Industrial Policy and Potential for Export Upgrading: Evidence from Government-Approved Projects in China

We construct a new Chinese industrial policy measure at the product level based on 96,778 government-approved projects from 2009 to 2017. We classify the products into 3-digit codes according to the Standard International Trade Classification Revision 3 (SITC Rev.3). The aggregate amount of government-approved projects on a specific product measures policy intensity. Our findings reveal that Chinese industrial policy can generally enhance the potential for export upgrading.