Night skies illuminate Southeast Asian economic shift towards China

A study of artificial light clusters shows the region’s centre of economic gravity moving northwest by an average 145 metres per day

Chinese research team said 2012-2021 satellite data also revealed surge in brightness after financial crisis and pandemic

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Chinese scientists have detected a significant increase in artificial light spots across Southeast Asia, with concentrations moving closer to China. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 3:59pm, 29 Jun 2023Updated: 6:01pm, 29 Jun 2023

The gravitational pull of the massive Chinese economy is on vivid display under the night skies, with artificial light spots getting brighter and closer to China, according to a new study.

The gravity centre around which most of the lights are concentrated has moved northwest towards Southeast Asia’s land border with China by 476km (300 miles) in less than a decade – equivalent to an average pace of nearly 145 metres (475 feet) per day, the study said.

The research team, led by Yunnan University geology professor Li Yimin, used satellite images from 2012 to 2021 to measure the spatial distribution and movement trends of artificial light patterns across 11 Southeast Asian countries.

Most countries, from wealthy Singapore to less developed Cambodia, have been glowing up fast, with light intensity in the dimmest areas growing nearly 50-fold. The brightest areas are three times brighter, according to the researchers.

Li said the changes provided intuitive but hard evidence of the “remarkable efforts” made by local governments and people to stimulate economic growth and elevate living standards in Southeast Asia.

“The northward shift of the economic gravity centre is also related to the Belt and Road Initiative,” she said, in the peer-reviewed study published in June by the Journal of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology’s nature science edition.