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• A comprehensive review of China's green transformation through the lense of eco-industrial parks. • Key lessons learned in implementing China's green development strategy. • Environmental and competitiveness performance of EIPs were analyzed. • Policy recommendations for China to streamline EIPs implementation. China has achieved remarkable results in green transformation through the implementation of eco-industrial parks (EIPs). Why China chose EIPs as the main vehicle for green transformation? How did it do? Do the EIP interventions also contribute to the economic competitiveness? Most existing studies so far have revealed that EIPs can improve the environmental performance, however, few studies examined their impact on economic competitiveness. This paper intends to systematically analyze China's EIP programs, and examine whether the EIP interventions have improved both their environmental and competitiveness performances as well as the correlation of these two dimensions, through empirical studies based on multiple data sources. The results largely verify the effects of both environmental and competitiveness improvements. Further correlation analysis based on a small sample, however, shows there exists a more complex relationship between competitiveness performance and environmental performance. The paper also identifies the key lessons learned in implementing China's green transformation strategy through EIPs. The authors challenge the conventional wisdom that investing in green technologies and ensuring compliance with eco-industrial standards often leads to cost increases and loss of economic competitiveness for both individual firms and industrial zones as a whole. The findings strengthen the evidence base for Chinese policy-makers and the business case for entrepreneurs when considering green investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's distant water fisheries management policy has made significant contributions to the development of distant water fisheries since 1985. Analyzing the evolution of China's distant water fisheries management policy is conducive to solving China's frequent IUU problems and promoting further development of sustainable fisheries. This paper first summarizes how China's distant water fisheries management policy has evolved, which can be divided into four stages: the start-up period (1985–1990), the rapid development period (1991–1997), the sustainable development period (1998–2007), and the optimization and adjustment period (2008-present). Then the characteristics of current distant water fisheries management are summarized, including how management has adapted to international rules, emphasize sustainable fisheries, diversification and facilitation of management methods. China's distant water fisheries management policy still faces severe challenges in terms of technology, marine rights, management system, industrial structure, and employee capabilities. Finally, this paper highlights the importance of attaching importance to science and technology, re-evaluating distant water fisheries subsidies based on environmental policies and IUU activities, establishing a polycentric governance mechanism with stakeholders at the core, improving the supervision system, and establishing overseas distant water fisheries bases to strengthen international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the great successes in improving rural electrification and reducing poverty, China's small hydropower (SHP) development is expected to provide a good example for other developing countries. However, recently, nearly all new SHP development plans have been halted, and many plants have been urged to shut down or even be removed. The SHP industry in China is now in a dilemma. This paper presents a review of the status of SHP development in China and explores the challenges troubling this industry. It was revealed that SHP resources in many provinces have been intensively exploited, with an exploration rate over 0.80, while untapped resources are primarily located in remote western provinces, such as ecologically fragile Tibet. This intensive and disordered SHP development has caused serious dewatering of rivers and affected local agricultural and household water access, which arouses fierce controversy. Moreover, the role of SHP has been gradually weakened by the extension of power grids and diversified electricity sources. Therefore, the transition and upgrade of the SHP industry has become critical to enhance its sustainable development and to provide a solid example for the world. A divergence management strategy for SHP should be adopted to achieve low-impact development, as opposed to blind large-scale development or rigidly discontinuing all projects. Future transition strategies are proposed in this paper that include delicate management of existing plants and construction of new plants with higher standards, as well as pathways for the development benefits to be shared by a wider range of local residents. • This study investigated the history and status quo of SHP development in China. • SHP resources in most provinces are intensively developed except some western areas. • Growing challenges that trouble the SHP industry in China were identified. • Future transition strategies for the SHP industry in China were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The interaction mechanism between haze pollution and economic development is studied. • With increasing economic development, haze pollution presents a trend of first rising and then falling. • The "four trillion yuan stimulus policy" delays the appearance of the turning point. • Spatial factors amplify the inhibitory effect of haze pollution on economic development. Seeking the sustainable development of environment and economy has become the consensus of Chinese society. This paper uses the generalized three-stage least squares (GS3SLS) method to establish a spatial simultaneous equation model to explore the interaction mechanism between haze and economic development. Regarding the entire country, the relationship between PM 2.5 and per capita GDP presents an inverted U-shaped curve, which verifies the existence of the environmental kuznets curve (EKC). The relationship curves for the eastern and western regions also show this feature, but the relationship in the central region increases monotonically. To further observe whether the interaction mechanism between haze and economy has changed before and after the 2008 financial crisis, this paper takes 2008 to examine the time heterogeneity. Under the stimulation of the economic policy of the "four trillion rescue plan", the inflection point of the EKC shifts slightly to the right, and the economic stimulus policy delays the inflection point of haze pollution. Haze pollution also reacts to economic development and has an inhibitory effect on economic development. Under the influence of spatial factors, the inhibitory effect of haze pollution on economic development is amplified. Population size, FDI and the secondary industry all aggravate haze pollution, while urbanization and the tertiary industry can improve haze pollution under the influence of spatial factors. Market size, education level and convenient transportation promote economic development. This research can provide reference for haze control policies in China and has important practical significance for ecological environment protection, high-quality economic development and promoting good quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Common utility tunnels (utilidors) are attracting more and more attention in China with the rapid urban development and growing need for public facilities. China is a large country with a huge north–south divide, which leads to different situations of construction, types of utilities incorporated, route design and governance issues for utility tunnels in different cities. This paper introduces the latest status for such tunnels in China by collecting and analyzing existing and planned utility tunnels in China from 1959 to 2020. Furthermore, the key issues that may influence the development of utility tunnels in the next decade in China are summarized. These, in combination with the domestic and foreign research status, suggest typical cases and a policy orientation which may be helpful to the future development of common utility tunnels in China and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correlation between urbanization and environmental pollution is a major focus of study in geography, environmental science, and economics. Particulate matter is the primary pollutant of air pollution and made up of heavy metal, organic carbon and aromatic hydrocarbon and complicated chemicals. PM 2.5 are fine particulate matter with diameters that are less than 2.5 μm. The aim of this study on the relationship between urbanization and PM 2.5 concentration is to achieve a win-win situation of both economic development and environmental protection, which is of great significance to sustainable development in China. This paper uses PM 2.5 remote sensing data and statistical yearbook data from 2000 to 2011 to build four panel data models within the urbanization-PM 2.5 concentration Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework. The goal is to find out the correlations between PM 2.5 concentration and economic urbanization, population urbanization, and space urbanization. Furthermore, scenario simulations are set to predict when China will reach inflection point and achieve its target concentration. Results show that the relationship between economic urbanization and PM 2.5 concentration is an inverted N-shaped or inverted U-shaped curve. Most cities in East China have reached the second inflection point of inverted-N curve to step into the win-win stage while many cities in Middle China still need 10–15 years to arrive at the inflection point of the inverted-U curve. Therefore, China is under great pressure to prevent PM 2.5 pollution and pursue more targeted PM 2.5 -reduction policies for air quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the iron and steel industry (ISI) accounts for more than 16% of China's total energy consumption. Improving energy efficiency (EE) and promoting energy savings in this industry have vital significance for China's further sustainable development. Using provincial panel data from 2000 to 2014 and meta-frontier data envelopment analysis (DEA), this paper investigates EE and the energy-saving potential (EP) of China's ISI by considering regional technology heterogeneities. The results show that (1) from 2001 to 2014, EE in China's ISI achieved significant improvement. Technological progress is the most powerful driving factor, while the declines in scale efficiency and pure technical efficiency are two obstructive factors; (2) the sources of energy inefficiency (EI) show distinct spatial difference characteristics. EI in the eastern region mainly stems from scale inefficiency and pure technical inefficiency, while that in the central and western regions stems from three aspects of scale inefficiency, pure technical inefficiency, and technology gap; and (3) there is considerable EP in China's ISI, which represents nearly 80% of ISI's current total energy consumption. Because the sources of EP vary across regions, the focus of future work for China's regional ISI should also vary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the constraints to achieving optimal infrastructure sustainability for mountainous townships in Southwest China. Although such townships are relatively less developed, it is well recognized that investment in infrastructure projects in less developed townships plays a vital role in China's sustainable development mission. While the benefits of infrastructure investments are usually measured by means of economic performance, their long-term sustainability performance is largely overlooked. It is therefore imperative to understand the constraints that impede infrastructure sustainability and what corrective actions can be taken. The constraints are identified in this study via exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Twenty-one townships in the mountainous regions of Southwest China were investigated by means of a questionnaire survey. The study reveals that the major constraints include four dimensions: “Economic Capacity”, “Governance and Management”, “Policy Instrument and Public Participation”, and “Local Geographic Characteristics”. Identification of these constraints provides a valuable reference for local governments to take adequate measures to ensure that their infrastructure sustainability can be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction industries have significant impacts on the economy, society and environment. To transform construction industry towards sustainability, construction enterprises' perceptions and performance on sustainability needs to be understood and evaluated, which has not be fully explored by existing studies. This paper holistically examines the Chinese construction enterprises’ attitude towards and performance on various aspects of sustainability (e.g. the economic, social and environmental aspects) in order to identify those aspects the firms perceive to be the most and least important and those aspects the firms perform best and worst on. The associations among the sustainability attitude, sustainability performance, and firm size are also explored. The findings show that quality management and customer service are perceived as the most important as well as the best-performed aspects by the firms while supporting community development is the least important and worst-performed aspect. Sustainability attitude is positively correlated with performance, and larger firms tend to have better sustainability performance than that of small ones. However, larger construction firms do not necessarily perceive sustainability more important. This study provides a useful reference for policy makers and researchers to understand how sustainability is perceived and implemented by the Chinese construction firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of China's marine economy has never been more challenging due to serious problems such as the waste of marine resources, pollution of the marine environment and uneven development in the region. Therefore, the study of China's marine economic growth pattern has great significance and may ensure the sustainable development of the marine economy. This study utilizes data on China's eleven coastal regions from 2006 to 2014 and applies the Cobb-Douglas production function and the Solow residual method to evaluate the contribution rate of the total factor productivity of the marine economy of China's coastal regions. To more objectively illustrate the marine economic growth pattern, this paper introduces the intensive coefficient of marine economic growth. The results indicate that the contribution rate of the total factor productivity of the marine economy of China showed a slightly rising trend from 2006 to 2014, and its average growth rate increased from − 0.58% to 3.39% between 2006 and 2014. China's coastal regions differed in their contributions to the total factor productivity of the marine economy. During the same period, the main driving factor of marine economic growth was factor inputs and China's marine economic growth pattern was still extensive. In terms of regions, although most coastal regions in China experienced extensive growth, the extent of the growth of the marine economy of China's coastal regions has declined after the pilot projects implemented by the Chinese government in 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because industrial sectors in China are energy-intensive, improving energy efficiency and promoting energy savings in these sectors are of great importance for the further sustainable development of China’s economy. Using a proposed meta-frontier data envelopment analysis (DEA), this paper analyzes the total-factor energy efficiency and energy savings potential in China’s provincial industrial sectors for the years 2000–2014 from three perspectives, namely, the technology gap, management, and scale. The results indicate that (1) driven by technological progress, energy efficiency during the sample period was greatly improved, though the expansion of technology gaps between regions and the decline in scale efficiency represented two significant handicaps; (2) the current energy efficiency in China’s industrial sectors remains extremely low, indicating that there is considerable potential for energy efficiency improvement and energy savings; and (3) the sources of energy inefficiency and energy savings potential in China’s industrial sectors exhibit spatially distinct characteristics. Accordingly, it is determined that most of China’s eastern provinces should focus on improving scale and management efficiency, whereas most of its central and western provinces should concentrate on three factors: narrowing the regional technology gap, improving management efficiency, and optimizing the industrial scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the concept of remanufacturing is gaining popularity in practice, its effect on environmental protection and energy saving is significant, which has attracted widespread concerns, especially in the automotive components field. Automotive components remanufacturing (ACR), as a prominent part in automotive life-cycle development, can dramatically reduce resources-waste and mitigate energy-crisis, which has become a prominent direction to promote sustainable development of Chinese economy. Thus, influence factors analysis and enterprise operation patterns assessment which primarily contribute to ACR industry development are of paramount importance. This paper elaborates the criteria influencing the ACR industry operation and analyzes the main operation patterns for ACR in China. To overcome the uncertainty of the evaluation process, a new hybrid multi-criterion decision-making (MCDM) model that combines fuzzy AHP (analytical hierarchy process) and fuzzy G-TOPSIS (combining gray relation analysis and technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution) is proposed to determine weights of influence criteria and evaluate ACR production operation patterns. In addition, sensitivity analysis is applied to monitor the robustness of the method. The study refers to the experience of Chinese end-of-life vehicle (ELV) laws and implementation requirements of extended producer responsibility (EPR). The obtained results provide the new guideline to revise the regulations of Chinese ACR industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is not neutral with respect to local quality of life. With the transformation of traditional city roles and the boom of urban tourism in China, the interaction between tourism and local livability is increasingly important for sustainable development plans of urban areas. Our paper aims to address the complex interdependence of the emerging tourist industry and local livability in Chinese cities. Based on a conceptual model and a subsequent empirical statistical analysis of 35 large and medium-sized Chinese cities for the years 2003–2012, our study finds that urban livability and its related factors benefit tourism development, and that, in turn, tourism has a reverse impact on livability in urban areas; their performance appears to vary in different sub-regions and for different factors of livability; the geographic interdependence between livability and tourism development is also remarkable. Potential threats from excessive tourism development on urban livability, in particular in the Chinese Eastern and Central large and medium-sized cities, can be inferred from our empirical analysis. These conclusions may lead to important lessons to policy makers, while various suggestions based on our findings are provided as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, there is no specific legal basis for the development and utilisation of marine renewable energy, nor legal protection for the developers in China. The consequence is that the Chinese Government is unable to provide institutional support for the substantive development of marine renewable energy, resulting in slow development of China's marine energy industry. This paper provides an institutional framework for the establishment of relevant laws in China and legislative proposals in legal perspective, for the better development of marine renewable energy. The Chinese Government should optimise the administrative management system, strengthen financial regulation such as tax and emphasise sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has been very successful in creating conditions for industry localization in solar and wind energy manufacturing. In terms of their competitiveness in foreign markets, however, Chinese solar photovoltaics firms have shown significantly greater achievements than their counterparts in the wind energy sector. Moreover, the success of China’s solar photovoltaics industry has come in spite of significantly lower levels of domestic market support. The paper argues that technology-related factors and their implications for international technology transfer are critical for explaining the different speeds with which Chinese firms have been able to catch up in the two sectors. This is supported by a comparative analysis of technology transfer in the two sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical discussion in the existing literature on the relationship between transportation infrastructure and innovation remains limited. As one of the most important transport infrastructures, China's high-speed railway (HSR) has greatly compressed the space-time distance and strengthened the linkages between cities, which may contribute to innovation activities. Using the panel data of 285 Chinese prefecture-level and above cities and employing the difference-in-differences (DID) model, this paper examines the impact of HSR opening and HSR service intensity on the urban innovation. Propensity score matching (PSM) together with DID (PSM-DID) method is utilized to address the potential estimation biases. The empirical results demonstrate that HSR has significantly improved the level of urban innovation. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the promotion effects of HSR on innovation are more remarkable in peripheral and small cities. Moreover, the effects of HSR on cities far away from the central and large cities are with higher significance and greater magnitude than cities close to central and large cities. For cities near central and large cities, the service intensity of HSR is more likely to improve their innovation level. In addition, we further find that service industries and private enterprises benefit more from the effect of HSR in promoting innovation. This study can provide robust evidence for the effect of HSR on promoting urban innovation, as well as policy enlightenment for innovation growth and sustainable economic development. • The impact of high-speed railway (HSR) opening and HSR service intensity on urban innovation is examined employing the difference-in-differences (DID) model. • Propensity score matching together with DID method is utilized to address the potential estimation biases. • The HSR service is associated with a significant improvement in urban innovation. • The heterogeneous impact of HSR on urban innovation is tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A "Load – Carrier" perspective evaluation method has been introduced. • Overall tourism resource carrying capacity performance in China has been raised. • The performance in Northeast China has been Low-Medium Interval. • The performance of Eastern China has fallen in High Risk Overload Interval mostly. • The performance of the Central and Western provinces has been improved. Rapid development of the tourism industry has brought various challenges by causing unbalance between tourism resource load (TRL) and tourism resource carrier (TRC), such as the decline in tourist satisfaction, and the destruction of tourist attractions. The concept of tourism resources carrying capacity (TRCC) can be used to describe the relationship between TRL and TRC. Due to the vast territory, different provinces in China have different resource endowments and socio-economic environments, and their TRCC performances are different. Therefore, this paper investigates the temporal-spatial evolutionary performance of TRCC at provincial level in China. The theory of "Load-Carrier" is used to select evaluation indicators, the Entropy Weight Method and the Linear Weighted Summation Method are used to calculate the performance value, and the Quartile Method is adopted to classify the TRCC performance. Data used in this study were collected from 30 provinces in China from 2008 to 2019. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From a temporal evolution perspective, the overall TRCC performance in China has been improved, due to the implication of various tourism development policies. (2) From a spatial differences perspective, the TRCC performance of Northeast China has changed from High Utilization Interval to Low-Medium Interval; TRCC performance of Eastern China maintained in High Utilization or High Risk Overload Interval, and TRCC performance in Central and Western China has been continuously rising. This study provides valuable references for both central and local governments to take appropriate policy measures to improve their TRCC performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the fast process of urbanization, the size of the rural population in China has changed greatly in the past few decades. This paper analyzes the trend and spatial differences of rural population change and the driving forces of this process. The main findings are summarized as follows. First, the total rural population decreased after 1995, and the size and rate of decrease follow an accelerating trend. Second, the rural population change has obvious spatial differences: some regions experience dramatic rural population decline, while others experience growth. Third, the spatial difference of rural population change is closely related to economic factors, including the per capita GDP, urbanization level, and noneconomic factors, including the rural population size and fertility level. According to our findings, we suggest that the government pay more attention to rural population change and its impacts and that narrowing the regional development gap may be the most effective way to promote sustainable development of rural areas in less developed regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium as an energy metal has gained significance in a wide range of application that spread across many industry sectors, along with its key role in emerging electric vehicles. China is a key use and producer of lithium and related products. In order to draw an entire picture of the lithium cycle, this study attempts to quantify the flows, stocks, and loss of lithium in the anthropogenic cycle in China, from 2007 to 2014. Substance Flow Analysis is employed in this paper for data mining and compilation. The results illustrate that production and use increased greatly from 2007 to 2014, due to the fast increase of the lithium ion battery. China’s lithium industry still heavily relied on the import of natural lithium ores, where lithium exports were mainly in the form of lithium ion battery-powered products, including laptop computers, mobile phones and electric bicycles. The stocks of lithium increased gradually from 2007 to 2014, but the loss of lithium from direct use also increased and more quickly. Therefore, the lithium stock in society cannot provide meaningful quantities as the second source for lithium production. It is suggested that the lithium in batteries should be recovered, as most lithium inputs are dispersed back into the environment, while the lithium industry still relies on imported lithium resources in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development that conceptually can be divided into the following parts: environmental, social and economic, is a pattern of resource use, which aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come in future. This paper is a comparative study on the socio-environmental sustainability in traditional courtyard houses in Iran and China, as two of the ancient civilizations in the world. The aim is to investigate the potential of traditional courtyard houses in responding to environmental challenges alongside social norms over a long period of time. To achieve this purpose, social and environmental dimensions of the sustainability as well as the main elements of traditional courtyard houses in Iran and China are identified. Then, the way these elements have contributed to the social and environmental sustainability of heritage settlements are described, analyzed, and compared through library and field survey studies. Results of this research show that Iranian and Chinese traditional courtyard houses were designed based on a careful attention to climatic requirements in their socio-cultural context, in order to provide both physical and mental comforts for residents. As conclusion, some socio-environmental design principles are extracted, as lessons learned from the past, which can be considered in designing of contemporary sustainable residential buildings in Iran and China. These design patterns, can be generalized to all cases with similar climatic conditions, in order to save more energy as well as enhancing social values in mentioned areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to examine if the “strong” version of Porter Hypothesis is supported in China by investigating how different regulatory instruments and the relative stringency impact “green” productivity. We use a slacks-based measure (SBM) and Luenberger Productivity Index, accounting for undesirable outputs, to evaluate the industrial “green” productivity growth rates of China's 30 provinces. The estimates imply an unsustainable development model in China with significant regional differences. By employing a panel threshold model and a province-level panel dataset during 2000–2012, empirical results show that both command-and-control and market-based regulation have a non-linear relationship with and can be positively related to “green” productivity but with different constrains on regulation stringency: there are double thresholds with the command-and-control and exists an optimal range of stringency for productivity improvement; while a single threshold has been found with the market-based regulation and its current stringency is reasonable for most of provinces. Moreover, based on China's reality, the productivity effect driven by market-based regulation is much stronger than that of the command-and-control. The mechanism of informal regulation is much more complicated. Consequently, we find evidence to support the “strong” Porter Hypothesis that reasonable stringency of environmental regulations may enhance rather than lower industrial competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological protection project of substituting small hydropower for fuel (SSHF) in China is to consolidate the achievements of conceding the land to forestry and natural forest protection, solve the problems of the peasants' fuel and rural energy, protect the ecological environment, and promote the comprehensive development of rural economy and society. It is of great importance to the sustainable development of China in the 21st century. This paper provides a survey of substituting small hydropower for fuel in China. Over the last ten years, using small hydropower to replace the rural living fuel in China has resulted in great fruits. By the end of 2013, 252 SSHF projects had been completed in China, and the newly installed capacity of the SSHF power plants had reached 564 MW (MW). The demand of 1.593 million rural residents for living fuel and energy had been met in a long term, 6.29 million ac-res of the forest area had been protected, and the emission of a large amount of pollutants had been decreased. Moreover, many SSHF projects all over the country are still under construction. With regard to the challenges existing in the development course, some suggestions have been proposed. Implementation of the SSHF project will help realize the harmonious coexistence between human beings and the nature in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various theories and approaches have been introduced in the debate on how to address sustainable consumption. In this study, we first discuss different theoretical perspectives on sustainable consumption, particularly developed in the fields of economics, social psychology and environmental sociology. We argue that neither an ‘individualist’ nor a system- or structural perspective alone is sufficient for understanding and analysing the transition towards sustainable consumption. Therefore, we propose to apply the Social Practices Approach (SPA) that combines both human agency and social structures to understand sustainable consumption issues. Following the SPA framework, we review and summarize research on sustainable consumption in China in particular on three consumption fields: food, housing energy and mobility. It is found that introducing more efficient production technology is commonly taken as the focal point in these sectors when sustainable consumption was introduced to China. Despite a rising interest in consumers' perceptions of products' sustainability in recent years, research has rarely paid any attention to consumers' behavioural change or to the transition dynamics towards sustainable consumption. In general, ‘individualist’ perspectives have largely dominated Chinese sustainable consumption research. This paper proposes to move attention to a better understanding of Chinese consumption issues by emphasizing the link between the provision of sustainable products and the diverse sustainable consumption practices. Also, images of food, energy, mobility and other consumption products that are undergoing transitions need to be considered in future research as these have consequences for socio-technical changes, material infrastructures and for ‘lifestyle’ innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess the status and progress of rural household energy sustainable development in China. A new composite indicator, rural energy sustainable development index (RESDI), is developed based on the improved grouped principal component analysis method (GPCA) which is the combination utilization of principal component analysis (PCA), factor analysis (FA), and entropy weight method. The improved grouped principal component analysis method keeps the advantages of principal component analysis and factor analysis. To capture the characters of rural energy sustainable development, ten indicators selected based on the criteria presented by OECD are designed to construct the RESDI. The main results are as follows. The RESDI increased from 0.185 in 1991 to 3.189 in 2012. However, the curve of RESDI can be divided into three phases: a slow increase stage between 1991 and 1996, a rapid decrease stage from 1997 to 1998, and a rapid increase stage between 1999 and 2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the "developing by land" model substantially stimulates industrialization and urbanization, the land-resource-allocation model with "high-cost and low-efficiency" that makes up most of the industry can potentially enlarge resource consumption and intensify environmental pollution. This paper examines the mechanisms of the impacts of land resource misallocation on urban green total factor productivity (GTFP), using a dataset of China's 277 cities at the prefecture (and higher) level from 2006 to 2013. Fundamental and spatial econometric models are estimated to empirically investigate the effects of land resource misallocation on GTFP and explore the spillover effects as well as regional differences. The results reveal that the misallocation of land resources directly reduces the GTFP of the city and hinders the development of GTFP in neighboring cities. The mismatch of land allocation is a major reason for restricting the improvement of the overall productivity that accounts for energy consumption and environmental degradation, with mechanisms involving the undermined technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading. Regional heterogeneity analysis suggests that the unfavorable effects of land resource misallocation on GTFP are indirect and associated with spillover effects for sample cities in eastern and central regions. The mechanisms involving innovation capacity and manufacturing agglomeration also exhibit substantial regional disparities among eastern, western, and central regions. By optimizing the allocation of land resources, enterprises with strong innovation capabilities and belonging to modern service industries can obtain more land use, enhancing their motivation for technological innovation and optimizing industrial structure and achieving high-quality economic growth and sustainable development. • LRM directly reduces urban GTFP in China and spillover effect is significant. • Negative impact via hindering innovation and modifying industrial structure. • Interaction effects of LRM and manufacturing agglomeration are not significant. • Strong spillover effects of LRM on reducing GTFP in eastern and central regions. • Strong interactions between LRM and industrial structure in all three regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We propose the DPSIR framework to evaluate China's industrial SO 2 emission. • The variation trends of socioeconomic factors on industrial SO 2 emission were explored. • Urbanization, industrial structure, and energy intensity decrease emissions with different trends. • GDP per capita, industrial land-use intensity, marketization and emission intensity increase SO 2 emission with varied trends. • SO 2 removal rate, government technology investment and fiscal decentralization make a mixed contribution to SO 2 emission. Much of the previous literature has identified limited influencing factors in relation to industrial SO 2 emissions while ignoring the dynamic trends of these factors. Therefore, this paper promotes a Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework to investigate the critical socioeconomic influencing factors of SO 2 emissions in China at the city level. To solve the heteroscedasticity of the data, this paper analyzes multiple time points (two-year periods) from 2004 to 2016 based on the WLS model to capture the variations of these factors. The empirical results reveal that, during the study period, the urbanization process continuously contributes to the reduction of SO 2 emissions in China through the scale effect of population aggregation; the positive contribution made by economic growth has steadily risen; and the optimization of the industrial structure has gradually decreased emissions, demonstrating the benefits of implementing effective desulfurization policies. The positive contribution of industrial land-use intensity is shown to have gradually decreased due to improvements in energy efficiency. The current government policies such as command-controlled environmental regulation and biased government technical input are found to have increased SO 2 emissions. Improvements at the corporate level are shown to have helped to improve environmental pollution. The positive contribution effect of markets on SO 2 emissions shows a decreasing trend with a degree of fluctuation. These findings provide a comprehensive insight into the task of understanding the key socioeconomic impact factors of industrial SO 2 emissions and their dynamics against the backdrop of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the recent green turn in China by investigating a large-scale urban greenway project. Using the perspective of the socio-ecological fix, we demonstrate that multi-scalar states strive to upgrade environmental quality. Specifically, the local state seizes the opportunity for 'ecological civilisation' envisioned by the central state to carry out green infrastructure development. We reveal complex motivations to incorporate ecological changes into entrepreneurial urban governance instead of encroaching greenspace for economic growth. Our state-centred analysis reveals that such an environmental strategy, the making of Chinese green urbanism, is promoted like a political mission, despite its operation by the development corporation. We argue that, while the socio-ecological fix facilitates capital accumulation, its deployment must be understood through state politics and actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last couple of decades, urban areas around the world have been engaged in increasing initiatives, practices and experiments with a view to achieving social, economic and environmental sustainability. Echoing these movements, sustainable urbanization has entered many policy agendas. In practice, various aspects including eco-environmental protection, land development, housing, policy, population growth and migration and energy utilization have been noted and discussed by different scholars. In the context of China, these terms/keywords are found in studies across different scales and types of cities, each of which would have implications for our understanding of theory relating to sustainable urbanization. In response, this paper reports on a comprehensive literature review of these studies of sustainable urbanization, and further explores three key areas including evaluation, innovative solutions and engagement of all stakeholders that will move forward sustainable urbanization process across cities in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing serious energy constraints and environmental challenges, policy makers in China have set up clear targets to reduce energy intensity in order to secure a sustainable economic growth; however, it is unclear in theory what the determining forces are. The empirical evidence, although intensively discussed in the literature, also remain divided in opinion. This paper contributes to the existing literature full of heated debates using a Bayesian averaging approach to identify robust determinants of energy intensity in China. Using provincial level data, key contributors that help explain the level of energy intensity across China are found. By ranking the relative importance of explanatory variables according to their posterior inclusion probabilities, this study can also offer support to policy makers in designing intensity reduction policies. It is suggested that policies should focus on those robust and relatively more important factors such as fiscal expenditure, infrastructure and economic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent past Beijing has experienced rapid development. This growth has been accompanied by many problems including traffic congestion and air pollution. Understanding what stimulates urban growth is important for sustainable development in the coming years. In this paper, we first estimate a binary auto-logistic model of land use change, using physical and socioeconomic characteristics of the location and its access to major centers within the city as predictors. We find that variables determining regional access, like time distance to the city center, the Central Business District (CBD), industrial centers, employment centers, and the transportation system, significantly impact urban land conversion. By using measures of access to predict land use change we believe that we can better understand the planning implications of urban growth not only in Beijing but other rapidly developing cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The highly fragmented coal industry in China has experienced a consolidation process since late 2008. Major coal-rich provinces have adopted nationalization and market-oriented approaches to reduce the number of small coal mines, leading to a marked increase in the proportion of the total output produced by large and medium-sized coal mines. Relying on a Range-Adjusted Measure model of the Data Envelopment Analysis, this article constructs three indicators, namely operational efficiency, environmental efficiency, and unified efficiency, to reflect sustainability impact of this consolidation policy. By comparing two representative provinces – Shanxi and Inner Mongolia over the period 2005–2012, this paper assesses the policy effectiveness on the transition of coal mining industry to sustainable development. The results suggest that the consolidation reform in China has a negative impact on coal productivity, but significantly it improves the environmental performance of the coal industry. However, the nationalization approach does not prove to outweigh market-oriented approach, because the inefficiency in the capital factor offsets efficiency-improving outcome. The market-driven regulation can reduce the negative impact of the market restructuring on the operational efficiency and thus achieve a higher unified efficiency from both operational and environmental perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to introduce geothermal energy resources, utilization, development roadmap, and government support in China. Over the last 20 years, China was the first place in the world in direct utilization of geothermal energy with total amount reaching 17,870 MWt in 2014, and with an increasing trend annually. Compared with the rapid increase of direct utilization, the development of geothermal power generation in China is not obvious in the past 40 years, with an installed capacity of 27.78 MWe, ranking 18th in the world at present. It is reported that geothermal heating area was up to 396 million square meters with an installed capacity of 1178 MWt in 2013. Research on HDR (hot dry rock) resources is in its infancy. Considering the recoverable coefficient of 2%, energy stored in HDR at a depth of 3.0–10.0 km is 4500 times the total energy consumption in China in 2013. In order to achieve sustainable development of geothermal energy in China, attention should be paid to the following aspects in the future: technology development of EGS (enhanced geothermal system), low cost and scale-up of geothermal power generation, cascade utilization in geothermal heating, and sustainable exploitation and utilization of geothermal reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine zoning and planning are cornerstones of China's marine and coastal management, but are facing challenges in maintaining sustainable development with increasing resource use. Marine functional zoning (MFZ) and marine environmental functional zoning (MEFZ) are existing official Chinese regulations possessing legal force. In contrast, the Marine ecological red line (MERL) refers to a type of marine spatial planning aimed at ecological protection which has been promoted following a 2011 decision of the Chinese State Council to strengthen environmental protection. It has been partially implemented within China, but has only gained legal status in late 2014 and implementation in 2015. The paper compares the two kinds of marine spatial planning providing a general overview, an example in the Bohai Sea, and discussing the marine functional zone and marine ecological red line approaches. The legal status, spatial layout, and control of the systems are compared. The comparison shows that the marine ecological red line has the potential to supplement and strengthen the current marine functional zoning system, and that further improvement should come from recent legal developments. Management will require more ecological information to improve the technical aspects of the MERL approach to enable further MFZ and MERL integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is believed to be the central issue in sustainable development. Literatures on renewables׳ costs are rather sparse, especially on costs of integration and system balancing. The objective of this paper is to fill the research gap by providing an assessment for the cost of China׳s grid-connected renewable energy development and analyze its sharing between different stakeholders. Due to China׳s pricing mechanism of renewable energy and their cost decreasing potential, the pricing model of feed-in tariff and dynamic technological learning processes are employed. In the estimation of purchasing cost, the positive bias is overcome by considering China׳s energy-saving dispatching policy. The results suggest that purchasing cost would be 32.57–40.80 billion Yuan over 2012–2020, and peak in 2017. Grid integration costs which further involve costs of grid infrastructure and system balancing are also investigated. We find that grid infrastructure will cost 27.88 billion Yuan by 2015 and soar to 45.32 billion by 2020, while system balancing will cost 31.49 billion Yuan in 2015 and 63.97 billion Yuan in 2020 among which a substantial part (over 60%) comes from electricity loss in energy transfer. The different parts of these costs are underwritten by disparate participants due to China׳s renewable energy policies and its institutional arrangement. Purchasing cost is shared by power consumers through RES; the cost of grid infrastructure is mainly covered by grid enterprises; and there is no mechanism to specify how to share the cost electricity loss during system balancing which might become a major obstacle for system balancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanization and industrialization in China have seriously threatened the ecosystem and urban sustainability. This paper estimated the dynamic variations of ecosystem service value (ESV) in response to changes of land use/land cover (LULC) under rapid urbanization, and it analyzed their impacts on sustainability of urban system. Tianjin, the largest coastal city in China, was selected as the study area. The total ESV of Tianjin was approximately 8791.86 million Yuan in 2003, 7948.04 million Yuan in 2007, and 8378.53 million Yuan in 2011. By taking the total dynamic ESV as one of the key factors, we calculated the indexes of urban sustainability from 2003 to 2011. It was found that the dynamic variations of ESV in response to LULC changes had significant impacts on the sustainability of urban system. Therefore, in order to increase the capacity for urban sustainable development, there is an urgent need to lighten the heavy burden on the ecosystem through rational land use management during rapid urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large disparities in resource endowment and economic development in different regions have caused large differences in promoting zero-waste (ZW) cities. This study comprehensively considers the whole life cycle chain of solid waste and the guarantee mechanism for promoting the development of ZW cities, and constructs an index system from four dimensions: solid waste reduction at the source, solid waste resource utilization, solid waste final disposal, and development of security capacity. Furthermore, it adopts the TOPSIS–entropy weight method to evaluate the development status of ZW cities in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities under the Central Government of China from 2010 to 2019 (Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan were excluded due to lack of data). The results show an upward trend of ZW levels in twenty-five provinces; a downward trend in four provinces, namely, Fujian, Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning; and a roughly f lat trend in two provinces, namely Henan, and Ningxia. Yunnan, Gansu, and Guizhou provinces have the most significant improvement in the ZW levels. Meanwhile, the eastern region has the highest ZW level, followed by the central and western regions. Combined with Geographic Information System (GIS), the solid waste management capacity of each region was analysed on the basis of the aforementioned four dimensions. Spatial differences were determined in the solid waste management characteristics of different regions. In terms of source reduction, the central and a few western regions have the best performance. Furthermore, the final disposal in the north is higher than that in the south, and the resourcefulness and development of security capacity show a clear decreasing trend from the east to west. Using a multiple linear regression analysis model, we analysed the potential factors affecting the ZW level of each region from four aspects: economy, technology, resource endowment, and education. The results indicated significant differences in the role of the same type of index in the ZW levels in each region. This paper assessed the performance of China's ZW cities from both temporal and spatial perspectives, and the relevant influencing factors were further examined. It can provide a theoretical support and decision-making basis for China to improve ZW level further, narrow down the regional gaps, and implement green development and high-quality economic transformation, with important theoretical and practical values. • China faces serious problems with solid waste pollution in recent years. • This study analyzes China's zero-waste performance from temporal and spatial scales. • China's zero-waste level has significant spatial differences. • The same influencing factors have different impacts on each region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Realizing the importance of remanufacturing for sustainable development due to the large scale of the economy and its increasing pressure on the environment, the Chinese government has been strongly promoting its remanufacturing industry since around 2008. The objective of this paper is to identify the motives and barriers for remanufacturing in China. According to the survey conducted among remanufacturers in China, environmental and ethical responsibility , customer orientation and strategic advantage are the three most important motives, while customer recognition is the most serious barrier at present. This survey also shows that there are many differences between car part and machinery remanufacturers in China. For example, car part remanufacturers are more motivated by subsidies , at the same time, they are also more restricted by legislation , while lack of sales channels is a more serious barrier for the machinery remanufacturers. The differences exist partly due to the Chinese remanufacturing environment, for example the policies from different government departments that regulate the related industries. Suggestions for improving the remanufacturing industry, in particular from the policy makers' perspective, are provided according to the survey results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although urbanization can promote social and economic development, it can also cause various problems. As the key decision makers of urbanization, local governments should be able to evaluate urbanization performance, summarize experiences, and find problems caused by urbanization. This paper introduces a hybrid Entropy–McKinsey Matrix method for evaluating sustainable urbanization. The McKinsey Matrix is commonly referred to as the GE Matrix. The values of a development index (DI) and coordination index (CI) are calculated by employing the Entropy method and are used as a basis for constructing a GE Matrix. The matrix can assist in assessing sustainable urbanization performance by locating the urbanization state point. A case study of the city of Jinan in China demonstrates the process of using the evaluation method. The case study reveals that the method is an effective tool in helping policy makers understand the performance of urban sustainability and therefore formulate suitable strategies for guiding urbanization toward better sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid growing number of automobiles, new energy vehicle is becoming one of approaches to mitigate the dependence of the auto industry on petroleum so as to reduce pollutant emissions. The Chinese government has promulgated a number of policies from the perspectives of industrial development, development plans, demonstration projects, fiscal subsidies and tax incentives with an aim to promote the new energy vehicle industry. This paper presents a comprehensive and critical review of the policy framework for new energy vehicles. The analysis shows that electric vehicle has been assigned a top priority in the future development of the automobile industry in China. Policy guidance and planning has played a vital role to the growth of new energy vehicle industry. However, this industry faces significant challenges related to technologies, industrial chain and social factors. Some core technologies are still in its infancy. Similarly, the market share of new energy vehicles is very small in spite of the preferential policies. The construction of supporting facilities and infrastructures has to be accelerated in order to accommodate the growing demands. There is a long way to go for the industrialization and popularization of new energy vehicles in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many less-developed regions in China, cultural and natural attractions are often used by local governments as regional economic drivers. However, the expectation is that income generated from the direct use of culture and nature will only provide the initial round of working capital to facilitate development of other industrial sectors. One strategy in recent years is to separate government from business operations in these attractions to improve the economic performance of businesses and better conserve cultural and natural resources. This paper examines the impact of these policies on resource-dependent tourism companies (RDTCs) for the period 2003-2012. Data on economic performance are derived from listed companies. It is shown that RDTCs have better performance than other tourism sectors because of their monopoly status on high-quality natural and cultural resources. Yet local governments still have a role in tourism operation. Their involvement tends to lead to the reduction of the economic effects of RDTCs and results in discernible overcrowding at sites, thus resulting in negative ecological consequences. The implications for policy and companies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing biogas capacity is a key pillar in China’s rural sustainable development program. The very dynamic transition of the rural socio-economic platform on which the current biogas development strategy has been based will require significant adjustments in material, technology and supply. The changes of socio-economic status, the problems of resent state and prospects of rural biogas development in China, including fermentation material, fermentation technology, development model and comprehensive utilization of biogas, are discussed in this paper. The results of our analysis indicated the full use of straw as a raw material will be the direction of biogas development in China. Dry methane fermentation will become an important method in the large scale production of biogas from agricultural wastes. The central supply model is the future biogas development model in rural China. It is with broad market and great potential to produce commercial fertilizer from biogas residue. Using biogas to generate electricity has become a new and efficient way to use biogas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government is a promoting sustainable urbanization process to develop future cities, and various indicator systems have been introduced for guiding the sustainable urbanization practice. This paper examines the effectiveness of these existing indicator systems introduced in China. Nine sample indicator systems were collected and compared. Principal criteria selected to analyze the effectiveness of the nine samples was based on a literature review. This study reveals that the existing indicator systems have limitations for guiding sustainable urbanization practice and the differences between the various indicator systems present barriers for their effective application. It is found that no official department in China supervises the application of these indicators. The lack of a systematic method for establishing indicators is considered as a major reason for contributing to the limited effectiveness of these established indicators. There is a need to develop an effective method to supervise decision makers to establish and select effective indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban and rural areas are two different yet coexisting systems. Developing countries such as China have been undergoing a rapid urbanization process. However, urbanization often causes competition for land resources between urban and rural areas, and such competition can result in conflicts between the two systems. To identify the risk factors of urban-rural conflict, this paper utilizes a research framework including content analysis, brainstorming and semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that the main risk factors between urban and rural areas comprise conflicts in property, resources and development. Suggestions are proposed to reduce the conflicts occurring between urban and rural areas during the urbanization process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, renewable energy plays a vital role in the sustainable development of a society. In China, renewable energy power has developed rapidly since the implementation of Renewable Energy Act. Through a series of specific incentive measures, especially subsidy policies, China's renewable energy power has made great achievements both in technology and application. Based on the state-of-the-art of renewable energy power, this paper comprehensively analyzed the costs and benefits of renewable energy power subsidy in China. The analysis results show the cost of renewable energy power subsidy was 0.248 CNY/kWh between 2006 and April 2011, which was distributed among different renewable energy power types (including wind power, biomass power, and solar PV power) or categories (including electricity price, accessing-grid projects, and public independent renewable energy power system). On the other hand, the renewable energy power subsidy also brings benefits to different aspects of the society. Specifically, the environmental benefit amounted to 17.88 billion CNY, and the benefits of guaranteeing energy security, advancing technology innovation and promoting economic development were also noteworthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green economic growth and sustainable development complement each other, promoting green economic growth has important practical significance. However, the existing research focuses on qualitative analysis and less on quantitative analysis of the green economic growth. This study constructs a comprehensive index system of green economy, and uses entropy weighted TOPSIS method to evaluate the green economic growth from 2000 to 2017 in China. This study shows that:(1) Since the 21st century, China's green economy has been constantly improved. Ecological civilization and social progress are the main support for green economic growth. Economic development is secondary, and innovation-driven is lagging behind. (2) There are obvious regional differences in green economic growth. The eastern region is obviously better than the central and western regions, but the overall regional differences are shrinking. At the same time, the green economic growth shows obvious spatial agglomeration effect. (3) Population size, economic development level, technological innovation, industrial structure, urbanization, environmental regulation and FDI have impacts on the green economic growth, but the spatial effect of each influencing factor is different. In the process of developing the green economy, policy-makers should fully combine the spatiotemporal evolution of the green economy and its influencing factors, and make targeted policies. • This paper measures China's green economic growth. • Entropy weighted TOPSIS framework is employed. • China has made great progress in green economic growth. • China's green economic growth has obvious regional heterogeneity. • China's green economic growth has a spatial effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linkages between air pollution and individual subjective well-being (SWB) are theorized as a key component of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) covering 12,668 residents who were interviewed for five consecutive times during 2010–2018, we find significant negative effects of air pollution on individual SWB via the change of the respondent's physical health level, physical exercise behavior and obesity risk. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in county's annual average PM 2.5 concentrations, instrumented by thermal inversion, is associated with a 2.45 standard deviations decrease in individual SWB level. In particular, people who are male, young people, less educated group, urban resident and live in eastern or western China are more sensitive to air pollution. This paper provides new insights into the health costs of air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a market-based financial instrument, green credit is one of the key drivers for constructing green financial system. Green credit policy (GCP) can guide capital flow from high-energy consumption and high-pollution industries to technologically advanced emerging industrial sectors, so as to support the development of green industries and curb the emissions of polluting industries. In order to explore the extent to which the goal of green credit policy in China has been achieved, based on the micro data of China's listed enterprises from 2009 to 2017, this paper explores the impact of "Green Credit Guidelines" (2012 Guidelines) policy on the green transformation of heavy polluting industries (HPIs) by using a Difference in Differences (DID) and Propensity Score Matched-Difference in Differences (PSM-DID) models. We then analyze the mechanism between GCP and green transformation of HPIs and identify the heterogeneous effects of GCP on the green transformation of HPIs. The results show that the 2012 Guidelines significantly promote the green transformation of HPIs, through debt financing constraints and equity financing constraints. The effect of 2012 Guidelines on green transformation of small-scale and private enterprises is more pronounced. However, the positive effect of 2012 Guidelines on the green transformation of HPIs has not been sustained in the long term. Our study provides an insight for decision makers to manage green transformation of HPIs from the GCP perspective, by informing the economic consequences of GCP and pushing the industrial transformation towards green development. • Difference in differences is used to explore the impact of green credit policy on green transformation. • Debt financing constraint and equity financing constraint are main impact mechanisms. • The results are robust to a battery of robustness checks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development stipulates 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The implementation of this agenda will mobilize countries worldwide to incorporate the SDGs into their national development strategies. The agenda does not specify how these goals are interconnected, thus limiting their implementation. In addition, air quality affects human life and plays a vital role in achieving these SDGs. Clarifying the interconnections between SDGs related to air pollution and other SDGs will accelerate the implementation of air protection and SDGs while simultaneously promoting policy coherence. In this paper, we use the latest calculation of the SDGs in China to construct national and provincial panel data to investigate the trade-offs and synergies among Chinese air pollution-related SDGs. The findings are as follows. First, most air pollution-related SDGs have synergetic relationships, except for SDG12, which has a trade-off relationship with other air pollution-related SDGs. Second, the synergies between air pollution-related SDGs and other SDGs far outweigh the trade-offs. Third, rapidly developing areas are more likely to experience a trade-off between economic development and air pollution problems. Fourth, geographic advantages in reducing air pollution, such as being adjacent to the sea, may weaken the synergies among air pollution-related SDGs and their synergies with other SDGs. These findings indicate that most air-pollution-related SDGs and interactions between air-pollution-related SDGs and other SDGs have substantial synergy; that is, measures aimed at one goal are conducive to the advancement of other goals. However, SDG12 reflects a trade-off relationship between economic development, environmental protection, and resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the concept of a China Ocean Economic Development Index (OEDI), and constructs an index with three dimensions - development level, development efficiency and development potential. Twenty-nine sub-indices are used to generate a comprehensive quantitative evaluation of China's ocean economic development. It is argued that such an index can play a crucial role in improving the capacity for monitoring and evaluating the ocean economy activities, serving the macro-regulation and control of the ocean economy, facilitating ocean economic structural optimization and adjustment, and promoting the sustainable development of the ocean economy. The application of the OEDI to China's ocean economy development during the period from 2010 to 2018 has shown that China registered continuous ocean economic development, with growing economic strength, development level, development efficiency and development potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the resilience of smart cities can provide new insights for the sustainable development of cities, with important practical significance for improving their carrying capacity, disaster resistance, and development capacity. However, despite the recent large-scale development of smart cities in China, it is still uncertain whether smart cities could effectively promote urban resilience. Exploiting the quasi-experimental nature of smart city development in China, this paper uses DID and PSM-DID to determine their impact on urban resilience. Four aspects of urban resilience are analyzed: economic resilience, social resilience, ecological resilience, and infrastructure resilience. The results show that the development of smart cities can improve social resilience considerably without any obvious effect on economic and ecological resilience and even negatively affect infrastructure resilience; the distribution effect, technological effect, and structural effect are important mechanisms for smart cities to influence urban resilience; and smart cities that have a sound industrial structure, enough good-quality companies, large size, and a large pool of highly-skilled labor are much more likely to be associated with a high level of urban resilience. Policy suggestions are also provided to promote the simultaneous improvement of smart cities and urban resilience, and hence help establish a new 'urban resilience' model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]