Structural Characteristics and Driving Factors of the Commercial Circulation Network in China

——the Social Network Analysis Based on Gravity Model

QIU Zhi-ping1 ，LIU Ju-sheng2 and HE Jian-jia3

（1.School of Economics and Management，Dongguan University of Technology，Dongguan 523106，Guangdong，China；

2.School of Economics and Management，Shanghai University of Political Science and Law，Shanghai 201701，China； 3.School of Management，Shanghai University of Technology，Shanghai 200093，China） Abstract：In the context of accelerating the construction of a unified national market，the research issues of commerce circulation network are of both practical and theoretical significance. Based on the provinces (municipality ，autonomous regions) data from 2000 to 2020 in China，the authors adopt an improved gravity model to measure the spatial linkages of inter-provincial commercial circulation industry，and empirically investigate the structural characteristics and driving factors of commercial circulation networks with the help of the social network analysis method. It is found that ：the node linkages density of China’s commercial circulation network is still low during the sample period，it demonstrates typical characteristics of a“small world” and self- stable evolution，and it consists of four subgroups with large dispersion and small aggregation；there are significant differences in the level of centrality and coreness among provinces，which show a decreasing spatial characteristic from the east to the northeast and the central- west；and the scale of bilateral income，the difference in industrial structure，the difference in population urbanization，and the connectivity of transportation facility significantly strengthen commercial circulation linkages， while local protectionism，the difference in logistics development，the gaps in network application，and geographical proximity weaken the linkages. China should，first，pay more attention to the spacial linkage of provincial commercial circulation ，perfect the coordination and cooperation mechanism of provincial commercial circulation ，and focus on the building of modern commercial circulation centers with different positioning；second，China should improve the level of residents’disposable income，accelerate eliminating the barriers of local protectionism，strengthen industrial labor division and cooperation among regions，and coordinate the process of urbanization among different regions；and third，China should promote the connectivity of transportation and digital infrastructure，strengthen the coordinated development of domestic and foreign trade，and accelerate realizing the high-quality development of circulation industry.

circulation network；gravity model；social network analysis；structural characteristics；driving factors