Sensitivity of Chinese industrial wastewater discharge reduction to direct input coefficients in an input-output context

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Industrial wastewater discharge in China is increasing with the countrys economic development and it is worthy of concern. The discharge is primarily relevant to the direct discharge coefficient of each sector of the economy, its direct input coefficient and the final demand in input-output models. In this study, we calculated the sensitivity of the reduction in the Chinese industrial wastewater discharge using the direct input coefficients based on the theory of error-transmission in an input-output framework. Using input-output models, we calculated the direct and total industrial wastewater discharge coefficients. Analysis of 2007 input-output data of 30 sectors of the Chinese economy and of 30 provincial regions of China indicates that by lowering their direct input coefficients, the manufactur- ers of textiles, paper and paper products, chemical products, smelting and metal pressing, telecommunication equipment, computers and other electronic equipment will significantly reduce their amounts of industrial wastewater discharge. By lowering intra-provincial di- rect input coefficients to industrial sectors themselves of Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang, there will be a significant reduction in indus- trial wastewater discharge for the country as a whole. Investment in production technology and improvement in organizational effi- ciency in these sectors and in these provinces can help lessen the direct input coefficients, thereby effectively achieving a reduction in industrial wastewater discharge in China via industrial restructuring.