Spatial analysis of rural drinking water supply in China

A spatial autocorrelation analysis method was employed to process the spatial change of rural water supply over the past 19 years in the People's Republic of China. Statistical analyses indicate great achievements in rural water supply construction. Two main indices describing rural drinking water supply status, the Rural Popularization Rate of Tap Water and the Rural Popularization Rate of Water Improvement Beneficiaries, were found to be spatially auto-correlated. The Global Moran's I of the latter decreased generally, and local spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that the regional gap of rural water supply infrastructure is declining. The main factors affecting the spatial pattern of rural water supply were analyzed through the mean centre method. Our research shows that the spatial pattern of economic development and government investment has had a decisive role in the formation and evolution of rural water supply.