Trade with Chinese Characteristics - Gravity Model on Chinese Imports

These data files relate to a paper "Trade with Chinese Characteristics - Economics Versus Politics", which applies an augmented gravity model to tease out drivers of China’s bilateral trade relationships, asking why some countries are more important than others as sources of Chinese imports. Our results show that both business and political considerations drive China’s import decisions. Results suggest that established trade agreements have a positive impact on a country's exports to China. Meanwhile, differing political views with China, as measured by UN General Assembly voting records, or having official diplomatic ties with Taiwan result in lesser exports to China. Membership in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, however, does not generally translate into a significant increase in Chinese imports from the member country. The dataset, which covers the period from 2002 to 2022, includes 185 countries counting China. The data are compiled from various sources, such as the UN, World Bank, NATO, American Enterprise Institute, etc.