Research on the Convergence of Economic and Electricity Consumption Growth of China

This paper concerns a statistical description of GDP and electricity consumption data from 2000 to 2014 in China by using spatial correlation and panel data clustering. The significant presence of beta convergence and conditional beta convergence of China's economic and electricity consumption during this period are confirmed. China's electricity consumption per capita in 2030 is predicted according to this saturation (convergence) trends. This study shows that due to the right decisions of macroeconomic policies like advancing the Western Development, revitalizing Northeast China and other old industrial bases and promoting the rise of the central region since 2000, economic and electricity consumption level of China's provinces did not show significant differentiation, but showing the trend of rising economies catching up with leading economies. The presence of conditional beta convergence shows that changes in economic structure plays a significant role in promoting the regional steady-state, namely rising economies can take backward advantage from the process of industrialization to catch up with leading economies.