Trade openness and economic growth quality of China: Empirical analysis using ARDL model

•This paper uses ARDL model to analyze the relation between trade openness and economic growth quality under the exchange rate fluctuation.•There is a long-term stable co-integration relationship between degree of trade openness and quality of economic growth.•The positive effect of trade openness on economic growth quality is statistically significant, with obvious regional heterogeneity.•There is an “N-type” relation existing between trade openness and economic growth quality. This paper studies the influential relationship between Chinese opening up and economic growth quality in China under exchange rate fluctuation from 1994 to 2018. There is a long-term stable co-integration relationship between opening-up and the quality of economic growth. Trade openness can significantly promote the quality of economic growth in both the short and long term. When the short-term fluctuation deviated from the long-term equilibrium, the quality of economic growth can remain stable through automatic adjustment. The positive impact of trade openness on quality of economic growth had a significant regional heterogeneity and non-linear threshold characteristics.