Digital financial social network in Chinese cities

This paper employs city-level data and social network analysis to construct and analyse digital financial social networks in China from 2011 to 2023. The analysis reveals extensive digital financial connections among cities, albeit with relatively low network density. The network connections were highly efficient, as reflected by the short average shortest path length. Additionally, the networks exhibited minimal reciprocity, with predominantly one-way interactions, and maintained a low degree of hierarchy. Coastal developed cities and core cities in central regions consistently demonstrated high in-degree centrality, inward closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality. In contrast, less developed and border cities in central and western China exhibited higher out-degree centrality and outward closeness centrality.