Central Asian studies in the People’s Republic of China: a structural topic model

Figures & data

Figure 1. Publications on Central Asia in the PRC (1992–2022).

The barplot shows the number of publications on Central Asia in the PRC between 1992 and 2022. The peak of publication is between 2014 and 2018 were at least 500 articles on Central Asia were published a year.

Figure 2. Highest number of publications on Central Asia in Chinese journals (1992–2022).

The barplot shows the eighteen journals that published the highest number of articles on Central Asian between 1992 and 2022. The journal with the highest number of articles is Landbridge Horizon with over 400 articles. The second and third are World Affairs and Central Asia Info.

Figure 3. Most prolific researchers of Central Asia in the PRC (1992–2022).

The barplot shows the seventeen most prolific writers in our corpus or the authors in the PRC, who have published at least 20 articles on Central Asia between 1992 and 2022. The most prolific is Xu Tao with 62 articles.

Table 1. Qualitative clusters resulting from the Structural Topic Model.

Cluster	Label	Topics
Cluster 1	Diplomacy	1, 21, 27, 40, 46, 53, 56
Cluster 2	Macroeconomy, finance and investment	2, 4, 15, 25, 32, 51, 58
Cluster 3	Language studies	3, 16, 42, 60
Cluster 4	Chinese governmental narratives	4, 8, 13, 43, 55
Cluster 5	Trade and transports	5, 14, 15, 23, 24, 37, 49, 50
Cluster 6	Chinese foreign policy and international politics	7, 8, 11, 13, 26, 30, 33, 35, 50, 54
Cluster 7	Academic world	10, 34, 37, 45
Cluster 8	Security and internal politics	6, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 26, 27, 29, 33, 35, 36, 39, 57
Cluster 9	Geography and anthropology	16, 18, 28, 34, 38, 59
Cluster 10	Historical, cultural and archaeological studies	9, 17, 20, 22, 31, 34, 38, 41, 47, 52, 54, 59

Figure 4. Top 15 topics for topic prevalence in the corpus.

The barplot shows the 15 more prevalent topics over time in our corpus. Relevant aspects are: the five most prevalent topics are all China related, four topics are economy-related, three topics are security-related, and only two topics are connected to studies in the humanities.

Figure 5. Topic prevalence of topics in cluster 3 on language studies over time (1992–2022).

The graph shows the temporal prevalence of the four topics contained in the thematic cluster 3 on language studies. The most prevalent topics are topic 3 on Chinese language learning for Central Asians and topic 42 on Central Asians learning Chinese characters. Topic 3 has a strong peak in the early 2010s.

Figure 6. Topic prevalence over time of topics in Cluster 8 on security and internal politics (1992–2022).

The graph shows the temporal prevalence of the eight topics contained in the thematic cluster 5 on Trade and Transports. The most prevalent topics are topic 37 on empirical quantitative research on trade and topic 23 on trade between China and Central Asia. Both are more relevant later in our timeline and particularly in the late 2010s and 2020s.

Figure 7. Topic prevalence over time of topics in Cluster 2 on Macroeconomics (1992–2022).

The graph shows the temporal prevalence of the seven topics contained in the thematic cluster 2 on macroeconomy, finance and investment. The most prevalent topics are topic 25 on the internationalization of the Renminbi and topic 4 on the Belt and Road Initiative. Both topics peak in the 2010s.

Figure 8. Topic prevalence over time of topics in Cluster 4 on Chinese governmental narratives (1992–2022).

The graph shows the temporal prevalence of the five topics contained in the thematic cluster 4 on Chinese governmental narratives. The most prevalent topics are topic 43 on Good-neighbourliness and topic 4 on the Belt and Road Initiative. Topic 43 is prevalent throughout, while topic 4 has a strong peak in the second half of the 2010s.

Data availability

Our dataset can be accessed here: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23648466.