Energy, Water and Food Requirements of China's Regional Development

Owing to uneven development and unbalanced resource endowments within China, ensuring reliable energy, water and food supply is the core challenge to regional sustainable development. This study uses the latest multi-regional input-output model to quantify energy, water and food resource requirements of Mainland China's 31 provincial regions in 2012. Results show that the resource occupancy levels of the eastern developed area were much higher than the northeast, central and western areas, which contributed 45.1%, 42.1% and 39.6% of total domestic energy, water and agri-food resource requirements, respectively. The total interprovincial trade transfers of embodied energy, water and agri-food resources were equivalent to 73.4%, 33.9% and 37.4% of the total domestic direct inputs, respectively. Substantial transfers of embodied energy, water and agri-food resources were identified from the central and western regions to the eastern regions. Investment was the leading final demand category for energy resources while consumption was the largest final demand category for water and agri-food. Consumption-based accounting of energy, water and agri-food requirements provides important implications for understanding the imbalance of regional development faced by the Chinese society to achieving sustainable development.