{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:56:55Z","timestamp":1785405415034,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781568000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences","award":["22VRC172"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22VRC172"]}]},{"award":["22VRC172"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22VRC172"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04m0ms912","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>As Chinese manufacturing enterprises became more deeply integrated into global value chains, they faced increasingly restrictive U.S. export controls that limited their access to foreign technologies and critical intermediate inputs. Using firm-level data from Chinese listed manufacturing firms over 2006\u20132015 and the U.S. Entity List, this paper systematically examines the impact of export controls on China\u2019s export technology complexity and explores the underlying mechanisms. The study shows that U.S. export controls significantly reduce manufacturing enterprises\u2019 export technological complexity. The negative effect is more pronounced among enterprises in eastern China, state-owned enterprises, large enterprises, and enterprises operating in high-technology industries. Mechanism analysis shows that export controls suppress the growth of export technological complexity by increasing transaction costs and disrupting supply chains. Although the disruption of innovation chains may stimulate firms\u2019 indigenous innovation, the overall effect of export controls remains negative. Our findings provide theoretical and practical insights for China\u2019s strategies to respond to export controls, enhance the technology complexity of manufacturing exports, and strengthen its position in the global value chain.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems14060689","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T03:27:21Z","timestamp":1781666841000},"page":"689","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Research on the Impact of the U.S. Export Controls on the Firms\u2019 Export Technology Complexity: Evidence from China\u2019s Manufacturing Sector"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-1777-7580","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiamei","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha 410006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helian","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha 410006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0566-2137","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuping","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha 410006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiayi","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Trade, Hunan University, Changsha 410006, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2995","DOI":"10.1111\/twec.13570","article-title":"Export controls and innovation performance: Unravelling the complex relationship between blacklisted Chinese firms and US suppliers","volume":"47","author":"Anwar","year":"2024","journal-title":"World Econ."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124","DOI":"10.1108\/IJOPM-06-2025-0575","article-title":"Export restrictions and the rise of basic research: How chip controls influence Chinese firms\u2019 research orientation","volume":"46","author":"Cai","year":"2026","journal-title":"Int. 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