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Studying the effects of expected economic growth targets and environmental constraint targets set by Chinese local governments at the beginning of the year on high-quality development can provide empirical evidence for optimizing expected target management, improving macro-control, and fulfilling governance efficiency in the new development stage to some extent. Therefore, based on the theory of economic growth accounting and the stochastic frontier model, this paper calculated the level of high-quality development at the urban level, extracted the economic growth targets and environmental constraint targets from the Report on the Work of the Government with text analysis, constructed instrumental variables based on the spatial weight matrix, and then discussed the effects of the expected development targets formulated by local governments on high-quality development, conditional heterogeneity, and mechanisms. The results showed that: ① Excessive economic growth targets were not conducive to high-quality development, while environmental constraints targets had a significant role in promoting it and could slow down the erosion effect of excessive economic growth targets on high-quality development. This conclusion still held after solving a series of robustness tests, such as the endogenous bias. ② Heterogeneity analysis found that, with the implementation of the ecological civilization concept, China' s economy could achieve a win-win situation of quantity increase and quality improvement. To better promote high-quality development, the target positioning of cities with good economic foundations should weaken economic increment and strengthen environmental constraints, and the growth targets and environmental constraints set by local governments should be endogenous to their own regional resource endowments and leave appropriate elastic spaces. ③ The mechanism test showed that improving the economic growth targets reduced the level of innovation and raised the amount of new investment in the region, which was not conducive to high-quality development. Environmental constraints could promote technological innovation and limit the blind expansion of new investment, thus promoting high-quality development. Based on the above research conclusions, this paper summarizes policy implications from the aspects of political performance evaluation, formulation of expected development targets, technological innovation, and green development to promote the synergy between economic growth and green development in China and the synchronization of expected target management and high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting rural environmental planning is an important measure to optimize the allocation of spatial resources, balance economic development and ecological protection, and realize the green transformation of agriculture and rural areas. It is a specific starting point to address the current problems that are hindering increasing farmers′ income, and agricultural development and rural stability, in order to realize the coordinated development of living, ecological, and agricultural environments. It is also an inevitable requirement for realizing the rural revitalization strategy and promoting the green and sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. At present, rural development is subject to the drawbacks of the development of China ′ s urban-rural dual structure, in which long-term industrialization and urbanization have given rise to a series of significant problems, including rural aging, pollution, and emptying, and have become key bottlenecks to green sustainable development. Therefore, in order to achieve the necessary planning requirements, this paper deconstructs all elements of the current rural environmental planning process as a systematic overall plan, defines the development orientation and objectives of the current policy system, elucidates the basic connotation of rural environmental planning, and proposes a theoretical system of rural environmental planning, which includes agricultural, human settlement, and ecological environments. In the context of rural environmental planning alongside green development, our analysis identified problems and shortcomings in current practices, including a lack of connection between different types of rural environmental planning, a lack of scientific and technological innovation, and a lack of understanding with regards to new development concepts. To address these issues, problem-oriented corresponding solutions and management approaches are put forward to provide theoretical and policy support for the better construction of rural ecological environments and the realization of rural green development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saving energy resources and reducing energy intensity are crucial to promoting China' s major strategic goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality, and are hence key to the promotion of green transformation and development in the new development stage. As an important practice, the policy of establishing pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations in China aims to promote green finance reform in depth, construct ecological civilization, and realize green economic transformation. Can the policy reduce energy intensity and contribute to energy conservation? What is its impact mechanism? There is a shortage of systematic analysis in academia on these issues. With panel data from Chinese cities from 2007 to 2020 and a generalized synthetic control method, this paper evaluated how the establishment of pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations affected energy intensity and analyzed its impact mechanisms. The results showed that: ① The implementation of the policy significantly reduced the energy intensity of the pilot zones, and the energy-saving effect exhibited 'policy first' and timeliness characteristics. ② The policy-induced energysaving effect was achieved by improving green innovation, easing financing constraints, optimizing industrial structure, and strengthening environmental governance. ③ The policy' s energy-saving effect was more remarkable in areas with better marketization and a higher education level. The findings suggest that the government should fully consider the differences in aspects such as institutional environment and resource endowment among varying regions, design distinct measures to attract more market players to participate in the green finance system oriented by energy efficiency improvement, energy structure transformation, and environmental governance, and create a much better market-oriented environment for green innovation and corporate financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of theoretical and practical significance to study the impact of mixed-ownership reform, the core measure of stateowned enterprise (SOE) reform, on the green innovation of SOEs. Using the data of SOEs listed in the China A-share stock market from 2010 to 2019, this study empirically tested the impact, mechanisms, and heterogeneous impact of mixed-ownership reform on the green innovation of SOEs through a Propensity Score Matching+Difference-in-Differences (PSM-DID) model based on the shareholding ratio of non-state-owned shareholders among the top ten shareholders of state-owned enterprises. On this basis, this paper further explored the spillover effect of mixed-ownership reform on the green innovation of SOEs. The results showed that: ① Mixed-ownership reform could effectively promote the green innovation of SOEs. After using the placebo test and instrumental variable method to alleviate the endogenous problem and replacing the matching basis for the robustness test, the conclusion was still valid. ② The mechanism test showed that the improvement of corporate governance level and the knowledge spillover effect were important channels for mixed ownership reform to promote the green innovation of SOEs. The profit-seeking nature of non-state-owned shareholders might have a dampening effect on the green innovation of SOEs in mixed-ownership reform. ③ The heterogeneity analysis of industry characteristics showed that in competitive industries and environmental protection industries, mixed-ownership reform had a more obvious impact on promoting the green innovation of SOEs. ④ Although the mixed-ownership reform promoted the green innovation of SOEs, it was not the higher the better in terms of the proportion of non-state-owned shareholders. When non-state-owned shareholders accounted for 15% to 30%, the promotion effect on the green innovation of SOEs was most obvious. ⑤ The mixed-ownership reform had a spillover effect on the green innovation of unreformed SOEs, effectively promoting the substantive green innovation of these SOEs in the same industry. Therefore, the study proposes that the important role of mixed-ownership reform in green development should be fully recognized and the mixed-ownership reform of SOEs should be further promoted. We should promote the formation of a mutually balanced equity structure and rationally allocate the proportion of non-state-owned capital. At the same time, we should avoid the ‘one-size-fits-all’ mixed-ownership reform and adhere to the classification and stratification of orderly progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big data, a vital driving force of high-quality economic development in China, improves both the speed and efficiency of information exchange and knowledge dissemination. Existing studies have conducted a series of discussions on the dividend effect of big data development, but few have analyzed it from the perspective of corporate green development. Based on the theoretical analysis of the impact of big data development on the internal mechanisms of corporate green technology innovation and on the regulatory role of intellectual property protection, in light of the exogenous policy shock from the ‘National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zones,’ this paper studied the A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen by adopting the difference-in-differences model (DID) to evaluate the impact of big data development on corporate green technology innovation and the moderating effect of intellectual property protection between them. The research results showed that the development of big data significantly promoted corporate green technology innovation, and that the conclusion still held after a series of robustness tests. Heterogeneity tests showed that the promoting effect of big data development on corporate green technology innovation was more observable in large-scale enterprises, state-owned businesses, and companies with high-level access to data from local governments. The mechanism test indicated that the development of big data could promote corporate green technology innovation by improving the intensity of regional environmental regulation, easing the financing constraints of enterprises, and improving their human capital level. The moderating effect test showed that intellectual property protection played a significant positive moderating role between big data development and corporate green technology innovation. Accordingly, the government should improve the big data development policies to promote deep integration of big data and the real economy in a consistent manner, reinforce the system design concerning corporate green technology innovation guided by policies of big data development, and combine big data development with green development goals such as achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Meanwhile, policies should be refined based on different types of enterprises in different regions so that a long-term mechanism can be established to support corporate green innovation development. It is also necessary to strengthen the construction of an intellectual property protection system so as to accelerate corporate green technology innovation and green development more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innovative application of green credit policy as a means of financial regulation in the field of environmental governance is an important attempt to balance the relationship between environmental protection and economic development. It reshapes the credit financing environment of high-pollution enterprises, forces them to transform and upgrade, and arouses their enthusiasm for green development. At the same time, it can profoundly affect their ‘real-to-virtual’ transformation, that is, the financialization of real enterprises. Based on the wide application of the green credit policy and rapid development of the financial market, this paper selected the empirical data of A-share listed companies in China from 2008 to 2019, and used the DID method to test the differences in financialization between high-pollution enterprises and non-high-pollution enterprises before and after the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines. Benchmark regression showed that, compared with non-high pollution enterprises, green credit policy significantly inhibited the finan‑ cialization of high-pollution enterprises. After a series of robustness tests such as the parallel trend test, the placebo test, and PSM-DID, the results were still valid. The mechanism test showed that, this benefited from the technological innovation promotion and agency cost reduction resulting from the green credit policy. Heterogeneity test further showed that the inhibition effect on the financialization of high-pollution enterprises varied with the nature of the property rights of these enterprises and the intensity of the enforcement of regional environmental laws. Compared with state-owned enterprises and enterprises in areas with weak environmental law enforcement, the inhibition effect on the financialization of enterprises was more obvious in non-state-owned enterprises and areas with strong environmental law enforcement. The result confirms the effectiveness of the application of green credit policy at the micro level, which could help policymakers evaluate the policy effect, formulate and implement the incentive and restraint mechanisms of green credit policy, as well as remind the high-pollution enterprises of the importance of strengthening technological innovation, seeking green transformation, and rationally investing in financial assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies mainly focus on exploring the ‘inclusive effect’ of digital finance in the process of technological innovation, but generally ignore the ‘network effect’ of digital finance empowerment. Based on China’s inter-provincial panel data and threshold regression technology, this paper empirically examined the nonlinear empowerment mechanism of digital finance to promote the development of green innovation. The results of this study showed that: during the study period, digital finance significantly drove China ’s green innovation and the empowerment effect of the eastern and central regions was much higher than that of the western regions, indicating that the ‘inclusive effect’ of digital finance was significant; the empowerment effect of digital finance on green innovation had a positive dynamic evolution process from weak to strong, but this kind of ‘network effect’ characteristic mainly appeared in the eastern and western regions, while the central region showed a positive ‘U’-shape nonlinear pattern; and the nonlinear empowerment effect of digital finance on green innovation had a heterogeneous and strengthened adjustment mechanism. It had positive and increasing marginal efficiency characteristics under the adjustment of urbanization, fiscal transparency, and residents’ income level. It was manifested under the constraints of urban-rural income gap and economic growth targets. Under the influence of technology introduction, it presented a positive inverted a ‘U’-shaped characteristic. At present, only by continuously improving fiscal transparency, residents’ income, and urbanization level, continuously narrowing the urban-rural income gap, and keeping the economic growth target and technology introduction at a reasonable level, can we maximize the green innovation effect empowered by digital finance. This article has discovered the coexistence of the ‘inclusive effect’ and ‘network effect’ of digital finance empowerment in the process of green innovation. The relevant conclusions may provide local governments with a ‘Digital Finance Express’ during the 14th Five-Year Plan period to accelerate the development of green innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

⑴ Background——Green credit is the main part of China’s green finance system. The interaction between green credit and technology innovation is an important driving force for the transformation and upgrading of the forestry industry structure, and also an important means to realize the high-quality development of modern forestry. To discuss the specific effects of green credit and technology innovation on China’s forestry industry structure can provide a theoretical basis for the high-quality development of modern forestry. ⑵ Methods——This paper proposes the research hypotheses by analyzing the potential impact mechanism of green credit (hpc) and forestry technology innovation (tepscore) on the forestry industry structure (nfishc）. Based on the panel data of 28 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) from 2008 to 2019,the static FGLS fixed effects model of C-D production function is used to explore the interaction effects of green credit and technology innovation on the forestry industry structure. Meanwhile, in order to solve the possible endogeneity problem of the model and analyze the influence of interaction terms on the interrelation between green credit and technology innovation, the lagged terms of the explained variables are added and the dynamic system GMM model is used to estimate the interaction of green credit and technology innovation on the forestry industry structure. ⑶ Results——Firstly, green credit and forestry technology innovation both play a significant role in promoting the forestry industry structure. Among them, every 1% increase in the level of green credit will increase the forestry industry structure by 0. 126%,every 1% increase in the level of forestry technology innovation will increase the forestry industry structure by 0. 114%. Secondly, the interaction between green credit and forestry technology innovation can indeed enhance their effects of promoting the optimization of forestry industry structure, what’s more, green credit and forestry technology innovation are threshold variables to each other and both of them have a single threshold effect on forestry industry structure. In particular, when the proportion of high energy-consuming interest expenditure is less than 3. 914,there will be a certain scale effect and agglomeration effect. Every 1% increase in the level of forestry technology innovation, the forestry industry structure will significantly increase by 0. 249%. However, when the effect of interaction terms on green credit and forestry technology innovation is further examined, it is found that the development of green credit is not conducive to forestry technology innovation and forestry technology innovation also has a significant negative impact on green credit. Finally, the analysis of the effect of control variables on the forestry industry structure shows that in the process of forestry production, only increasing labor input (fen) has a little effect on the forestry industry, and the effect is not significant. Excessive financial intervention (finf) is not conducive to the transformation of forestry structure. Urbanization level (urban), opening degree (op) and forest coverage rate (fcr) may not only promote the consumption and trade of the forest products, but also adversely affect the forestry industry economy. ⑷ Conclusions and Discussions——First, constantly optimize the investment environment of green credit and give full play to the role of financial regulatory departments in guiding and encouraging banks to develop green credit. Banks should actively implement green credit policies, taking credit scale, structures and efficiency into accounts to lead the development of forestry green enterprises. Second, based on the development status of forestry enterprises, continue to increase the cultivation of the innovative subjects, improve the level of human capital in forestry, promote the upgrading of forestry industry structure. Third, increase the investment in forestry research and development and education of forestry talents, improve the conversion rate of forestry technology patents, and pay attention to the deep integration of forestry technology innovation and forestry green credit to realize the high-quality development of forestry economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a complex interaction mechanism between land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency, and research on their coupling coordination is of great significance to promote urban sustainable development and construction of ecological civilization. Based on the definition of land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency, this paper established an evaluation index system to measure land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency respectively. Firstly, the entropy weight method and the non-expected output super-efficient SBM model were employed to evaluate and measure the land intensive use degree and regional ecological efficiency of 284 prefecture-level cities from 2004 to 2016 in China respectively. Secondly, the coupling coordination degree model was adopted to evaluate their coordination degree, and the paper analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of coupling coordination degree.The spatial auto-correlation method was employed to measure the spatial correlation pattern of the coupling coordination degree between intensive land use and regional ecological efficiency. The results showed that the coordination of land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency of prefecture-level city was in a mild imbalance stage at present in the whole, and the coupling coordination degree between the two increased over the time.The spatial distribution of the coordination between land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency showed a pattern of “higher in the mid and east, lower in the west”; and the spatial distribution of the coupling coordination degree between the two had little transformation over the time.The global spatial auto-correlation results showed that there was a significant positive correlation of the coupling coordination degree between land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency, and the correlation degree between the two increased first and then weakened over the time.The results of local spatial auto-correlation analysis showed that there were four types of the coordination spatial association between land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency, these were the spatial positive correlation type including high-high aggregation (HH) and low-low aggregation (LL) and the spatial negative correlation type including high-low aggregation (HL) and low-high aggregation (LH).The results showed that spatial positive correlation type of HH and LH were mainly distributed in the east, and the spatial negative correlation type of HL and LL were mainly distributed in the middle region,the types of HH,LH and LL emerged as the shape of cluster and always had a powerful agglomeration, and the LH type distributed discretely; except for the HL type, the overall pattern of the spatial distribution of the other types were stable over the time relatively and only the number increased or decreased partially. The major findings derived from the study can be summarized as follows: it is necessary to implement scientific environmental economic and environmental technology policies, strengthen differentiated monitoring and management of cities, carry out district management and control rationally and promote technical and innovation cooperation between cities. Only in this way, can we enhance the coordination of land intensive use and regional ecological efficiency, then promote the sustainable development of the cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, low utilization ratio of science and technology resources has to be an important restriction factor that affects the development of science and technology in our country. It is necessary to establish and perfect the government-dominated paUern of sharing science and technology resources for realizing sustainable development. This paper, learning from the experience for science and technology resources sharing in some western developed countries, that contain the United States, European Union and Japan, studies the key problems in the development of science and technology resources sharing. Based on this analysis, some useful policies and suggestions, ranging from sharing strategy, sharing platform, management system are proposed. These conclusions are useful for the government to develop science and technology resources sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of a brief overview of mining with backfilling history and the objectives, requirements and difficulties of developing modern mining with backfilling technology, this paper systematically introduced the research progress of fully mechanized mining with solid backfilling technology, focused on the expounding the strata movement theory of mining with dense backfilling, including equivalent mining height theory of strata movement control, continuous media mechanics model of strata movement, calculation formula of strata movement, and stope rock pressure and support stress analysis, which are the prerequisites of the new technology. And then detailedly introduced the system, equipments and technics of fully mechanized mining with solid backfilling technology, and the engineering examples of large-scale mining with backfilling under dense buildings, island village coal pillar, near the loosen aquifer and under the large embankment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]