Spatial distribution characteristics and convergence of China's regional energy intensity: An industrial transfer perspective

With the economic transformation and regional economic restructuring of China, there is a significant inter-regional transfer trend of industries among the eastern, central, western and northeastern regions. The industrial transfer is able to change the spatial distribution of regional energy intensity by affecting the regional industrial structure, thus impacting the convergence of energy intensity. This paper established a spatial Durbin panel model, and used the relevant data of thirty administrative regions of China from 2004 to 2017 to empirically study the impacts of industrial transfer on regional energy intensity. The results showed that: (1) As a whole, the energy intensity of China's regions was low in the southeast region and high in the northwest region, and there was a significant positive spatial auto-correlation among the energy intensity of different regions. (2) There was beta-convergence in the regional energy intensity. It indicated that, on the one hand, the differences in the energy intensity of China's different regions were being gradually narrowed; on the other hand, the energy intensity of each region would converge to its own steady state. (3) The industrial transfer and economic development could promote the convergence of the regional energy intensity. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.