The Impact of the EU GDPR Implementation on China's Digital Service Trade Exports

Lening Tong

doi:10.54254/2754-1169/2025.LD25045

Advances in Economics, Management and Political SciencesOpen access

The Impact of the EU GDPR Implementation on China's Digital Service Trade Exports

Research Article

Open Access

The Impact of the EU GDPR Implementation on China's Digital Service Trade Exports

Lening Tong ^1*

¹ Southwestern University of Finance and Economics

^*Corresponding author: 2066258039@qq.com

Published on 11 July 2025

AEMPS Vol.201

ISSN (Print): 2754-1177

ISSN (Online): 2754-1169

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-259-1

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-260-7

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Abstract

In the digital economy era, economic activities increasingly rely on data. With deepening globalization, cross-border data flows have become a vital element of international trade. However, the growing emphasis on digital security has led to rising restrictions on such flows, affecting trade dynamics. Using the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as a policy case, this study utilizes OECD panel data from 2005 to 2021 to analyze the regulation’s impact on China’s digital service trade exports and the underlying mechanisms. Empirical findings suggest that the GDPR exerts a statistically significant positive influence on China’s digital service exports. Robustness is validated through parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and country-sample variation. A dynamic effects model further reveals that the long-term benefits of GDPR implementation on export efficiency exceed the short-term effects. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the regulation’s impact varies with the development level of destination countries. Moderating effect analysis shows that institutional variables—such as rule of law, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, and corruption control—and final consumption expenditure enhance the regulation’s export-promoting effect. In contrast, stronger trade competitiveness in destination countries weakens this positive influence. These findings offer empirical insights into the complex relationship between data regulation and digital trade, providing references for optimizing China’s digital service trade policy framework.

Keywords:

Digital service trade exports, General Data Protection Regulation, Cross-border data flow

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References

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References

[3]. Geradin, D., & Katsifis, D. (2021). GDPR Myopia: How a Well-Intended Regulation Went Wrong. George Mason Law Review, 28(4), 989–1036. https: //ssrn.com/abstract=3781642

[5]. Bradford, A. (2020). The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World. Oxford University Press.

[8]. López González, J., & Ferencz, J. (2018). Digital Trade and Market Openness. OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 217. https: //doi.org/10.1787/1bd89c9a-enAppendix

Cite this article

Tong,L. (2025). The Impact of the EU GDPR Implementation on China's Digital Service Trade Exports. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,201,74-82.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICEMGD 2025 Symposium: Digital Transformation in Global Human Resource Management

ISBN: 978-1-80590-259-1(Print) / 978-1-80590-260-7(Online)

Editor: Florian Marcel Nuţă Nuţă, An Nguyen

Conference website: https://www.icemgd.org/committee.html

Conference date: 26 September 2025

Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences

Volume number: Vol.201

ISSN: 2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

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