This paper describes the effect of the coal-to-liquids (CTL) industry on economic output and employment in four Chinese regions. The operation of CTL projects require large amount of expense and thus can largely boost regional economy growth by expanding local output demands. However, such economic benefit has never been quantified. In this paper, we evaluate the economic effects of CTL projects in regional China by performing a multiplier analysis with the latest 2007 China regional input output data. Our analysis shows that CTL projects can greatly boost economic output and employment in regional China. A Direct Coal to Liquid (DCL) project that produces one million tons of fuel every year can increase regional economic output by 0.78%-2.76% and employment by 1.10%-3.15% annually. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.