Energy globalization of China: Trade, investment, and embedded energy flows

doi:10.1007/s11442-022-1952-2

Abstract

Abstract:

China is in a critical period of transforming from the oil and gas era to the renewable energy era. To better understand the process of energy interaction between China and the rest of the world, this study aimed to investigate the basic theoretical cognition of global energy interaction and analyze the pattern and changes of energy interaction between China and the rest of the world with the method of complex networks, multi-region input-output analysis, and other technical methods. The main findings are as follows: (1) Chinas coal-based energy production structure and the huge demand for oil and gas indicate that ensuring overseas oil and gas supply is the most direct logic of energy interaction between China and the rest of the world, and the interaction scopes are mainly concentrated in oil- and gas-rich countries and regions. (2) With the development of renewable energy, the logic of energy interaction of China with the rest of the world has changed from countries and regions rich in oil and gas to countries with global renewable energy development and installation needs for its comparative advantages for manufacturing, which forms a renewable energy trade map that covers all major countries and regions in the world. (3) The overseas energy investment target of China has expanded from a limited number of host countries to Europe, Southeast Asia, and other countries and regions. The investment business is not only limited to the oil and gas field, but also expanded to solar energy, wind energy, hydro-power, and other renewable electricity generation projects. (4) As a global manufacturing and trading power, part of the energy consumed by China is embodied in the global production network and trade network for redistribution. The scope of energy interactions between China and the world will further expand to countries with general commodity trade relations with China, forming the global “energy hub” function. This study can provide a theoretical perspective and decision-making for a deeper understanding of the energy interactions between China and the world, maintaining national energy security, and participating in global energy economic governance.

Key words: energy globalization, energy interaction, energy trade, energy investment, embodied energy, energy transition

YANG Yu. Energy globalization of China: Trade, investment, and embedded energy flows[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2022, 32(3): 377-400.

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	1995		2005		2015
No.	Country	Weighted-in degree	Country	Weighted-in degree	Country	Weighted-in degree
1	USA	36.97	USA	70.75	China	38.95
2	Japan	27.61	Japan	28.11	USA	37.98
3	France	10.52	France	14.40	India	22.28
4	Germany	10.05	South Korea	14.12	South Korea	17.53
5	South Korea	9.22	China	12.67	Japan	16.85
6	Italy	7.23	Germany	11.46	Italy	11.28
7	Netherland	6.36	Belgium	9.76	Spain	9.12
8	Spain	5.79	Italy	8.90	Germany	9.05
9	Singapore	5.12	Spain	8.68	France	8.45
10	United Kingdom	4.16	Canada	8.13	Netherland	7.92
19	China	0.17

	1995			2005			2015
No.	Country	Import	Ratio (%)	Country	Import	Ratio (%)	Country	Import	Ratio (%)
1	Indonesia	5.28	30.86	Saudi Arabia	22.18	17.49	Saudi Arabia	50.54	12.97
2	Oman	3.65	21.36	Angola	17.46	13.77	Russia	42.67	10.95
3	Yemen	2.47	14.46	Iran	14.27	11.25	Angola	38.71	9.93
4	Angola	1.00	5.84	Russia	12.78	10.08	Oman	32.15	8.25
5	Iran	0.93	5.44	Oman	10.83	8.54	Iraq	32.11	8.24
6	Vietnam	0.76	4.45	Yemen	6.84	5.39	Iran	26.62	6.83
7	Malaysia	0.59	3.44	Sudan	6.62	5.22	Turkmenistan	24.89	6.39
8	Nigeria	0.39	2.28	Congo	5.53	4.36	Venezuela	16.01	4.11
9	UAE	0.37	2.15	Indonesia	4.09	3.22	Kuwait	14.43	3.70
10	Saudi Arabia	0.35	2.03	Ecuador	3.71	2.92	Brazil	13.92	3.57

	1995		2005		2015
No.	Country	Weighted-out degree	Country	Weighted-out degree	Country	Weighted-out degree
1	Japan	8.12	China	59.96	China	197.87
2	America	3.47	Japan	53.06	Malaysia	63.37
3	Malaysia	3.20	Germany	26.12	Japan	52.33
4	Germany	2.13	America	13.54	South Korea	35.23
5	Philippines	1.62	Malaysia	13.08	Germany	25.18
6	China	1.03	Philippines	6.40	America	15.10
7	South Korea	0.99	United Kingdom	5.82	Philippines	12.12
8	China Hong Kong	0.98	South Korea	4.60	Singapore	12.09
9	United Kingdom	0.84	Thailand	4.26	Mexico	11.14
10	Canada	0.73	Netherlands	3.51	Thailand	7.78

	1995		2005		2015
No.	Country/Region	Export	Country/Region	Export	Country/Region	Export
1	China Hong Kong	56.70	Germany	1666.43	Japan	3937.11
2	South Korea	11.60	Spain	1279.86	America	2429.37
3	Germany	8.47	China Hong Kong	660.07	China Hong Kong	1944.98
4	America	8.21	America	395.98	India	1607.93
5	Japan	7.52	South Korea	346.22	South Korea	1261.74
6	Italy	2.60	Japan	325.18	United Kingdom	789.91
7	Singapore	2.12	Italy	221.75	Germany	505.99
8	France	1.40	Belgium	182.75	Pakistan	434.86
9	Canada	1.09	Singapore	59.35	Australia	408.73
10	Spain	0.59	France	48.17	Mexico	406.71

No.	1995		2005		2015
No.	Country	Export	Country	Export	Country	Export
1	America	11.90	America	35.30	America	30.90
2	Japan	11.00	Japan	17.20	Japan	15.30
3	Germany	2.55	Germany	5.18	Germany	5.47
4	United Kingdom	1.52	United Kingdom	4.37	United Kingdom	4.85
5	Australia	1.50	South Korea	2.88	South Korea	4.78
6	South Korea	1.16	France	2.70	Australia	3.38
7	France	1.12	Australia	2.42	Canada	3.09
8	Canada	0.80	Canada	2.39	France	2.66
9	Thailand	0.64	Spain	1.75	India	1.99
10	Italy	0.62	Italy	1.69	Italy	1.70