China’s industrial rise is a key external force influencing euro area trade, production and prices by reducing costs for euro area companies, via intermediate inputs, and increasing competitive pressures in European and global markets. Econometric analysis shows that the increase in the exposure of the euro area to intermediate goods imports from China has been positively associated with industrial production growth, whereas the increase in imports of final goods from China has tended to weigh on production. Model-based simulations can capture the increase in competitive pressures from China via sector-specific productivity shocks. The simulations suggest that, at the aggregate level, EU GDP increases in the short term, driven by positive income effects owing to cheaper imported goods and by reduced production costs resulting from cheaper imported inputs, while inflation declines.
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