://doi.org/10.12714/egejfas.42.4.02