Energy is an important material basis for human survival and development, which is related to the national economic lifeline and reform of national defence security. Since the reform and opening up, the total amount of energy consumption in China has been increasing progressively. From 57 144 million tons of equivalent coal (T.E.C) in 1978 to 436 000 T.E.C in 2016, China is in the forefront of the world. Energy consumption can promote China's economic growth to a certain extent, especially when the per capita consumption is within a certain value, and energy consumption plays a significant role in promoting economic growth. However, with the increase of the total amount of energy consumption, the environmental quality of China is also deteriorating. Especially in recent years, the increasingly serious problem of haze pollution has aroused great attention from all walks of life. The pollutants such as SO2 and NOX produced by energy combustion are the main factors causing air pollution. Therefore, the keys to enduring the sustainable development of China's energy and environment are to realize the efficient utilization and green utilization of energy, and to determine the direction of energy-saving and emission-reduction. Primary energy, as the main body of gdp, plays a decisive role in China's economic development. However, the long-term and high-intensity economic development has made the primary energy face serious resource and environmental problems, especially energy shortage and environmental pollution. Therefore, while we maintain the sustained economic growth, the efficient utilization and green utilization of energy are objective requirement to solve the energy crisis and realize the sustainable development of the environment. To solve this challenge, this paper proposes a two-step analysis of equation-based modelling-tobit (ebm-tobit) model to measure the energy efficiency of 30 provinces and municipalities directly under the central government (provinces) in China from 2007 to 2016. The results show that energy efficiency of the overall regional disparity varies greatly, which means the eastern region has the highest average energy efficiency, second in the central region and the worst in the western region. In terms of energy-saving and emission-reduction potential, the potential of energy saving and air pollutant emission reduction are at a relatively high level. Energy endowment, industrial structure, government influence and technological progress have a certain impact on China's energy efficiency, but there are disparities in the degree of influence and significance among regions in China. CITATION:Shao, L S and Zhao, S Q, 2019. Chinas spatial and temporal disparities in energy efficiency and influencing factors, in Proceedings 9th International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry, pp 121122 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).