Evaluation of China's Aid to Central Asia from the Perspective of Night-Time Light Remote Sensing

Objectives Recent years, to improve the equality of local economic development in Central Asia, China is actively providing aid and support. However, there is a lack of objective evaluation of the effectiveness of aid in this region, which will provide a scientific and timely reference for aid departments.

Methods First, we construct night-time light equality index based on night-time light remote sensing data. Second, based on the construction of panel data in the first level administrative divisions in Central Asia, empirical analysis of the benchmark model is conducted to objectively evaluate the effect of China's aid to Central Asia. In addition, we conduct heterogeneity analysis in different income countries.

Results The results show that: Recent years, the aid provided by China has a significant positive effect on promoting the equality of regional economic activities in the first level administrative divisions of Central Asia. Energy type aid projects have a more prominent effect on the diffusion of economic activities in Central Asia.Improvements of regional equality in lower middle income countries are more pronounced after receiving energy aid support.

Conclusions We provide a new perspective to analyze the timely effects of China's foreign aid projects in subnational administrative level using night-time light data, which contributes to the realization of the community of shared future for mankind.