Research on China's Virtual Water Trading Regarding the Differences between Countries and Industries from the Global Perspective

摘要

From the global perspective, this paper utilizes the multi-regional input-output table and water footprint data from the EORA26 database to study China's virtual water trading in the year of 2015. The research results indicate that (1) China was a net exporter of virtual water for all the three types of water footprints: green, blue and grey. In addition, among all the major trading partners, China imported the most amount of virtual water from Germany and the biggest importer of China's virtual water was the US. (2) When the amounts of green, blue and grey water are added up, the largest industry of imported virtual water usage was agriculture, while the textiles and wearing apparel industry exported the largest volume of virtual water. However, when only grey water is considered, China's electrical and machinery industry both imported and exported the highest amounts of virtual water.