Journal of Renmin University of China, 2023, Issue 1

Authors: LYU Yue, WEI Yaning, WANG Qiang

Abstract: Since the inception of the Belt and Road Initiative(BRl), it has been aimed at constructing a community of shared future for mankind as its highest goal. This article examines the positive effects of the BRl on the participating countries from the perspective of trade network, This article uses the HS 6-digit product export data of the CEPll-BACl database from 2009 to 2018, which constructs the trade network without China at the product level and measures the PageRank centrality reflecting the position of a country in the trade network, Then we adopt a differencein-differences(DID) method to examine the impact of the BRl on the trade network of the participating countries, Our main findings are as follows: First, BRl has significantly deepened the trade networks of countries along the route, The PageRank centrality of these countries has increased by 2 7%-12,9%; Second, the heterogeneous effect analysis suggests that geographically, trade networkalong the Maritime Silk Road is strongly promoted; Third, the results of the triple difference model shows that the trade networks of BRl countries trading the key products have received a stronger promotion, And those BRl countries of the Chinese community within global trade network or the Singapore community within BRl countries trade network have better development in tradenetwork; Fourth, the positive effect of the BRl can be explained through six aspects: policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, people-to-people bonds, and industry chain cooperation.

Key words: Belt and road initiative; Trade network; PageRank centrality; Differencein-differences