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Arid Land Geography ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (10): 1723-1731.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2023.082

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Differences and causes of spatial connectivity between China and countries along the Belt and Road

XIAO Yichen1(),WEN Jun1(),LI Lingyu2,FENG Qingwang1   

  1. 1. College of Airport, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan 618307, Sichuan, China
    2. College of Economic and Management, Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan 618307, Sichuan, China
  • Received:2023-02-24 Revised:2023-03-23 Online:2023-10-25 Published:2023-11-10

Abstract:

Transport infrastructure connectivity is an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Considering the complex geographical characteristics of China and its neighboring countries as well as the high costs and long cycle of railway and road construction, taking initiative to improve the level of air transport connectivity between China and the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative is imperative when setting up the space connectivity. Based on the development background of the Belt and Road construction, this paper defines the concept of air transport connectivity and investigates the spatial connectivity between China and the countries along the Belt and Road. By combing the status quo of the air transport connectivity between China and the countries along the Belt and Road, and combining it with its connotation characteristics, nine indicators were selected to construct an evaluation index system for air transport connectivity. The required data were collected from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, Aviation Standard and Civil Aviation from the Perspective of Statistics, the index data were standardized, the comprehensive score of the air transport connectivity between China and the countries along the Belt and Road was calculated using the factor analysis method, and the K-means clustering algorithm was adopted. According to the natural break method, the comprehensive index of the air transport connectivity level in these countries was divided into five levels: high connectivity, high connectivity, basic connectivity, low connectivity, and almost no connectivity. The study revealed that: (1) China has made preliminary achievements for promoting the air transport connectivity with the countries along the Belt and Road. However, owing to the influence of air transport policies, air network, regional geographical characteristics, regional economic level, and other factors between China and the countries along the Belt and Road, significant differences exist in the air transport connectivity level between China and these countries. This difference is characterized by the unbalanced development of a “pyramid” type. (2) The aviation policy, aviation network, regional geographical characteristics, and regional economic level were mainly responsible for the unbalanced development of the air transport connectivity in these countries. Selecting key node cities based on regional geographical characteristics, building air traffic corridors, accelerating the construction of air transport connectivity, and obtaining maximum political and economic benefits are suggested. By considering the economic environment and existing transportation infrastructure in each country, different construction plans should be proposed based on local conditions, and all parties should work together to achieve comprehensive and coordinated development. In this paper, a theoretical basis for improving the spatial connectivity between China and the countries along the Belt and Road was provided to promote the regional economic construction in the countries and regions along the Silk Road Economic Belt by developing an Belt and Road international air transport market and facilitate the smooth construction and prosperity of the “Air Silk Road.”

Key words: the Belt and Road, spatial connectivity, air connectivity, China