Visualized Social Network Analysis on Spatial Dynamics of International Trade between China and League of Arab States

Abstract

China and Arabian countries keep profound trade relations along the history and at recent decays. In confronting with the dramatic change of geopolitical context nowadays, it will be urgent for Chinese decision makers to exam the opportunities and/or risks of regional business preferences in the future through probing into the spatial dynamics of inter-trade with Arab members in the past years. By applying the social network analysis method and visualization tools of ArcGIS, the paper processes the bilateral trade data of related countries during 2001 and 2017. The initial findings show that about 84% percent of inter-trade volume comes from West Asian Arab members along the Persian Gulf; China is getting closer in trade relations with major LAS partners than LAS members themselves during the period, implying the logic of relational versus geographical proximity in between. Further research should be carried out in tackling with the forces and their mechanism that driving the trade spatial differentiation.