Structure and evolution of the submarine cable network of Chinese mainland

Submarine cable network is one of the most important connectivity infrastructures in the digital era. In the past 20 years, the submarine cable network of Chinese mainland has formed a complex connectivity structure. This paper focuses on exploring the structure and evolution of the submarine cable network of Chinese mainland. The results show that the evolution can be divided into four stages: an initial stage (1993–1998), a developmental stage (1999–2002), a stagnation stage (2003–2015) and an accelerated stage (2016–2018). The connectivity structure can be analyzed at micro, meso and macro scales. Statistically, the connectivity increased significantly overall, but showed significant differences in space. For the microscale, the landing cities were characterized by “extensive but low, exclusive and high”; for the mesoscale, the connectivity of countries or regions was characterized by “distance attenuation” as a whole, but, in part, by a “regional identity”; for the macroscale, intercontinental connectivity differences have been declining. The hierarchy has been upgraded from a “3 system” to a “2 + 3 system”. Finally, this paper discusses the interaction between submarine cable network construction and international relations, and puts forward policy suggestions for China’s submarine cable construction.