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Introduction
This special issue aims to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming global trade, with a particular focus on China's central role in driving world economic growth through its export-led model. As digital technologies evolve, they are fundamentally reshaping trade practices, reducing transaction costs, and challenging traditional trade theories. This issue seeks to address these shifts by examining how AI technologies influence global value chains, enterprise adaptability, and the broader economic landscape.
The issue will achieve these aims by curating high-quality research that utilizes new data to test or refine existing trade models, such as the gravity model and comparative advantage. It emphasizes the need to move beyond simple studies of automation and robotics to understand the broader implications of AI-driven digital transformation for enterprises. By focusing on China's unique position as both a leader in AI development and a global trade powerhouse, the issue will provide actionable insights for policymakers, businesses, and researchers navigating the complex AI-trade nexus.
This special issue makes a novel contribution by deepening the understanding of the intersection between AI and international trade. While existing literature has begun to explore robotics in export sectors, this issue goes further by investigating the structural impacts of AI on trade costs and theoretical frameworks. It welcomes theoretical contributions that explore how AI is reshaping trade paradigms and offers fresh empirical evidence on the changing nature of comparative advantage in the digital age.
Furthermore, the issue addresses key societal challenges, exploring how AI-driven trade transformation impacts employment, economic growth, and global inequality. Aligned with UN SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), it examines how AI can create new high-value job opportunities while necessitating workforce transitions. Aligned with UN SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), it highlights the role of AI in fostering innovation and optimizing trade infrastructure. The issue emphasizes the need for inclusive policies to ensure that the benefits of AI-driven trade are equitably distributed, particularly in developing economies, offering evidence-based guidance for navigating the societal implications of this technological shift.
List of Topic Areas
- AI and Trade Cost Reduction;
- Digital Transformation of Enterprises;
- Revisiting Trade Theories;
- China's Export-Led Growth;
- AI and Global Value Chains
Guest Editors
Xuan Nguyen, Deakin University, Australia, [email protected]
Cong Pham, Deakin University, Australia, [email protected]
Xing Xu, Shanghai Institute of Technology, China, [email protected]
Submissions Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Author guidelines must be strictly followed.
Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.
Key Deadlines
Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 1st March 2026
Closing date for manuscripts submission: 1st July 2026
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