Assessing regional energy security characteristics: Evidence from Chinese province-level data

Energy security is an essential driver of economic growth and social well-being. Countries worldwide are facing threats to their energy independence stemming from climate change, geopolitical instability, and rising energy prices. Given the significance of China's economy, any threat to its energy security is likely to have a negative impact on the global economy. We assess regional energy security in China using a panel of provinces for the period 2000–2019. We rely on multiple factors likely to affect regional energy independence to define an index of energy security. The entropy weight method, Dagum Gini ratio decompositions, and kernel density estimates are subsequently used to assess the differences in energy security levels across China's regions and their evolution over time. Our results provide evidence of a gradual decline in China's overall energy security, accompanied by increasing disparities in regional energy independence over time. Notably, more than half of the total gap in energy security can be attributed to regional differences among China's eastern, central, western, and northeastern provinces. In addition to their relevance to policymakers in China, our findings provide insights into strategies other developing countries can use to promote their energy independence.