The Evolution Of China-africa Container Shipping Network And Its Impact On Economic And Trade Relations

Under the continuous development of economic globalization,technological revolution and global industrial transfer wave,the port has developed into a multifunctional economic center that combines transportation,production,commerce,logistics and other production services in one place,and the role played by shipping lines as carriers of various production factors such as people,goods,capital,technology and information has become more and more prominent.Port shipping network is not only the carrier of international trade,but also the product of the evolution of international trade development,and its port resources development and layout,the world economy and supply chain geographical location,international economic and trade links and other factors are closely related.Africa is an important direction for the development of “Belt and Road” and the most active growth space for international interconnection and mutual understanding.As the end point of the “Maritime Silk Road”,it is an important construction direction and landing point,and the China-Africa shipping network is an important part of the international shipping network along the “Maritime Silk Road”.As a gateway for the African continent to establish contact with the world,ports are conducive to optimizing the shipping structure,giving full play to the agglomeration and diffusion effects of core ports,strengthening economic cooperation with African countries,and realizing trade connectivity.Based on the time-sectional shipping O-D data,this paper constructs a non-weighted shipping network to explore the changes in the spatial structure of China-Africa shipping links and the inherent correlation between shipping and economic and trade links.First,analyze the overall characteristics and complexity of the network based on mathematical statistics;secondly,use the complex network theory system to describe the structural characteristics and development and evolution of the China-Africa port shipping network,and finally explore the China-Africa port shipping network based on the geographically weighted regression analysis method.The ability to support economic and trade ties.The research results show that:(1)The number of port nodes covered in the China-Africa shipping network has remained stable,the number of routes has doubled,the breadth,depth and strength of port connections have increased significantly,and the network’s “small world” and scale-free characteristics have become more and more important.Significantly,the network complexity has increased.(2)The node level shows a decreasing trend of rank-scale.The core node of the network is always in dynamic change,and after growing into a hub node in the network,it has shown a weakening trend.From the perspective of network node development and functional differentiation,Chinese ports are relatively stable.Transit ports are showing changes between different countries in neighboring regions.African ports are showing changes between regions,with obvious migration trends.(3)The network has not yet formed an integrated “spindle-and-spoke” structure,but presents a cluster-like spatial structure and the hierarchical characteristics of network spatial connections are remarkable.The first-level connection in the shipping network is a reflection of the closely-connected regions and advantageous shipping regions;the second-level links serve as the spatial expansion and extension of the first-level links,forming the spatial framework of the overall link;the thirdlevel links reflect the detailed characteristics of the overall shipping links;lower-level links The connection reflects the characteristics of long distance,weak connection,and wide span in the connection.(4)The influence of shipping links on the economic links between China and African countries shows the characteristics of spatial heterogeneity and instability.The directness,intermediateness and proximity of the shipping network are important influencing factors of geo-economic linkages.Shipping intermediary is an important driving force for the geo-economic ties between China and Africa.The proximity of shipping has a significant effect on the geo-economic ties between China and Africa,while the directness of shipping has a limited effect on the geo-economic ties between China and Africa.