The Trade Network of Aquatic Products of Countries along the “21st Century Maritime Silk Road"

Abstract

Aquatic products trade is an important part of the marine economy, and a key measure to ensure the effective supply of aquatic products and maintain the fishery industry chain. Optimizing the aquatic products trade network is greatly significant in guaranteeing China's food security and expanding international trade. With the help of the United Nations Commodity Trade Database, in this study, we select the aquatic products trade data of countries along the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" from 2000 to 2019, measure the structural characteristics of the aquatic products trade network using the social network analysis method, and analyze the aquatic products trade market structure and product structure of countries located along the line. The results show the following. First, the changes in the aquatic products trade of countries along the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road" from 2000 to 2019 can be divided into two stages: the steady growth period from 2000 to 2008, and the fluctuating development period from 2009 to 2019. Second, the density of the aquatic products trade network is gradually increasing, spatial agglomeration and network cohesion are being gradually enhanced, and the accessibility of the network is continuously improving, which shows the characteristics of small cosmopolitan. Third, the core-periphery structure of the aquatic products trade network is stable, and the trade of the core countries is closely linked, accounting for more than half of the total trade volume. Geographical location and distance indirectly affect the group. The division of community shows the characteristics of hierarchy and geographical proximity. There are significant differences between multilateral and bilateral trade flows, and the heterogeneity of trade cyberspace is obvious. Fourth, the spatial differentiation characteristics of the aquatic products trade network are relatively obvious. The important node countries are mainly concentrated in China and Southeast Asia. Countries with high betweenness centrality and countries with high closeness centrality have convergence, and the network centrality influence of East Africa and the Red Sea coastal countries is weak. Fifth, China occupies a large share of the aquatic products market structure of the core countries. The change in the relationship among countries causes adjustments in the market structure. The import and export structure of aquatic products in China is relatively single. The imports consist mainly of frozen fish, while the exports consist mainly of processed aquatic products.

Keywords

• the "21st century maritime silk road"
• trade of aquatic products
• social network analysis