Quantifying Inter-regional Trade Inequality of China's Cities Based on Environmental-economic Benefits in Virtual Built-up Land Flow

The development of spatial interactions of land resources enhances virtual built-up land flow,which contributes to China's inter-regional trade inequality.Little is known about the degree of inequality among regions.This work seeks to estimate the degree of inter-regional trade inequality through environmental-economic benefits.We combined a multiregional input-output model at the city level with a new classification to calculate the virtual built-up land flow among cities and analyzed its implications for the regional economy and carbon balance.The results indicate that developed regions were the main beneficiaries of inter-regional trade,as reflected in land-use efficiency.China's economic hub has been progressively shifting southward,and the inter-regional trade inequality has continuously increased.The flow of virtual service industry land among developed regions rose,while underdeveloped regions remained suppliers of raw materials,further increasing inter-regional trade inequality.