Tracing the evolution of silver flows and stocks in China during 2000–2023

Silver has excellent physical and chemical properties and is widely used in industry, jewelry, investment, and recently in green energy technologies such as photovoltaics. The demand for silver has increased dramatically in China during the past two decades, but silver flows, stocks, and metabolic patterns throughout its life cycle remain unclear. This study aims to track the entire silver cycle in China from 2000 to 2023 through dynamic material flow analysis, with a focus on identifying key features of silver flows, stocks, and recycling potential. The research results show that both China’s silver production and consumption increased significantly during this period, leading to increasing in-use stocks and secondary silver supply potential from end-of-life silver-containing products. However, due to limited domestic silver resource endowments, China had to heavily rely on importing silver concentrates and high-end silver powders to meet growing industrial demands. Also, China played a significant role in international silver markets, mainly exporting primary and final products. Based on these results, this study proposes several policy recommendations to reduce the silver supply risk and improve the sustainable use of silver resource.