Structure Analysis of the Cross-border Power Trade Network in Countries along the Belt and Road

Electric power, as an important basic energy demand, plays an essential role in national economic and social development of countries along the “Belt and Road”. And power grid construction is prerequisite to establish an efficient platform for energy interconnection. Cross-border power trade is expected to become the handgrip in promoting China’s “Belt and Road initiative” and regional economic cooperation. This paper applies network analytic method to study the structural characteristics of the power trade network among countries along the “Belt and Road” from 1995 to 2018. The results show that the network density and scale of power trade among countries along the routes have developed rapidly in recent years. Upon examination, we find that the power trade network not a typical non-scale network, but clustered and heterogeneous. The sub-network in this region appears a pattern of active trade with neighboring countries, centered on power energy exporter. These findings have enriched the research in the field of power trade, and also provided development ideas and policy references for China to establish closer trade ties with countries along the “Belt and Road”.