Time-space evolution of the goods export network of the Belt and Road countries: The view of weighted complex network

Abstract

The weighted complex network is utilized to analyze the evolution of the overall structural features of the goods export network and the role transitions of each country in the network. The research suggests: 1. The network of exports of the Belt and Road countries has transformed from multi-core pattern into one extreme along with multi-core pattern; 2. China, South Korea, Russia, Singapore and Italy are the highest-ranking countries in the network. Among these countries, the influence of China is on the rise, South Korea South Korea’s influence remains basically unchanged., however, Russia, Singapore and Italy are on the decline; 3. The leading edge of Asia-Pacific block in the network has been enhanced year by year. Not only has the trade volume within the block increased to 50% of the whole network, but the trade export to other three blocks has significant increasement. The total volume of trade in European block increased greatly and its block mode has transformed from external to universal. The trade volume of the former Soviet Union block along with the West Asia-Africa block increased significantly as well, but there is still a large gap compared with the European block and Asia-Pacific block.