Based on the improved analytic hierarchy process, the authors adopted a 3-scale (0, 1, 2) matrix method to establish regional water ecological security assessment system including 3 layers and 24 indicators according to the real conditions of water environment in Xingtai City. The ecological security assessment system could analyze the influence factors of water environmental security status and evaluate the security situation in Xingtai City. The results showed that the five top influence factors were sewage treatment rate, annual precipitation, wastewater total amount, industrial waste water discharged and urban residential domestic sewage in the 24 indicators. The composite evaluating indexes of the water environment ecological security were within the bandwidth of 0.36 to 0.63, which indicated that the water environment ecological security was still in severe with general or poor state. Some coping strategies and suggestions were put forward to water environmental safety in Xingtai City. The research would provide a theoretical basis for water resource sustainable utilization and a reference for the similar natural condition areas.

Using the carbon footprint model, the carbon footprint of energy consumption and the ecological pressure of carbon footprint were analyzed from 2003 to 2013 in Xingtai City, Hebei Province, China. The results show that, in Xingtai City, the energy consumption was increasing during the past 10 years, with the consumption of fossil energy resources accounting for around 50% of total consumed energy. In the consumption of fossil energy, coal was primary energy. This is an inevitable result from the policies of coal supply. The per capita carbon footprint from total energy consumption and the per capita carbon footprint from coal consumption increased in a fluctuation way. The per capita carbon footprint from petroleum consumption changed slightly. The change of per capita carbon footprint from gas consumption showed a fluctuation stage, and then followed a sharp increase stage. The ecological pressure of carbon footprint show an increasing tendency, suggesting that CO2 production from the energy utilization has been far beyond the absorptivity of woodland. Therefore, the paper proposes feasible means and corresponding countermeasures on energy utilization and industrial structure in the future, which would provide the strategy-making reference for the continual development in optimization energy structure and establishment the low-carbon economic development model in Xingtai City.

Based on clarifying of land ecological security and taking Hebei Province as the case, this article discusses the methods of security evaluations of land ecology. In accordance with the commonly accepted index of security evaluation on regional land ecology, a system of 22 indexes suitable for this region is established. By adopting the principle of systematic analysis and the security matrix of land ecology, calculation for the two year (2000 and 2004 respectively) status is carried out. The results show that the comprehensive security status of land ecology is labeled “sensitive grade" for 2000 while “alarming grade" for 2004. It indicates that the land security status in Hebei Province in both 2000 and 2004 is in the “unsafe" state with the tendency of deteriorating. The main causes for the deterioration of land ecological security are the population booming, unreasonable reclamation, soil erosion, overgrazing, extensive farming and so on.

Based on the analysis of the changes of the cropland, population and grain production during 1990 to 2004 in Xingtai Prefecture, the paper studies the changing characteristics of the pressure index on cropland and predicts the cropland, population, grain output and the pressure index on cropland in the coming 15 years. The results show that since 1990s the total output and the quantity per capita of grain have been increasing due to the increase of production per unit of cropland, although the cropland has been decreasing while the population increasing. Hence, the pressure index on cropland has tended to decrease. In the coming 15 years, the pressure index on cropland will be further decreased. Obviously, it is only through the increase of investment and the progress of science-technology to raise cropland productivity that the pressure on cropland will be reduced and the grain production guaranteed.