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[Objective] The study used the data of 30 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) of China from 2004 to 2018 to reveal the spatial and temporal change characteristics and efficiency decomposition of China’s high-quality development of industry based on the super-slacks-based measure (SBM) model and Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index model, considering non-expected output. The Tobit panel regression model was used to explore the driving mechanism of technological innovation on the development. [Methods] The study used the data of 30 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) of China from 2004 to 2018 to reveal the spatial and temporal change characteristics and efficiency decomposition of China’s high-quality development of industry based on the super-slacks-based measure (SBM) model and Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index model, considering non-expected output. The Tobit panel regression model was used to explore the driving mechanism of technological innovation on the development. [Results] (1) Temporally, China’s high-quality development efficiency of industry showed an overall fluctuating upward trend, and it roughly showed a step-like geographical divergence pattern decreasing from the southeast coast to the northwest inland in space. (2) The ML index and decomposition results show that the improvement of the level of China’s high-quality development of industry mainly came from technological progress, and technical efficiency had less influence. (3) Technological innovation had a significant positive driving effect on the efficiency of high-quality development of industry. However, there were regional heterogeneity in the impact, and the improvement of technological innovation level in the eastern, central, and western regions had a positive driving effect on the improvement of high-quality development level, while the relationship between technological innovation level and high-quality development of industry in the northeastern region was not significant. [Conclusion] Technological innovation was an important means to realize China’s high-quality development of industry, and it was recommended to promote the transformation of industrial development to green, low-carbon, and high-quality development by improving the mechanism of technological innovation, strengthening the cultivation of innovative talents, and narrowing the regional gap of technological innovation.

The human-environment relationship has always been a research topic of sustainable development. In the past century, many theories about the human-environment relationship, such as environmental determinism, possibilism (probability theory), adaptation theory, cultural landscape theory, and human-environment harmony theory, have been put forward. These theories have reflected the dynamic change of the relationship between human and the natural environment, and advanced human understanding on nature. In the past 30 years, few breakthroughs have occurred in the studies on the human-environment relationship until the 'Two Mountains' theory ('Clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver', or 'lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets') was put forward by President Xi Jinping. The 'Two Mountains' theory is a new theory of the human-environment relationship based on the general trend of world development and the difficult practice in the past 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is a qualitative leap in the development of the human-environment relationship theory, and has resonated with the requirements of the times from human-environment separation, human-environment mutual respect to human-environment integration. Furthermore, it has provided Chinese wisdom for the development and innovation of the human-environment relationship theories in the world. From a scientific perspective, the 'Two Mountains' theory contains a rich philosophy about the evolution of the human-environment system, and has interpreted the methods and paths of achieving the intrinsic unity, mutual promotion and coordinated symbiosis between the human development and environment protection. It has inherited and carried forward the traditional Chinese thought of the 'unity of man and nature', and expanded and deepened the Marxist dialectical relationship between man and nature. Enriching and innovating the Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization in the new era, it has profoundly revealed the basic laws of economic and social development, and laid the theoretical foundation for the construction of a 'modernization characterized by harmonious coexistence between man and nature'. From the perspective of the value of the times, the theory meets the requirements of the national 'five in one' overall layout, and demonstrates the implications of the human-environment relationship from philosophical, economic, social, ecological, and cultural dimensions. It is an important guide for the construction of a beautiful China in the new era. Additionally, the 'Two Mountains' theory enriches and develops the theories of the human-environment relationship in geography and is worthy of in-depth exploration and promotion by scholars from multiple fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin have successively become national strategic development regions. The two river basins are important components of China's major regional economic development system, and are also essential for China to achieve high quality and regional coordinated development. Clarifying the internal economic spatial structure and driving factors within the two river basins is the basic prerequisite for achieving coordinated governance and high-quality development of them. Based on the multi-element factor flows of finance, transportation and information, the urban network structure characteristics of the two river basins are analyzed from the aspects of network centrality, correlation pattern and cohesive subgroup by means of social network analysis and spatial analysis methods, and their influencing factors are explored through regression analysis. The results show that: ➀ There are significant regional disparities in the network centrality based on each factor flow, especially the traffic flow. Regional disparities are mainly reflected in the gap between the eastern and central regions in the Yangtze River Basin, while they are mainly reflected in the gap between the central and western regions in the Yellow River Basin. ➁ There are closer network connections in the Yangtze River Basin from the perspective of each factor flow. The financial network is the most mature in both river basins and the backbone network covers a wide area. The backbone traffic network is composed of several groups with the traffic trunk as the axis, and the connections between the groups in the Yellow River Basin are relatively loose. The backbone information network appears as several star clusters with the provincial central cities as the core. ➂ The organization structure of urban networks from different factor flow perspectives is differently affected by administrative boundaries. The information network is the most affected, however, the subgroups in the Pan-Yangtze River Delta region of the Yangtze River Basin have significantly broken the administrative boundaries. Conversely, financial links have significantly broken the administrative boundaries under the influence of marketization. ➃ There are certain differences in the influencing factors of the urban network between the two river basins. Firstly, the location factor has relatively weak influence in the Yellow River Basin; secondly, in terms of socioeconomic factors, the Yangtze River basin is more affected by science and education factors, while the Yellow River Basin is more affected by economic factors. Finally, this study puts forward countermeasures for the common problems and specific problems of the two river basins from the aspects of breaking administrative barriers, promoting the construction of multi-level and multi-center urban systems, breaking through the location disadvantage of the central and western regions, and improving the soft and hard power of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]