Quantifying Inter‐regional Trade Inequality of China's Cities Based on Environmental‐economic Benefits in Virtual Built‐up Land Flow

The development of spatial interactions of land resources enhances virtual built‐up land flow, which contributes to China's inter‐regional trade inequality. Little is known about the degree of inequality among regions. This work seeks to estimate the degree of interregional trade inequality through environmental‐economic benefits. We combined a multiregional input–output model at the city level with a new classification to calculate the virtual built‐up land flow among cities and analyzed its implications for the regional economy and carbon balance. The results indicate that developed regions were the main beneficiaries of inter‐regional trade, as reflected in land‐use efficiency. China's economic hub has been progressively shifting southward, and the inter‐regional trade inequality has continuously increased. The flow of virtual service industry land among developed regions rose, while underdeveloped regions remained suppliers of raw materials, further increasing inter‐regional trade inequality.