Research Article // Assessing the asymmetric food-energy-water nexus in SCO trade: A multi-scale MRIO analysis of embodied flows
By Shaohui Liu et al. This article examines how growing trade within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) shifts food, energy, and water pressures across borders. It identifies key supply-chain sectors and trade pathways driving these transfers and highlights policy implications for more sustainable resource governance.
Abstract
While economic cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has deepened, the associated expansion of multilateral trade has led to significant cross-border transfers of resource and environmental pressures. The primary objective of this study is to quantify the spatial transfer patterns of embodied food, energy, and water within SCO trade, to identify the critical supply-chain sectors and transmission pathways, and to derive policy implications for sustainable resource governance. To achieve this objective, we employ an environmentally-extended multi-regional input-output (EE-MRIO) model to trace the embodied flows of food, energy, and water within the SCO network. Furthermore, structural path analysis (SPA) is applied to identify the critical supply-chain sectors and transmission pathways, with a particular focus on China’s role.
The results indicate that intra-SCO trade alleviates land scarcity risks for member states but exacerbates pressures on regional water and energy resources. At the bilateral level, China is a net importer of embodied food and energy from Russia, while functioning as a net exporter of virtual water to India and Pakistan. The outflows are primarily driven by the textile, clothing, food processing, and agricultural sectors. In contrast, the inflows to China are fundamentally rooted in the agricultural and food processing sectors. These findings underscore an asymmetry in resource-intensive trade patterns. The study concludes with policy recommendations for optimizing the regional trade structure, enhancing resource efficiency, and fostering coordinated green supply chain management to advance the SCO’s sustainable development agenda.
Published
17 June 2026
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