How Will Foreign Trade Affect Green Economic Efficiency in Sub-developed Region? An Empirical Research Based on the Data From Central China

Abstract Foreign trade in sub-developed regions may lead to serious environmental problems. Impact of foreign trade in sub-developed regions on green economic efficiency and its possible impact channels are qualitatively analyzed, empirical tests are conducted based on the data of 80 Prefecture-level cities in Central China. Results show that: 1. Foreign trade of Central China will have a significant direct negative impact on green economic efficiency, which is not conducive to green growth. 2. Expanding the scale of foreign trade in Central China will stimulate industries agglomerate to big cities and promote the level of industrial specialization within the region, which will have indirect negative impacts on green economic efficiency. 3. Foreign trade in Central China will improve the policy environment for industrial development, then have an indirect positive impact on green economic efficiency, whereas its impact on technological innovation is not significant. 4. Impact of foreign trade in different cities in Central China on green economic efficiency are heterogeneous from the perspective of spatial heterogeneity and from the perspective of city characteristic heterogeneity, and when environmental regulation exceeds a certain threshold, the negative impact of foreign trade on green economic efficiency will turn to positive. Policy implications are proposed.