The finite resource of land is subject to competing pressures from food demand, urbanization, and ecosystem service provision. Linking the land resource use to the whole production chain and final consumption of various products and services offers a new perspective to understand and manage land uses. This study conducted a systematic analysis of land uses at the provincial level in China using the multi-region input-output model in 2012. Land use patterns related to the sectoral production and consumption in different provinces were examined. The results indicated that the land use transfers between different provinces in China have formed a highly interacting network. Products and services involved in the inter-provincial trades in China contained 2.3 million km2 land uses, which constituted approximately 40% of the total national land uses that were finally consumed in China. Agriculture was the most direct land use intensive sector, and industry was the most indirect land use intensive sector. Land resource-scarce provinces with low per capita land availability have outsourced parts of their land uses by net importing lands from other provinces. The results have important policy implications towards sustainable land uses in China.
Keywords: footprint; input–output analysis; inter-provincial trades; land transfers; multi-type land uses; virtual land.