China’s foreign trade policy with OPEC member countries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze specifications of the China’s foreign trade policy with Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member countries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper conducts three panel data estimations (fixed effect [FE], random effect [RE] and fully modified ordinary least squares [FMOLS]) based on the gravity model approach for bilateral trade patterns in natural resource and non-natural resource commodities between China and 13 OPEC members over the period of 1998-2014.FindingsThe findings reveal that the gravity equation fits the data reasonably well. The existence of long-term relationships between the bilateral trade flows and the main components of gravity model – GDP, income (GDP per capita), the difference in income, exchange rate, the openness level, distance and WTO membership – through the FE, RE and the FMOLS approaches was confirmed. The estimation results show that the trade pattern between China and OPEC member countries relies on the Heckscher–Ohlin theory, thus being explained by difference in factor endowments such as energy resources and technology.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to examine the China’s foreign trade policy with the OPEC member countries through a gravity trade approach.