# Construction of the Belt and Road Trade Cooperation Network from the Multi-Distances Perspective
## 4 Construction of Trade Cooperation Network
### Construction of Trade Cooperation Network  
In the above two sections, we used the expanded gravity model to estimate the parameters of the four distance variables: geographical, factor endowments, cultural, and institutional distances. These parameters were used to create comprehensive distance indices that reflect the potential or possibility of trade cooperation between China and the Belt and Road countries and the time required. According to the comprehensive distance indices, the Belt and Road countries were divided into four circles of countries, each with different trade cooperation potential with China, and different amounts  
Figure 1: Trade cooperation circles of the Belt and Road countries. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Classification** & **Country** \\ \hline First circle (\(-\infty\), \(-0.7\)) & Russia, India, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Singapore, Malaysia, Czechia, Thailand, Iraq, Romania (15) \\ \hline Second circle (\(-0.7\), \(-0.3\)) & Qatar, Kuwait, Philippines, Pakistan, Israel, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam, Ukraine, Slovakia, Oman (12) \\ \hline Third circle (\(-0.3\), \(0.1\)) & Brunei, Lebanon, Myanmar, Yemen, Jordan, East Timor, Croatia, Nepal, Bulgaria, Bahrain, Albania, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Cambodia, Turkmenistan, Lao Republic, Slovenia, Afghanistan, Serbia, Sri Lanka (20) \\ \hline Fourth circle (\(0.1\), \(\infty\)) & Tajikistan, Maldives, Macedonia, Bhutan, Hungary, Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Belarus, Estonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Lithuania, Latvia (15) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Delineation of trade cooperation circles. of time required to reach cooperation, thus representing different cooperation network construction stages. Different work needs to be done according to the characteristics of each stage. Therefore, we divided the network construction process into four stages according to the delineation of the circle: the initial stage, the development stage, the formation stage, and the improvement stage (Figure 2). At each stage of the construction process, the density of the line in Figure 2 represents the development degree of the cooperative network construction. The larger the line density, the closer the cooperation. According to the thinking of \"Progress from Point, Line, Plane to the whole Area, and gradually form the regional cooperation\", the trade cooperation networks between China and the Belt and Road countries can be promoted as follows:  
1. Initial Stage. At the initial stage of the trade cooperation network construction, countries along the route have limited understanding of the Belt and Road Initiative, and only a few countries have a good foundation for cooperation to be involved in further in-depth cooperation. Therefore, the lines are sparse in Figure 2a. At this time, China should be the leader and publicizer in consulting with the Belt and Road countries of the first circle, which has the smallest comprehensive distance indices, to seek common interests and reach consensuses on cooperation. To play a positive role in demonstrating and leading the trade cooperation, China should act as the \"axis power\", and accelerate the construction of industrial parks and free trade zones with the first-circle countries, such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, India, Poland, and Turkey. Thus, the circle can radiate to the six large regions, including Mongolia-Russia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and West Asia. 2. Development Stage. At the development stage of the trade cooperation network construction, the trade cooperation activities between the governments, the industries, and the people will experience a marked increase, so the lines of cooperative network are becoming increasingly dense in Figure 2b.