Material footprints of Chinese megacities

China is responsible for a large proportion of the global material footprint. Cities are thought to be associated with most of natural resources consumption and negative impacts on the environment, especially in China, where rapid urbanization and industrial transformation has been observed over the past two decades. Cities usually source a major part of material demand from local, national, and global hinterlands across the whole global supply chain of a city's final demand. It is important to understand urban material footprints with a view to building sustainable cities and furthering economic development. In this study, we use input-output analysis to assess total material footprints and investigate the trends of material footprints time series of four Chinese megacities - Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, and Tianjin - from 2001 to 2015, along with factors that influence this material footprint by adopting STIRPAT model. Our results show Chongqing has the lowest MF/capita, and the increase of MF in Chongqing and Tianjin is small over time, while Beijing and Shanghai increase rapidly. Chongqing is the only city that relies more on materials extracted from its own environment. Our study provides a first indication of the imbalance between affluent coastal cities and less-developed inland cities. Further case studies are needed to obtain more general results. Our findings provide a basis for the development of relevant future resource management policies for different regions.