School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao 276826, China E-mail:
School of Geography and Tourism, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao 276826, China; Institute of Yellow River Ecology, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, China; Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Beijing 100101, China.
Water Sci Technol. 2024 Feb;89(3):730-744. doi: 10.2166/wst.2024.022.
The regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) is today the largest free trade area in the world. This paper examines agricultural trade in the RCEP from 2010 to 2019 through the perspective of virtual water. And the drivers of the virtual water flow between China and the RCEP are also explored. The results are as follows: the virtual water flow during the study period was 2,576.51 billion m. From a temporal perspective, the annual virtual water flow over the study period is characterized by a slow rise-significant fall-slow rise. It has the characteristics of concentration in spatial distribution and water resources and product structure. However, the concentration degree showed a downward trend during the study period. Then, we have divided the major trading into four categories based on whether there is a shortage of water on both sides of the trade. In terms of the drivers of virtual water flows between China and the RCEP, we have used the gravity model to arrive at the following findings: crop yields, bilateral economic scale, and agricultural labor resources are the main drivers. Our research results have reference values for adjusting bilateral agricultural trade and water conservation.
区域全面经济伙伴关系协定（RCEP）是目前世界上最大的自由贸易区。本文从虚拟水的角度考察了 2010 年至 2019 年 RCEP 的农产品贸易，并探讨了中国与 RCEP 之间虚拟水流的驱动因素。结果如下：研究期间的虚拟水流量为 2576.51 亿立方米。从时间上看，研究期内的年虚拟水流量呈缓慢上升-显著下降-缓慢上升的特征。它具有水资源和产品结构空间分布集中的特点，但在研究期间，集中程度呈下降趋势。然后，我们根据贸易双方是否缺水，将主要交易分为四类。关于中国与 RCEP 之间虚拟水流的驱动因素，我们使用引力模型得出以下结论：作物单产、双边经济规模和农业劳动力资源是主要驱动因素。我们的研究结果对调整双边农业贸易和节约用水具有参考价值。
