Spatial- temporal Process and Driving Force of Interprovincial Coal Flowing in China
中国省际煤炭资源流动的时空演变及驱动力

Based on data of export to other provinces and import from other provinces, with statistical analysis by SPSS and spatial analysis by GIS, change of regional type of coal flow from the 1st Five-Year Plan(FYP) to the 10th FYP of all 31 provinces in China are discussed firstly, spatial-temporal process of coal flow among regions in province scale are studied secondly, and driving force of the change of temporal-spatial process of coal flowing are explored lastly. The dynamic characteristics of coal interprovincial flow from the 1st FYP to the 10th FYP are:quantity of interprovincial coal flow increase gradually with the average annual increase rate of export and import reaching 5.9% and 5.6% respectively. The range of interprovincial coal flow extends gradually, for example, the number of province that has no interprovincial coal flow reduced from 10 in 1957 to 2 in 2005. Spatial structure of interprovincial coal flow can be depicted as that output stream concentrated on few provinces, while a great number of provinces need to input coal from other provinces to satisfy industrial and domestic demand. The number of export provinces is less than that of import provinces, while the ratio of export coal of the primacy exporter in total coal export is more than that of import coal of the primary importer in total coal import. The main driving forces of temporal-spatial change of interprovincial coal flow lie in:(1) the deficit between coal production and consumption is the primary driving force of coal regional flow. The coal production is more than coal consumption in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and some provinces in Northwest and Southwest China, while the coal consumption is more than coal production of most provinces in eastern China, southern China and Northeast China. So coal flow from the north to the south, and flow from the west to the east is the spatial pattern of coal regional flow in China.(2) To perfect transportation can facilitate coal regional flow. Provinces with road density index being above 20 can transport coal out smoothly, while it is difficult to do so for provinces with road density index under 20 in 2005. Besides, making infrastructure layout assort with coal production distribution can boost coal regional flow.(3) Regional price differentia is a signal of coal regional flow, which can influence the direction and quantity of coal regional flow.