Abstract: How does the heterogeneity of transportation facilities in the host countries and the development of various types of transportation facilities affect the success rate of cross-border mergers and acquisitions by Chinese enterprises under the influence of the Belt and Road Initiative? To this end, this paper chooses the double difference method with trend and the measurement model of panel negative binomial to analyze the impact of the host countries’ transportation facilities on cross-border M&As under the Belt and Road Initiative. The research results show that the more perfect the transportation facilities in the host countries, the greater the attraction to the cross-border M&Gs by Chinese enterprises. Specifically, the degree of influence of various types of transportation facilities is different to a certain extent, and the effect size is in the descending order of waterway, railway and shipping facilities. In addition, the immediate effect of the Belt and Road Initiative on cross-border mergers and acquisitions is significantly greater than the long-term effect, indicating that the long-term development trajectory of cross-border mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies has not changed due to the Belt and Road Initiative. It can be seen that enterprises cannot rely solely on the initiative effect, and it is necessary for them to have a deep understanding of the basic characteristics of the host countries, especially the development degree of the transportation facilities.

Key words: the Belt and Road Initiative; traffic facilities; cross-border mergers and acquisitions; double difference method