The Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Geo-Economic Relationships between China and ASEAN Countries: Competition or Cooperation?

Shufang Wang,Xiao Xue,Yuli Liu,Yuejing Ge,Axing Zhu

doi:10.3390/su9061064

Abstract

In the last 30 years, China’s economic power has experienced great changes and has brought about a profound impact on the world economy. This led us to ask a question: do changes in China’s economic power shift the geo-economic relationships between China and its neighboring countries? To answer this question, we researched the evolution of geo-economic relationships between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Using the Euclidean distance method, we explored the changes in these geo-economic relationships between China and ASEAN countries from 1980 to 2014. Our findings resulted in five conclusions: (1) Over time, geo-economic relationships between China and ASEAN countries remained relatively stable. (2) Geographically, the main geo-economic relationships between China and continental ASEAN countries were complementary, while the main geo-economic relationships between China and island ASEAN countries were competitive. (3) Geopolitics and geo-culture were attributed to the changes in geo-economic relationships. (4) The evolution of geo-economic relationships was characterized by path dependence. (5) Geo-economic relationships between China and ASEAN countries could be classified into four types: game type, with high cooperation and competition; complementary type, with high cooperation and low competition; fight type, with low cooperation and high competition; and loose type, with low cooperation and competition. Our findings contribute to improving the understanding of geo-economic relationships.

Highlights

In the context of globalization and economic integration, geo-economic research is becoming increasingly important
Using the Euclidean distance method, we measured the geo-economic relationships between China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from 1980 to 2014, and summarized the patterns and characteristics
These findings implement existing knowledge to make an important contribution to the international literature by providing a better understanding of the evolution of geo-economic relationships

Summary

Introduction

In the context of globalization and economic integration, geo-economic research is becoming increasingly important. The world is entering a new era of geopolitics and geo-economics [1]. Some scholars discuss geo-economics as a form of statecraft and take states as agents of economic power [4,5]. They believe the reason for developing geo-economics is to gain economic interest, control resources and improve political influence through competition with other countries, arguing that there are competitive relationships between geo-economic actors. The cooperative geo-economic relationships for BRICS countries are significant [2] These new economic powers resort to a series of diplomatic, political and economic policies to facilitate economic development, which focus on commodity circulation and economic cooperation. Do changes in economic strength shift geo-economic relationships with neighboring countries? How does the geo-economic relationship evolve?

Results

Discussion

Conclusion