The grey water footprint (GWF) can be used to connect wastewater quality and quantity, making it a powerful tool for policy makers and those responsible for managing wastewater systems. As a supplementary to existing GWF research, this study explores the GWF evolution of eight economic regions in China by taking into consideration the GWF of livestock feeding. In addition, we use the logarithmic mean division index method to study the background driving forces of GWF in primary industry for eight economic regions. Results show that the overall GWF in China fluctuates from 6082 billion m3 to 6238 billion m3 between the years 2003 and 2015. Primary industry contributes most to the GWF because of livestock feeding, particularly for the northwest economic region, accounting for 84.81% in 2015. The southwest economic region has the highest total GWF, and east coast region has the lowest total GWF. An analysis of driving forces shows that economic scale and industrial structure are the driving forces that best explain the GWF for the East coast, middle of Yellow River, Northwest, and Southwest economic regions. The effects of economic scale and pollution producing intensity are driving the GWF in the Northeast Regions. For the North coast and middle Yangtze River Regions, economic scale, industrial structure, and pollution producing intensity are driving forces for GWF. While for the South coast region, population is an important contributor apart from economic scale and industrial structure. Policy implications from perspective of the agriculture GWF and endowment of different regions were finally discussed.
Keywords: China; Driving forces; Eight economic regions; Grey water footprint; Livestock breeding; Logarithmic mean division index.