Regional Energy Intensity and Productivity in China

Abstract

At the end of the 1970s, the Chinese economy started a process of industrialization and modernization of its domestic economy based mainly on the promotion of openness and capital accumulation (Herrerias and Orts, 2011). As a result of such process, China experienced a boom in trade and foreign direct investment that in turn was transmitted into a high growth rate. This exceptional performance was quite steady with an average around 9–10 per cent in the last decades, achieving a new position in international markets, and therefore changing the scenario worldwide. The performance of the economy overall, however, is explained by the dynamism of the coastal areas that received preferential policies by the government at the expense of central and western ones, creating unbalanced growth (Herrerias et al., 2011).