Study On The Characteristics And Efficiency Of Societal Metabolism In China

Based on the requirements of the social sustainable development of China,this study combines the three main elements of economic system development including population,environment and economy,and makes an in-depth analysis of the societal metabolism of China at different scales such as six major industrial sectors,30 provincial administrative regions in the eastern,central and western regions from1995 to 2016.The basic characteristics of Chinese social metabolism were analyzed by Multi-scale Integrated Analysis of Social Metabolism(MSIASM),and the concept of human activity was introduced into Decoupling Analysis and Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA)to analyze the characteristics of the decoupling relationship and its comprehensive efficiency of social metabolism in China,and finally summarized the development status of social metabolism in China.It is found that:(1)China's labor force is transferring from the agriculture sector to other industrial sectors,with the largest proportion of human activity in the agriculture sector,but its economic labor productivity has always been the lowest level of six industrial sectors,only 5.89 yuan/h in 2016.China's economic development depends on the pull of the industry sector.Because the economic labor productivity of the industry sector is high and the growth rate is the largest,its economic labor productivity increased from 10.63 yuan/h in 1995 to 75.22 yuan/h in2016,with a growth rate of 607.3%,but its energy intensity is much higher than that of other industries.From 1995 to 2016,the labor productivity of the three regions continued to rise,with the growth rate of 515.1%,616.1% and 608.9% respectively.The total human activity and economic labor productivity of the eastern region were higher than those of the central and western regions,but the energy intensity was lower than that of the central and western regions,while the western region was the opposite to the eastern region.The industrial structure of the eastern region has been gradually balanced.The proportion of human activity in the agriculture sector hasdecreased from 45.9% in 1995 to 22.7% in 2016,with a decrease rate of 50.5%.In2016,the proportion of human activity in the six industrial sectors has been relatively balanced.(2)The human activity time and economic growth of agriculture sector in China are in a weak absolute decoupling state and show a decoupling trend.However,the human activities,energy consumption and economic growth in the industry and transportation sectors are all in relative decoupling state,but the decoupling elasticity between the human activity and economic growth increases,while the decoupling elasticity between energy consumption and economic growth decreases significantly.The decoupling elasticity values of human activity,energy consumption and economic growth in China are all between 0 and 1,which is the relative decoupling state.Among them,the decoupling elasticity value between human activity and economic growth in the eastern region increases,so there is a coupling trend between them.However,the decoupling elasticity value between energy consumption and economic growth continues to decrease,and they are developing towards decoupling.However,the decoupling elasticity values of human activity,energy consumption and economic growth in the central and western regions are all decreasing,but the range is not large.(3)The social metabolic efficiency in the eastern region is in a state of two-stage differentiation.The highest value of social metabolic efficiency in Shanghai and Guangdong is 1 and relatively stable,while the lowest value in Hebei is only 0.43,with a gap of more than 60%.The value of social metabolic efficiency in the central and western areas is lower than that in the eastern areas and at a lower level.The social metabolic efficiency in Ningxia is the lowest level in China,only 0.26.Through the above analysis and research results,we have a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of the current situation of social metabolism in China from different perspectives,and quantitatively evaluate the sustainability of China's social development and provide a scientific and reasonable decision-making basis for decision-makers.