The Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Agricultural Economic Growth and Energy Consumption in Regions of China

There is an obvious regional discrepancy in the ratio of energy consumption to agricultural production in China. First, the paper used the cluster analysis methods to divide Chinese 30 provinces into four regions. Then, a panel data model is used to analyze the relationship between agricultural production and it´s energy consumption in the different regions. The results show that there are four linkage types between unit energy consumption and unit agricultural output: high growth to high consumption (I), low growth to high consumption (II), low growth to low consumption (III), high growth to low consumption (IV). However, the increase of agricultural output value is not always in coordinate with energy consumption increase in each region. Energy use promoted obviously the agricultural output in region I and IV, but this effect is unconspicuous in region II and III. During the study period of 1990-2007, the increase of energy input has played an important role in Chinese agricultural development. Especially after 1996, the role became more obvious. Meanwhile, the effect appeared earlier in advanced provinces. Finally, according to the above results, some suggestions are put forward as follows: seeking for development on efficiency is final mode of agricultural energy consumption in China; implementing reasonable development plans of agricultural energy use; learning from each other among different regions etc. Based on these work above, it can provide scientific basis for promoting the efficiency of agricultural energy use and healthy development of agriculture in China.