Ethnic Areas in Southwest China Joining the Southern Belt and Road Economic Corridors: Status Quo, Challenges, and Suggestions

Yi Xin Yin Xiang Wang Sijia

Abstract：The implementation of the Belt and Road initiative and the development of six international economic cooperation corridors seem to have brought economic prosperity to ethnic areas in China. Arguably it becomes more and more important for ethnic minority areas to promote economic and social development by opening up to the world. Southwest China is a relatively concentrated area of ethnic minorities， and it has the advantage of being relatively close to both South Asia and Southeast Asia. In the light of Classical economics， Marxist political economy， and Modern Western economics， this paper holds that the main goal of integrating Chinas ethnic minority areas into the “One Belt and One Road Economic Corridors” is to effectively boost economic growth. It is conceivably a must to take advantage of the areas resources to take part in the international exchange of labor， resolve the “centerperiphery” dilemma， and further support the construction of “a community with a shared future for mankind.”

This paper attempts to analyze the regional structure， industrial structure， commodity structure， and structure of foreign trade of ethnic areas in Southwest China. This study also tries to explore the characteristics and cooperation potential of “Opening Up” in southwestern ethnic areas by constructing a gravity model of ? trade. The conclusions of the model shows that： The expansion of economic scale leads to greater market demand and stronger supply capacity， which in addition stimulates economic and trade cooperation in southwestern ethnic ?areas. However， longdistance freight will significantly increase transportation time and cost and reduce the profit margin of foreign trade in southwestern ethnic areas. At the same time， a freer， better， and more advantageous trade environment will arguably benefit foreign trade and economic cooperation in southwestern ethnic regions.

According to the analysis， we find that southwestern ethnic areas are facing some problems in “Opening Up：” 1） Foreign trade and cooperation in southwestern ethnic peoples areas still have problems like e.g. a too small scale， unreasonable structure， and an insignificant trade volume; 2） The infrastructure connectivity of southwestern ethnic areas with the outside world seems to be insufficient; 3） Isolationism， unilateralism， protectionism， and other antiglobalization trends challenge the openingup of southwestern ethnic areas; 4） The business environment in Southwest China needs to be improved. Faced with these problems， this paper suggests that the southwestern ethnic regions should bolster foreign trade with South Asia and Southeast Asia by strengthening infrastructure， increasing the export of special commodities， developing tourism， enhancing the degree of economic facilitation， and accelerating the integration into the Southern Belt and Road Economic Corridors.

Key Words：the Belt and Road Initiative; ethnic areas in southwest China; opening up to the south