The Effect of Energy Consumption on China’s Regional Economic Growth from a Spatial Spillover Perspective

Under the downward pressure of the economy, China’s extensive economic growth relying on factor input is difficult to sustain, and adjusting the total amount and structure of energy consumption to promote high-quality economic development has become an urgent problem to be solved. Based on the exploratory spatial data analysis method (ESDA) and the partial differential method of the spatial regression model, the paper measures the spatial spillover effect of energy consumption on economic growth by taking 30 provincial units in China as the research object. The results are as follows: (1) There is a significant spatial agglomeration in the spatial distribution of regional economic growth and energy consumption, that a core-periphery model has been formed with the eastern region as the core. Therefore, in view of the imbalance in regional development, more attention should be paid to the rationality of industrial spatial distribution when formulating policies, so as to achieve the sustainable development of China’s economy. (2) Through further empirical testing of spatial metrology, it has been found that regional energy consumption has a significant spatial spillover effect on economic growth, and this effect varies according to region and type of energy consumption. Among them, although coal consumption accounts for the largest proportion of energy consumption structure, the economic effect is very limited, which provides a possibility for the government to optimize the allocation of energy resources and shift to a green economy. Therefore, more energy policies should be developed to encourage the development of clean energy.