| Variable | Data sources |
| P (pro) | The proportion of imports from China in the total import value of BRI countries base Total product level/measured in thousand of US Dollar https://www.trademap.org/ |
| Cultural distance (CD) | Calculation based on data from Hofstede Insights. http://geert-hofstede.com |
| Institutional distance (INSTD) | Calculation based on data from World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI) online database http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/ |
| Per capita GDP (GDP) | Which represents the purchasing power of the average consumer. World Development Indicators (WDI) online database: data are measured in current USD. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators |
| FTA | Ministry of commerce of China http://fta.mofcom.gov.cn/ |
| Geographic distance (DIST) | Wighted distance/KM/CEPII database. http://www.cepii.fr/cepii/en/bdd_modele/bdd.asp |
| Landlock (Landlock) | CEPII database. http://www.cepii.fr/ |
| Ethnicity | CEPII database. http://www.cepii.fr/ |
| shares a border | CEPII database. http://www.cepii.fr/ |