Recently, the 4th issue of Economic Research Journal in 2026 published the paper Liberalization of Intermediate Goods Trade, Common Institutional Ownership and Breakthrough of Core Technologies. The first author is Professor Wei Hao from Beijing Normal University Business School (BNUBS), and the second author is Sun Quangang, a 2023 doctoral student majoring in World Economy at BNUBS.

This paper conducts an in-depth study on the coordination between China’s domestic capital market policies and foreign trade policies. Opening-up and innovation constitute a theoretical proposition with profound practical implications, and how the domestic capital market influences opening-up and innovation has become an emerging research field worthy of exploration. As a prevalent phenomenon in the domestic capital market, common institutional ownership serves as a vital instrument for external corporate governance and supervision. Using the data of A-share listed manufacturing companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2007 to 2021 as research samples, this paper examines the role of common institutional ownership in the impact of intermediate goods trade liberalization on enterprises’ core technological innovation. The research finds that the liberalization of intermediate goods trade significantly boosts enterprises’ core technological innovation, and common institutional ownership can notably amplify such effects. It works mainly by strengthening the cost-saving effect, knowledge spillover effect and escape-competition effect brought by intermediate goods trade liberalization, as well as reducing enterprises’ reliance on imports. Further analysis shows that the promotional effect of intermediate goods trade liberalization on core technological innovation becomes stronger among enterprises connected via supply chains within the common institutional ownership network. The amplification effect of common institutional ownership is more prominent when state-owned enterprises are included in the ownership network, when the geographical distance between affiliated enterprises is shorter, and when the institutional investors are long-term oriented. The paper puts forward policy implications: the linkage between common institutional ownership and import trade policies can reinforce the innovation effects of import policies. Strengthening the coordination between domestic capital market policies and foreign trade policies will be a key priority for China’s reform and opening-up in the next stage.

Paper Citation

Wei Hao, Sun Quangang. Liberalization of Intermediate Goods Trade, Common Institutional Ownership and Breakthrough of Core Technologies. Economic Research Journal, Issue 4, 2026.

Author Profiles

Wei Hao: Professor and doctoral supervisor at BNUBS, Director of the National Center for Import Research, and Chief Expert of major projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China. He is a recipient of the National High-level Talent Program, Baosteel Outstanding Teacher and Beijing Distinguished Teacher. He also serves as a member of the Expert Group on Integrated Domestic and Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Commerce, a member of national professional standardization technical committees, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Society of World Economy. He is the chief editor of China Import Development Report. His main research fields include international trade and world economy. He has published over 200 academic papers in CSSCI and SSCI journals including Economic Research Journal and Management World. Many of his papers have been reprinted by the Information Center for Social Sciences of Renmin University of China and Chinese Social Sciences Digest. One of his monographs has been selected into the National Library of Philosophy and Social Sciences Achievements. He has authored dozens of signed articles in People’s Daily, Guangming Daily and Economic Daily. So far, he has published 5 monographs and 9 textbooks. He has presided over dozens of research projects, including two major projects of the National Social Science Fund of China, General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, key projects of national high-end think tanks, projects sponsored by the Ministry of Education, and commissioned projects from the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance and National Development and Reform Commission. He has been awarded more than 30 honors, including the Second and Third Prizes for Outstanding Scientific Research Achievements in Institutions of Higher Education (issued by the Ministry of Education), the First Prize for Outstanding Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences of Beijing, the An Zijie Award for International Trade Research, and the National Business Development Research Award of the Ministry of Commerce.

Sun Quangang: A 2023 doctoral student majoring in World Economy at BNUBS.

 Edited by Sun Yue

Reviewed by Hu Conghui