This study investigated the energy poverty spatiotemporal interaction characteristics and socioeconomic determinants in rural China from 2000 to 2015 using exploratory time–space data analysis and a geographical detector model. We obtained the following results. (1) The overall trend of energy poverty in China’s rural areas was “rising first and then declining”, and the evolution trend of energy poverty in the three regions formed a “central–west–east” stepwise decreasing pattern. (2) There was a dynamic local spatial dependence and unstable spatial evolution process, and the spatial agglomeration of rural energy poverty in China had a relatively higher path dependence and locked spatial characteristics. (3) The provinces with negative connections were mainly concentrated in the central and western regions. Anhui and Henan, Inner Mongolia and Jilin, Jilin and Heilongjiang, Hebei and Shanxi, and Liaoning and Jilin constituted a strong synergistic growth period. (4) From a long-term perspective, the disposable income of rural residents had the greatest determinant power on rural energy poverty, followed by per capita GDP, rural labor education level, regulatory agencies, and energy investment. In addition, our findings showed that the selected driving factors all had enhanced effects on rural energy poverty in China through interaction effects.

Embodied energy flows link production systems with the energy sector, reflecting dependencies and structural risks under globalization and regional coordination. Guangdong, China’s most manufacturing-intensive, open, and energy-consuming province, is a central hub in both global value chains and domestic production networks, playing a pivotal role in national energy security. Understanding Guangdong’s embodied energy flows is essential for revealing the transmission of energy across multi-level spatial systems and the resilience of China’s energy infrastructure. This study integrates international (EXIOBASE) and Chinese inter-provincial input–output data to build a province-level nested global MRIO model, combined with Structural Path Analysis (SPA), to characterize Guangdong’s manufacturing embodied energy flows in domestic and international dual circulation from 2002 to 2017. Our findings confirm Guangdong’s pivotal bridging role in embodied energy transfers. First, flows are dual-directional and dominated by international transfers. Second, energy efficiency has improved, narrowing the intensity gap between export- and domestic-oriented industries. Third, flows have diversified spatially from concentration in developed regions toward developing regions, with domestic inter-provincial flows more dispersed. Finally, embodied energy remains highly concentrated across sectors, with leading industries shifting from labor- and capital-intensive to capital- and technology-intensive sectors. This research offers vital empirical evidence and policy reference for enhancing national energy security and optimizing spatial energy allocation.