An interprovincial input–output database distinguishing firm ownership in China from 1997 to 2017

Input-Output (IO) data describing supply-demand relationships between buyers and sellers for goods and services within an economy have been used not only in economics but also in scientific, environmental, and interdisciplinary research. However, most conventional IO data are highly aggregated, resulting in challenges for researchers and practitioners who face complex issues in large countries such as China, where firms within the same IO sector may have significant differences in technologies across subnational regions and different ownerships. This paper is the first attempt to compile China’s interprovincial IO (IPIO) tables with separate information for mainland China-, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan-, and foreign-owned firms inside each province/industry pair. To do this, we collect relevant Chinese economic census data, firm surveys, product level Custom trade statistics, and firm value-added tax invoices and consistently integrate them into a 42-sector, 31-province IO account covering 5 benchmark years between 1997–2017. This work provides a solid foundation for a diverse range of innovative IO-based research in which firm heterogeneity information about location and ownership matters.