In this paper,the authors try to reveal export expansion determinants of local firms using sample data of the questionnaire answered by 342 Jiangsu-based manufacturing enterprises.Studies show that supply-chain partnership is an important force driving exports of local Chinese manufacturers;firm size and export intensity take on a“U-shaped”nonlinear dependence relation;industrial cluster as a location factor has a saliently positive effect on exports.It is noteworthy that factors stressed in classical trade theory like technical innovation,human capital and capital intensity have not become export determinants of local Chinese manufacturing enterprises.Further,we discovered that firms vary widely in terms of export determinants with their different sizes,which warns us that our local manufacturing enterprises may be captured and locked at the low end of the global value chain(GVC)by large international buyers,thus handicapped from further sharpening their export competitive edge. In this paper, the authors try to reveal export expansion determinants of local enterprises using sample data of the questionnaire answered by 342 Jiangsu-based manufacturing enterprises.Studies show that supply-chain partnership is an important force driving driving of local Chinese manufacturers; firm size and export intensity take on a “U-shaped” nonlinear dependency; industrial cluster as a location factor has a saliently positive effect on exports. It is noteworthy that factors stressed in classical trade theory like technical innovation, human capital and capital intensity have not become export determinants of local Chinese manufacturing enterprises.Further, we been able to find variations in terms of export determinants with their different sizes, which warns us that our local manufacturing enterprises may be captured and locked at the low end of the global value chain (GVC) by large international buyers, thus handicapped from further sharpening their export competitive edge.