“一带一路”不仅是一条经贸合作之路，也是文化交流之路。通过文化交流，不仅可以降低中国与各国文化差异所带来的贸易风险与不确定性，还能促进中国与“一带一路”沿线国家间的贸易畅通。本文采用两步聚类法，通过霍夫斯泰德文化维度等指标对“一带一路”沿线国家进行分组，以实现探究沿线各国文化交流程度的目的；基于中国及“一带一路”沿线国家2000～2016年的面板数据，通过拓展的贸易引力模型研究沿线各国与中国的文化距离、公共教育投入等因素对贸易畅通的影响。实证研究表明，“一带一路”沿线国家与中国的文化距离过大容易对贸易畅通起阻碍作用。此外，华侨华人在国家间文化交流中起到了非常重要的作用，通过华文教育、华文传媒、华侨团体发挥文化融合作用，加强了中国与“一带一路”沿线国家的文化交流，进一步促进了中国同沿线国家间的贸易畅通。
“The Belt and Road” stands for not only the road of economic and trade cooperation，but the road of culture exchange. Based on cultural exchange，trade risk and uncertainty from the cultural difference between China and other countries will mitigate，and unimpeded trade between China and countries along “The Belt and Road” will build up as well. The research adopts Two-step Cluster，which groups countries along “the Belt and Road” according to the indexes of the cultural dimensions of Hofstede，to explore the extent of cultural exchanges of countries along the “road”. Besides，based on the panel data between China and countries along “the Belt and Road” from 2000 to 2016，this article，using an extended gravity model of trade，carries out a study of the influence that comes from factors such as cultural distance and allocation of public education between China and other countries，on unimpeded trade between China and countries along road. Empirical research reveals that the cultural distance between China and countries along “The Belt and Road” is too excessive to hinder unimpeded trade. Moreover，overseas Chinese have crucial role on cultural exchange among countries. Playing a role on cultural integration through Chinese language and culture education，Chinese media and overseas Chinese organizations，they enhance the cultural exchange between China and countries along “the Belt and Road”，promoting unimpeded trade between China and countries along road.
