Dabo, G. and Hubacek, K. (2007) Assessment of regional trade and virtual water flows in China. Ecological Economics, 61 (1). pp. 159-170. ISSN 0921-8009
Abstract
The success of China's economic development has left deep marks on resource availability and quality. Some regions in China are relatively poor with regards to water resources. This problem is exacerbated by economic growth. Flourishing trade activities on both domestic and international levels have resulted in significant amounts of water withdrawal and water pollution. Hence the goal of this paper is to evaluate the current inter-regional trade structure and its effects on water consumption and pollution via ‘virtual water flows’. Virtual water is the water embedded in products and used in the whole production chain, and that is traded between regions or exported to other countries. For this assessment of trade flows and effects on water resources, we have developed an extended regional input–output model for eight hydro-economic regions in China to account for virtual water flows between North and South China. The findings show that the current trade structure in China is not very favorable with regards to water resource allocation and efficiency. North China as a water scarce region virtually exports about 5% of its total available freshwater resources while accepting large amounts of wastewater for other regions' consumption. By contrast, South China a region with abundant water resources is virtually importing water from other regions while their imports are creating waste water polluting other regions' hydro-ecosystems.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2007 Elsevier B.V. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Ecological Economics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Sherpa Assistant |
Date Deposited: | 30 Oct 2008 10:29 |
Last Modified: | 16 Sep 2016 13:38 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.02.022 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier B.V. |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.02.022 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:4802 |