Transformations  in
Business & Economics

COMPILATION AND ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION OF CHINA’S WATER RESOURCES BALANCE SHEETS: A CASE STUDY OF ZHEJIANG PROVINCE²
Jinsong Wang, Wei Shi

ABSTRACT. Sustainable use of water resources to ensure sustainable development of the economy and society is an urgent global problem. China, whose water resources per capita are 28% of the world average, is trying to reverse the traditional development model by compiling water resources balance sheets (WRBS) to address severe water problems and promote sustainable use of water resources. This empirical study discusses the compilation method of China’s WRBS from the theoretical and practical compilation aspects focusing on Zhejiang Province. This study designed the WRBS based on the water intake link and the WRBS based on the drainage link according to the production process of the water resources liability, which provides the method support for compiling the WRBS. This study compiled a change sheet of water resources assets, WRBS, and its change table of Zhejiang Province from (2015-2018), thus providing practical support for the WRBS accounting system designed in this study.

KEYWORDS:  water resources balance sheet; water resources assets; water resources liabilities; dualistic water cycle.

JEL classification:  Q25, Q34, P28.

²Acknowledgements:  The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Chinese Fund for the Humanities and Social Sciences (No. 19CTJ006) and the Philosophy and Social Science Project in Zhejiang Province (No. 21NDQN299YB).