Dynamic Calculation and Analysis of the Ecological Footprint in China between 1949 and 2008

This research calculates the ecological footprints in China between 1949 and 2008 by means of the ecological footprint method.The results show that China's ecological footprint was smaller than its ecological carrying capacity since the founding of the People's Republic to the late 1970s,and there was a surplus in the ecological account.From 1980s to 2008,the ecological footprint expanded rapidly and exceeded its ecological carrying capacity,and there was a deficit in the ecological account.Comparing the average ecological footprint and ecological carrying capacity per capita in China with the global ecological footprint,we can see that China was still a country with both local and global sustainability from 1962 to the late 1970s but after 1980,China became a country that was locally unsustainable,but globally sustainable.