Exploring Analysis of Spatiotemporal Trends in News Reporting in the China-Europe Railway Express

Since the Chinese government opened the China-Europe Railway Express(CRE), transportation cooperation between China and Europe has become increasingly frequent. The aim of this research is to explore the spatiotemporal trends in news reporting of CRE and the spatial spillover effects of transportation cooperation, providing a basis for the development of transportation cooperation mechanisms between China and Europe. This article selects news reporting from 22 countries along the CRE and analyzes the spatiotemporal trends of media coverage of CRE. This article uses statistical analysis and Moran’s Index method to test the temporal trend and spatial dependence of news reporting on the CRE. The study found that from 2016 to 2024, the Moran’s Index showed a certain spatial positive correlation for all years, verifying the spatiotemporal correlation between news reporting of the CRE and transportation cooperation. However, the spatial cooperation between the 22 countries on the CRE isn’t obvious, which to some extent affects the sustainable development of the CRE. This study contributes to understanding socioeconomic indicators driven by the long-term CRE operations. We have captured the close relationship between GDP, population, geographic size, and news reporting on CRE, and put forward operational suggestions to strengthen transportation cooperation among 22 countries, especially to increase the enthusiasm of Central and Eastern European countries to participate in the CRE, and promote the coordinated development of the CRE.自中国政府开通中欧班列（China-Europe Railway Express, CRE）以来，中欧之间的运输合作日趋频繁。本研究旨在探究中欧班列新闻报道的时空演化趋势与运输合作的空间溢出效应，为中欧运输合作机制的发展完善提供理论依据。本文选取中欧班列沿线22个国家的新闻报道，分析媒体对中欧班列报道的时空变化特征。本文采用统计分析与莫兰指数（Moran’s Index）方法，检验中欧班列新闻报道的时间趋势与空间相关性。研究结果显示，2016年至2024年间，各年份的莫兰指数均呈现一定的空间正相关特征，验证了中欧班列新闻报道与运输合作之间的时空关联。但中欧班列沿线22个国家间的空间协同合作尚不显著，这在一定程度上制约了中欧班列的可持续发展。本研究有助于深入理解中欧班列长期运营所驱动的社会经济指标变化，我们揭示了GDP、人口、国土面积与中欧班列新闻报道量之间的紧密关联，并提出了强化沿线22国运输合作的实操建议：尤其要提升中东欧国家参与中欧班列运营的积极性，推动中欧班列的协同发展。