| With the advancement of urbanization and industrialization,water resource shortage,low water resource utilization rate,uneven regional distribution and mismatch between economic development level have become the bottleneck that restricts the further development of domestic regional economy and society.Especially,water shortage areas are facing a serious water crisis driven by rapid economic growth.Therefore,the Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to water conservation and improvement of water use efficiency and have introduced a series of water re sources management policies,such as river basin management system,water price reform,and water resource tax collection.In 2011,the most stringent water resource management system was implemented,and the red line for total water consumption and water use efficiency control was defined.The "National Water Conservation Action Plan" issued in 2019 clearly stated that by 2022,water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP and 10,000 yuan of industrial added value will be reduced by 30% and 28% respectively compared with 2015,and the total amount of water used in the country shall be controlled within 670 billion cubic meters.In the context of water shortage and serious water pollution,in order to achieve sustainable water resource utilization and sustainable economic development,improving water resource utilization efficiency is the focus of China’s current water resource management.In recent years,the rapid development of domestic trade and the refinement of the domestic value chain division of labor have had a great impact on the utilization of water resources at the provincial level in China.What is the current status of water resource utilization efficiency at the provincial level in China and the driving factors of its temporal and spatial changes from the perspective of value chain? What is the composition of virtual water transfers and water footprints of inter-regional economic and trade activities? What is the implied water intensity at the provincial level in China due to different demand categories and the drivers of its evolution? The systematic answers to the above questions can provide theoretical basis and practical guidance for various regions to achieve water use intensity targets and improve water use efficiency,and help relevant departments optimize water resource management systems.In recent years,the rapid development of domestic trade and the division of labor in domestic value chain have a great impact on China’s provincial water resources utilization,and water resources and economi c activities have a two-way impact.Deeply studying the dynamic changes and spatial differences in water resource utilization intensity at the provincial level in China from the perspective of the value chain can provide theoretical basis and practical gui dance for regions to achieve water intensity goals and improve water efficiency,and help relevant departments optimize water resource management systems.Therefore,a systematic empirical study on the dynamic changes of water resource utilization and its influencing factors at the provincial level in China is conducted using single-region and interregional input-output models.Based on the review of relevant literature and classical theories on water resource utilization efficiency from the perspective of the value chain,this article firstly uses the data visualization analysis method to analyze the current status of water resource utilization at the provincial level in China.Secondly,using China’s provincial IO table,from a closed perspective to explor e the driving factors of changes in provincial water resource utilization efficiency under the division of labor in the domestic value chain.Thirdly,constructing the provincial-level water resource utilization efficiency difference index,decomposing the difference index through the S-SDA method,and exploring the impact of regional water-saving technology level,added value coefficient,intermediate input structure and final demand structure on the regional differences in water resource utilization effic iency.Then,using China’s inter-provincial input-output table that distinguishes domestically produced imported intermediate products from imported final products to quantify the water footprint implied in different import and export products,and decompo se the domestic water footprint of each region in China from the perspective of consumers into Water footprints of different value chains,to explore the composition of water footprints.Finally,using the cross-regional input-output model to completely decompose the implied water intensity of each province in China into the implied water intensity of different demand types to examine the contribution of various demands to China’s implied water intensity and build a multi-SDA model,to analyze the driving factors of changes in China’s implied water intensity.Specifically,the following findings are obtained:Firstly,the total amount of water resource in our country was on the upward trend during the period of 2007-2021,and the total amount of water use in our country was agricultural water,followed by industrial water.But from the point of regional distribution,water resource in our country is mainly distributed in Tibet,followed by Sichuan,Hunan,Yunnan,Guangxi and other places.The regions with low water distribution are Ningxia,Tianjin,Shanghai and Beijing.In terms of regional use of water,the highest water consumption was in Xinjiang and Jiangsu,followed by Guangdong,Hubei,Heilongjiang and Hunan.However,the proportion of the total water consumption in Qinghai,Tianjin,Xizang,Beijing and Hainan was very small.It is also worth mentioning that,from the perspective of water use efficiency,there are big differences between different regions in China.By 2021,the water use per unit of output value in Beijing,Tianjin,Shanghai and Zhejiang is significantly lower than that in other regions,while the water use per unit of output value in Xinjiang,Heilongjiang,Xizang,Ningxia,Guangxi and Gansu is much higher than that in other regions.This indicated that not only the distribution of water resources was unbalanced in our country,but also the water-use efficiency of different areas was very different.In many areas,the water use technology was low,the water use structure was unreasonable,and the water resource utilization efficiency was low.However,from the trend of change,the water consumption per unit of output value in each region showed a significant downward trend during 2007-2021.Secondly,analyzing the driving factors of the ch ange of water resources utilization efficiency at Chinese provincial level by using the input-output table at Chinese provincial level.The results show that the technical effect is the main driving factor for the change of water use intensity in China and the provinces and cities,and the structure effect of intermediate input and final demand is the main influencing factor for the regional difference of water use intensity.Technology effect has reduced water intensity in China and 30 provinces and cities.The influence of intermediate input structure and final demand structure on the change of water use intensity in China and other provinces and cities is not the same.The intermediate input structure reduces water use intensity mainly through the improve ment of the scale of added value.In the final demand structure effect,the product structure effect of final demand and the technology effect have the same direction of action,while the final demand distribution structure effect is more matched with the regional economic development status.The regional economic development status affects the change of the distribution proportion of the final demand in the region,and then affects the change of water consumption intensity.Thirdly,discussing the effects of factors driving the differences in water resources use efficiency at provincial level in China.Technology effect and final demand sector structure effect are the main reasons for the difference of average production water use intensity between provinces and the country.Technological effect makes the production water use intensity of economically developed provinces and cities such as Beijing and Tianjin,eastern coastal areas less than the national average,and makes the production water use intensity of most economically underdeveloped areas such as central and western areas greater than the national average.The difference in average production water use intensity between different regions and the whole country due to the difference in technical level is mainly reflected in the production and supply of agriculture,gas and water as well as the production and supply of electricity and heat.The final demand sector structure effect makes the production water intensity of most eastern regions less than th e national average and makes the production water intensity of most central and western regions greater than the average production water intensity.Fourthly,based on China’s inter-provincial input-output table to quantify China’s inter-provincial water footprint from the perspective of consumers.The results show that at the economic regional level,the domestic water footprint in 2017 was mainly distributed in the central region,the southwest region and the eastern coastal region,all belonging to the water shortage region in China.The water footprint implied by domestic trade is mainly local water footprint,and the cross-regional water footprint is higher in Beijing,Hainan,Chongqing,etc.,and the sources of water footprint in these regions are mostly Xinjiang,Guangxi and Heilongjiang.At the same time,inter-regional trade mainly occurs in the same economic region,and water consumption in each region is mainly concentrated in agriculture,food manufacturing and tobacco processing industry,constru ction and other sectors.From the perspective of industrial structure,Chinese water resource consumption in 2017 was mainly concentrated in the secondary industry,with the lowest industrial water footprint in the tertiary industry.Most of the water foot print of the primary industry comes from local sources.Only the water resources of Beijing,Hainan,Shanghai,Hebei,Liaoning and other provinces and cities come from other regions,mostly from Xinjiang and Heilongjiang.The water footprint of the seconda ry industry is mainly concentrated in the food manufacturing,tobacco processing and construction sectors,and the water consumption of the food manufacturing and tobacco processing sectors in provinces and cities is often higher than that of the construct ion sector.The water footprint of the tertiary industry is mainly concentrated in the accommodation and catering sector,health and social work sector,as well as public administration,social security and social organization sectors.Fifthly,the variation and driving factors of provincial implied water intensity in China are discussed from the demand side.The results show that from the demand side,China’s water intensity efficiency is gradually improving.At the provincial level,the implied water intensity of Xinjiang,Guangxi and Gansu is high,while that of Beijing,Tianjin and Shandong is low.Compared with export demand,domestic demand is the main factor affecting China’s implied water intensity,and it shows an increasing trend during the study period.The contribution degree of domestic demand to China’s implied water intensity in Yunnan and Qinghai is higher than that of export demand,while the difference between the contribution degree of domestic demand to China’s implied water intensity and that of export demand in Guangdong and Shanghai is small.From the perspective of the influence of different demand categories on the intensity of implied water,investment demand is the most important factor affecting the intensity of implied water in Chi na,as well as the main driving force driving the intensity of implied water in China.However,the intensity of implied water in different provinces and cities is greatly different under the influence of different demands.From the perspective of driving factors,the departmental water intensity efficiency is the main driving factor promoting the decline of China’s hidden water intensity,the input-output structure effect is one of the factors promoting the decline of China’s hidden water intensity,and th e final demand effect is inhibitory.The driving effect of input-output structure effect and final demand effect on the variation of implied water intensity in China is quite different in different provinces and cities.Finally,based on the experience res ults of the main research contents,policy suggestions for improving the efficiency of water resource utilization at the provincial level are put forward from the perspectives of improving water use technology,optimizing the final demand structure,and ad justing consumer consumption structure. |
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