IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i9p3666-d1384163.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sector-Level Inter-Provincial Virtual Water Trade in China: Implications for Regional Water Stress

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Zhou

    (School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China)

  • Yu Li

    (School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China)

  • Tariq Ali

    (School of Economics and Management, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China)

Abstract

China faces severe water resource shortages due to the uneven distribution of water resources and ever-increasing water demand driven by rapid industrialization and urbanization. The virtual water trade (VWT) is a potential solution to conserve water resources by transferring water from water-abundant/water-productive regions to water-scarce/less water-productive regions. Based on the inter-provincial input-output model, the provincial VWT of China was estimated at the sectoral level. The relationship of VWT with water resources in 30 provinces was analyzed in relation to the water stress index (WSI). It was found that (1) total inter-provincial VW trade showed a downward trend during the study period, with 363.91 km 3 in 2002, 283.72 km 3 in 2007, and 285.23 km 3 in 2012. Overall, the primary industry dominated the VWT for most provinces. (2) China’s virtual water flowed from the relatively underdeveloped central and western regions to the east with a relatively developed economy from the inter-provincial level. This trend became increasingly prominent. (3) In many instances, VW was transferred from water-poor to water-rich areas. These results imply that China needs to improve its water use efficiency and optimize its regional industrial structure. Additionally, establishing an ecological compensation mechanism is considered a valuable measure for China to alleviate regional water resource pressure.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Zhou & Yu Li & Tariq Ali, 2024. "Sector-Level Inter-Provincial Virtual Water Trade in China: Implications for Regional Water Stress," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-17, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3666-:d:1384163
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3666/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/9/3666/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matthew Cole, 2004. "Economic growth and water use," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(1), pages 1-4.
    2. Guan, Dabo & Hubacek, Klaus, 2007. "Assessment of regional trade and virtual water flows in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 159-170, February.
    3. Song, Jianfeng & Yin, Yali & Xu, Hang & Wang, Yubao & Wu, Pute & Sun, Shikun, 2020. "Drivers of domestic grain virtual water flow: A study for China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xia, Wenjun & Chen, Xiaohong & Song, Chao & Pérez-Carrera, Alejo, 2022. "Driving factors of virtual water in international grain trade: A study for belt and road countries," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    2. Ehsan Qasemipour & Farhad Tarahomi & Markus Pahlow & Seyed Saeed Malek Sadati & Ali Abbasi, 2020. "Assessment of Virtual Water Flows in Iran Using a Multi-Regional Input-Output Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Guangyao Deng & Liujuan Wang & Yanan Song, 2015. "Effect of Variation of Water-Use Efficiency on Structure of Virtual Water Trade - Analysis Based on Input–Output Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(8), pages 2947-2965, June.
    4. Ehsan Qasemipour & Ali Abbasi & Farhad Tarahomi, 2020. "Water-Saving Scenarios Based on Input–Output Analysis and Virtual Water Concept: A Case in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    5. Chen, G.Q. & Chen, Z.M., 2011. "Greenhouse gas emissions and natural resources use by the world economy: Ecological input–output modeling," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(14), pages 2362-2376.
    6. Julian Fulton & Heather Cooley & Peter Gleick, 2014. "Water Footprint Outcomes and Policy Relevance Change with Scale Considered: Evidence from California," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(11), pages 3637-3649, September.
    7. Xueting Zhao, 2014. "China's Inter-regional Trade of Virtual Water: a Multi-regional Input-output Modeling," Working Papers Working Paper 2014-04, Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University.
    8. White, David J. & Feng, Kuishuang & Sun, Laixiang & Hubacek, Klaus, 2015. "A hydro-economic MRIO analysis of the Haihe River Basin's water footprint and water stress," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 318(C), pages 157-167.
    9. María Jesús Beltrán & Esther Velázquez, 2011. "Del metabolismo social al metabolismo hídrico," Documentos de Trabajo de la Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España 01_2011, Asociación de Economía Ecológica en España.
    10. Yuning Gao & Miao Yu, 2018. "Assessment of the economic impact of South-to-North Water Diversion Project on industrial sectors in Beijing," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 7(1), pages 1-17, December.
    11. Mubako, Stanley & Lahiri, Sajal & Lant, Christopher, 2013. "Input–output analysis of virtual water transfers: Case study of California and Illinois," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 230-238.
    12. Zhai, Yijie & Bai, Yueyang & Shen, Xiaoxu & Zhang, Tianzuo & Jia, Yuke & Ren, Ke & Zhou, Xinying & Cheng, Ziyue & Hong, Jinglan, 2023. "Provincial water availability footprint evaluation and transfer analysis of China’s grain products: A life cycle perspective," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    13. Okadera, Tomohiro & Geng, Yong & Fujita, Tsuyoshi & Dong, Huijuan & Liu, Zhu & Yoshida, Noboru & Kanazawa, Takaaki, 2015. "Evaluating the water footprint of the energy supply of Liaoning Province, China: A regional input–output analysis approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 148-157.
    14. Chuang-lin Fang & Chao Bao & Jin-chuan Huang, 2007. "Management Implications to Water Resources Constraint Force on Socio-economic System in Rapid Urbanization: A Case Study of the Hexi Corridor, NW China," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 21(9), pages 1613-1633, September.
    15. Xuedong Liang & Jiacheng Li & Gengxuan Guo & Sipan Li & Qunxi Gong, 2023. "Urban water resource utilization efficiency based on SBM-undesirable–Gini coefficient–kernel density in Gansu Province, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 13015-13034, November.
    16. Sevilla Jiménez, Martín & Torregrosa, Teresa & Moreno, Luis, 2010. "Un Panorama sobre la Economía del Agua/An Overview on Water Economy," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 28, pages 265-304, Agosto.
    17. Lenzen, Manfred & Bhaduri, Anik & Moran, Daniel & Kanemoto, Keiichiro & Bekchanov, Maksud & Geschke, Arne & Foran, Barney, 2012. "The role of scarcity in global virtual water flows," Discussion Papers 133478, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    18. Wang, Linlin & Li, Lingling & Xie, Junhong & Luo, Zhuzhu & Sumera, Anwar & Zechariah, Effah & Fudjoe, Setor Kwami & Palta, Jairo A. & Chen, Yinglong, 2022. "Does plastic mulching reduce water footprint in field crops in China? A meta-analysis," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    19. Dennis Wichelns, 2010. "Virtual Water: A Helpful Perspective, but not a Sufficient Policy Criterion," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 24(10), pages 2203-2219, August.
    20. Yafei Wang & Arne Geschke & Manfred Lenzen, 2017. "Constructing a Time Series of Nested Multiregion Input–Output Tables," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 40(5), pages 476-499, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:9:p:3666-:d:1384163. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.