Do China's wind energy products have potentials for trade with the “Belt and Road” countries? -- A gravity model approach

China has become the leader in the wind energy industry and the “Belt and Road Initiative” provides a broad stage for China's international cooperation in this field. This paper examines the trade status of China's wind energy products in the “Belt and Road” countries, and measures the export potential and its determinants in the market of these countries, by adopting the gravity model with a balanced dataset of 19 products and 65 countries covering the period 2007–2017. The results indicate that: (1) China's wind energy product trade with the “Belt and Road” countries has grown rapidly, but the market structure is relatively concentrated; (2) The GDP and total energy consumption of the importing countries and China's wind power generation capacity have a positive impact on China's exports of wind energy products, while the physical distances between capitals of China and the importing countries have a negative effect; (3) The traditional market for China's wind energy product exports is becoming increasingly saturated, and 35 countries with untapped potentials and the growing markets are mainly distributed in the CIS, East Asia, West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. Finally, this paper proposes corresponding policy implications based on these findings.