Ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) as a multi-tiered hierarchy: Investigating the interdependence of global and domestic environmental inequalities to explain China's rise

The theory of ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) suggests that economic relations involve an asymmetric transfer of biophysical resources from the periphery to the core. Despite growing empirical evidence for EUE at the global level, studies have not yet sufficiently analysed the role of semi-peripheries, or the connection between global and domestic processes in reproducing environmental inequalities. To address this gap, we rely on an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output (EEMRIO) model to analyse China's involvement in global (G-EUE) and domestic (D-EUE) EUE from 1987 to 2017. Globally, we show that China's semi-peripheral role is two-fold: China increasingly appropriates natural resources from semi-peripheral and peripheral countries while acting as a net provider of biophysical resources to the core. Domestically, the wealthy East Coast zone is the only net importer of embodied energy and TiVA, while all other regions are net exporters. While China continues to be exploited by the core, it has fuelled its ascent by developing increasingly extractive relationships with peripheral regions both within and outside its borders. Our results suggest the need to move beyond a simple core-periphery dichotomy and to study EUE as a multi-tiered hierarchy of uneven biophysical flows. • Demonstrates that ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) operates through both domestic and global processes. • Introduces the semi-periphery as a key actor in sustaining resource hierarchies. • Explores China's dual role as both surplus provider to the core and surplus appropriator from peripheries. • Shows that regional inequalities within China mirror global patterns of resource and value appropriation.