Search Results (16)

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is a significant economic development region in China; however, it faces the challenge of underdeveloped economic levels, which impacts the sustainable development of the national economy. This study constructs an index system for high-quality economic development (HQED) based on five development concepts. The CRITIC method was utilized to comprehensively evaluate 78 prefecture-level cities in the YRB from 2000 to 2022. Techniques such as the Dagum Gini coefficient, exploratory spatial data analysis, Markov chain analysis, and the obstacle degree model were employed to investigate the temporal and spatial evolution of HQED levels and their associated obstacles in the YRB. The findings indicate a positive temporal trend in the HQED index, with increasing intra-group differences and overlapping issues among regions, while inter-group differences are decreasing. Nevertheless, the primary contradiction in the YRB continues to arise from inter-group disparities. Spatially, the development regions are predominantly centered around provincial capitals, exhibiting a pronounced “fault line” phenomenon and characteristic “spatial proximity”. In terms of evolutionary trends, the likelihood of each region maintaining its current state is relatively high; however, regions with higher-quality neighborhoods demonstrate a lower probability of stability and a greater likelihood of upward mobility. The positive impacts of high-quality neighborhoods outweigh the negative effects associated with low-quality areas. In terms of obstacles, factors such as sharing and coordination hinder progress in HQED in the YRB, with challenges related to coordination, innovation, and openness intensifying in recent years. Full article

Balancing economic growth with the decline in ecosystem service functions presents a critical global challenge in the 21st century. In response to the United Nations Development Programme’s emphasis on localizing Sustainable Development Goals, China has devised policies aimed at synergistically advancing high-quality economic development (HQED) and high-level ecological environment protection. However, research exploring the interplay between regional HQED and green space ecosystem services (GSES) remains limited. Consequently, this study examines Shanxi Province, a prototypical resource-based region in China, to develop localized metrics for green total factor productivity (GTFP) and the valuation of green space ecosystem services (GSESV). It quantifies the efficiency of HQED and the growth rate of green space ecological benefits (GSEB). Employing coupling coordination models, Theil indices, cluster analysis, and enhanced grey relational techniques, the research scrutinizes the evolutionary patterns and driving factors of coupling and coordination between HQED and GSEB across various spatial scales from 2007 to 2020. Significant findings include (1) an overall increase in HQED efficiency across all spatial scales, accompanied by a decline in green technological progress (GTC); (2) a sustained growth trend in GSEB per hectare across the province, with the southeastern region, particularly Jincheng, leading; (3) a level of coordination between HQED and GSEB across the province that surpasses the preliminary stage, albeit with pronounced regional disparities, notably the lagging and unstable coordination in the southern regions; (4) significant driving effects of industrial “three wastes” and industrial transformation on the coordinated evolution between HQED and GSEB across all spatial dimensions, with notable impacts of innovation input–output in central, southern, and southeastern Shanxi. This research offers new strategic insights for the synergistic development of the economy and ecology in Shanxi Province and contributes novel theoretical foundations for formulating sustainable development policies globally. Full article

Taking Inner Mongolia as a case, this study systematically analyzes the coupling and coordination relationship between carbon emissions from land use (CELU) and high-quality economic development (HQED). The aim is to provide empirical support and policy inspiration for archiving the “dual carbon” goal and HQED strategy in border areas. Panel data from 12 cities in Inner Mongolia from 2000 to 2020 were selected. We established an evaluation index system for CELU and HQED using the entropy-weight TOPSIS method and scientifically evaluated the level of HQED. We applied exploratory spatial data analysis, topic decoupling, coupling coordination degree (CCD), and geographic detector models to comprehensively analyze the coupling coordination status and spatial heterogeneity of CELU and HQED. The driving factors affecting CCD were explored in detail. Although the total CELU in Inner Mongolia has increased, its growth rate has slowed significantly. The CCD of CELU and HQED was low, and an obvious spatial disequilibrium was observed. Seven key factors, including land-use structure, efficiency, and energy intensity, have significant driving effects on the CCD. To support supply-side structural reform, promote HQED, and achieve emission reduction and green development goals, we offer a series of policy recommendations: promote the transformation of resource-based cities, optimize the energy structure, promote industrial structure upgrading, strengthen scientific and technological innovation and green technology applications, and improve regional cooperation and policy coordination. This study reveals the internal relationship between CELU and HQED and provides practical and instructive countermeasures and suggestions for the sustainable development of border areas, such as Inner Mongolia, which have important reference value for promoting the green transformation of regional economies and achieving the “dual carbon” goal. Full article

China’s economy is transitioning from high-speed to high-quality development, making coordination between economic factors increasingly important. Human capital (HC) and infrastructure (INFRA) are important elements of economic development, and the coupling coordination of the two can have a non-negligible impact on regional economies’ high-quality development. Therefore, this study measures the coupling coordination degree (CCD) of HC and INFRA based on data of 184 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2019, and comprehensively examines the impact effect and mechanism of the CCD on high-quality economic development (HQED). The relevant results are threefold. (1) Compared with single factors, the degree of HC-INFRA CCD can promote HQED more efficiently. (2) A significant single-threshold effect is evident in the promotion of HQED by the degree of HC-INFRA CCD, and a smaller city size and more extensive higher education institutions promote a stronger threshold effect. (3) Factor allocation and factor efficiency are significant transmission mechanisms of the HC-INFRA CCD affecting HQED, and the mediating effect of the capital-labor force allocation path accounts for 66.28% of the total indirect effect. The results provide empirical evidence verifying that HC-INFRA CCD promotes HQED, along with insightful reference suggestions for formulating relevant macro policies and promoting high-quality urban economic development. Full article

The key to promoting high-quality economic development (HQED) is to identify the influencing factors and the complex relationships among them. Under the guidance of China’s new development concept, we systematically analyze the factors influencing the HQED based on the DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) model. We also establish a system dynamics model and adopt Vensim PLE x64 software to simulate the impact of dynamic changes on HQED, which include innovation, coordination, green, openness, sharing systems, and their combinations. The results show that increasing green investment is the most effective, followed by enhancing regional coordination, enhancing foreign trade, and improving human capital. Among the studied factors, improving livelihood is the weakest. For multiple policy scenarios, the balanced scenario is the most efficient, followed by the environment-oriented, and the weakest is the openness-oriented scenario. Interestingly, combined policies are also more effective than single policies, which does not always apply. Furthermore, the effect of the policy combination is more obvious with the strengthening of the implementation intensity, which is important for policymakers. Full article

Promoting the synergy of pollution and carbon reduction (PCR), as well as accelerating high-quality economic development (HQED), are the two major tasks of China’s current economic development. Thus, it is crucial to achieve a deep integration between PCR and HQED. We first construct the indicator system of PCR and HQED, and use the entropy method to assign weights to the indicator system. The coupling coordination model often portrays the level of coordinated development between systems. We apply this model to measure the synergistic relationship between PCR and HQED in 108 cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China from 2006 to 2021.We further analyze its spatial-temporal characteristics, regional differences, and convergence. The results reveal that the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between PCR and HQED in the YREB increases from 0.4234 in 2006 to 0.5832 in 2021. A higher CCD reflects a better coordinated developmental relationship between the two subsystems, and the relationship between the PCR and HQED shifts from on the verge of being uncoordinated to barely coordinated. Meanwhile, the CCD of the YREB shows a trend of decreasing downstream, midstream, and upstream, with significant spatial positive autocorrelation characteristics. Moreover, the overall differences in the CCD of the YREB from 2006 to 2021 show a fluctuating trend, with larger contributions of inter-regional differences and intra-regional differences. The convergence model reflects whether there is a tendency for the coupling coordination differences to narrow. Finally, the model indicates that there is no σ convergence but exists β convergence in the CCD of the YREB. Convergence is fastest in the downstream, followed by the midstream, and slowest in the upstream. The study reveals that the CCD of the YREB is increasing and has significant positive spatial correlation characteristics. It could utilize inter-city synergies, implement integrated strategies, and promote synergies between PCR and HQED in accordance with local conditions. Our findings provide empirical evidence and policy references for effectively promoting the deep integration of PCR with HQED. Full article

China’s economy has shifted to a new stage of high-quality development, which means that economic development is no longer simply pursuing the increase of quantity, but a balance of quality and quantity. High-quality economic development (HQED) has become essential for China to achieve sustainable economic and social advancement. This paper explores the influence of green finance on HQED, along with the mediating roles of green innovation and industrial structure upgrading. A fixed-effects model is employed to assess the relationship between green finance and HQED and conduct an empirical test in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region of China. The findings reveal that green finance significantly contributes to the HQED of the BTH region, and green innovation and industrial structure upgrading have intermediary effects in this process. Based on these insights, this paper proposes several strategies to improve HQED in China, including the development of a green financial system, the promotion of green innovation, and the acceleration of industrial structure optimization and upgrading in the BTH region. Full article

Combining an indicator system developed based on existence–relatedness–growth (ERG) needs and multiple weighting approaches, this paper evaluates the level of high-quality economic development (HQED) in Chinese provinces from the perspective of human well-being from 2007 to 2020. Spatial analysis, Dagum’s Gini coefficient (DGC), and spatial econometric modeling were employed to investigate the spatial–temporal evolutionary characteristics, regional differentiation, and driving factors of HQED in China. The following conclusions are drawn: (1) During the period of 2007–2019, the level of Chinese HQED showed a stable upward trend, and gradually produced the development characteristics of “only super power and multi-great power” and spatial features of “point, line and plane”, with Beijing as the absolute leader, the southeastern coastal region as the advantageous belt, and the relatively advantageous plane in central and western areas with Shaanxi as the core. (2) The degree of spatial differentiation in Chinese provincial HQED narrowed year by year, with intra-regional differentiation organized as follows: eastern > northeastern > western > central; inter-regional differentiation was concentrated in the development gaps across the other three major regions and the eastern areas. (3) Chinese provincial HQED had a significant spatial autocorrelation characteristic, which was further revealed by the spatial Durbin model (SDM) to be a siphon effect at the national and regional levels, i.e., the plundering of the resources and development opportunities of weaker provinces by stronger ones. (4) Driving factors such as economic scale, urbanization level, resource endowment, government size, green technological innovation, industrial structure upgrading, and environmental regulations affected HQED at the national level and in the four major regions to varying degrees. These findings could contribute to policymakers’ efforts to design targeted regional development policies during the transition period of China’s economic development. Full article

A comprehensive and scientific system for measuring the quality of economic development will provide the basis for and guarantee high-quality economic development (HQED) in China. In this paper, we constructed an indicator-evaluating system for the high-quality development of the western region’s economy according to a new development concept and the relevant requirements of western development and measured the composite index and sub-dimension index of its HQED from 2000 to 2020 using the entropy method; revealed the regional differences and sources of western HQED using the Dagum Gini index (GI) decomposition method; and analyzed the evolution of HQED using kernel density estimation and the Markov probability transfer matrix. The study showed that western HQED was on the rise year by year, but there was a large gap between the 11 provinces, characterized by “high in the middle and low on the edge” values in general; inter-regional differences constituted the main source of overall differences; and western HQED showed “club convergence” in a steady state, with upward shifts more likely than downward shifts. Full article

The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) is the area with the densest high-speed railway (HSR) network in China, and it leads the high-quality economic development (HQED) in the country. HSR plays an important role in regional development. However, research on the impact of the HSR on HQED is notably limited. Theoretically, this study develops an analytical framework for the mechanism of the HSR’s influence on HQED. Empirically, it calculates the HQED index and then investigates the impact of the HSR on HQED and the regional discrepancies across cities in the YRD, based on data from 2011 to 2019 using the difference-in-differences model. The results show: (1) The mechanism lies in that the HSR improves urban accessibility, accelerates the flow of the production factors, and enhances the allocation efficiency of the input factors. (2) The distribution of the HQED level presents an obvious circular pattern, with Shanghai and Suzhou at the centre, showing the prominent principle of distance decay. (3) Both the regression model and the robustness tests show that the HSR significantly promotes HQED in the YRD. Additionally, the economic development, foreign capital spent, financial level, industry advancement, and living standard are conducive to HQED. (4) The results of the heterogeneity test reveal that the HSR has an obviously varied impact on HQED in cities depending on their size and location. The HSR has a significant promotional effect on HQED in cities with a large population and those far away from a provincial city. Full article

Economic development highly depends on resources and the environment, especially in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), a crucial ecological protection and high-quality development pilot zone in China. Thus, evaluating high-quality economic development (HQED) and its decoupling relationship with the resource environment is conducive to planning future regional development. First, this paper used the two-stage entropy method to measure the high-quality economic development of cities in the YRB from 2010 to 2019. Then, the comprehensive decoupling analysis of the resource environment and high-quality economic development was carried out based on the Tapio decoupling model. The results showed that: (1) The high-quality economic development level improved slowly in the YRB. Nevertheless, the resource and environmental pressure gradually decreased. (2) Compared with the resource decoupling index, the environmental decoupling index had a greater impact on the comprehensive decoupling index in the YRB. The strong decoupling displayed a spatial diffusion trend from point to surface. (3) Despite the decoupling types having a positive transfer trend in the YRB, the decoupling states of cities fluctuated considerably, and the phenomenon of recoupling occurred frequently. According to the above findings, this study put forward some policy recommendations for achieving strong decoupling in the YRB. Full article

The transfer of urban land is an important means for the government to optimize the allocation of resources and promote economic development, and its impact on high-quality economic development (HQED) in the new era is worthy of attention. Based on the panel data of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2004 to 2017, the entropy method and panel regression model are used to analyze the direct, indirect, and non-linear effects of land transfer on HQED. The study found that: (1) The HQED level of the Yangtze River economic belt increased steadily from 2004 to 2017, but the overall level was low, showing the spatial characteristics of high downstream and low middle and upstream. (2) Urban land transfer (ULT) has a significant positive direct impact on HQED, especially in the upper and middle reaches, while the indirect impact is more beneficial to the downstream areas. The impact of industrial structure upgrading (uis) and urbanization (urb) on HQED is significantly negative in the upstream area, while significantly positive in the downstream area. (3) There is a significant threshold effect in ULT, and its positive impact on HQED decreases with the expansion of the threshold scale, but increases in the upstream and midstream areas. The overall impact of uis and urb shows inverted “U” characteristics and significant differences in different areas. The conclusion is that the government should first further reform the land resource management system, and then improve the efficiency of construction land use, to reduce the dependence on land resources, and finally promote the upgrading of industrial structure and improve the quality of urbanization. Full article

The ecological environment is the basis of high-quality economic development, and the coordinated development of the two is of great significance for promoting regional sustainable development. This study takes 31 cities in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River as samples, constructs an evaluation index system of the ecological environment (EE) and high-quality economic development (HQED), and uses a comprehensive evaluation method and a coupling coordination degree model to determine the development level, coupling coordination relationship, interaction coordination relationship and space–time evolution characteristics of the two. The results show that: (1) In the sample period, the overall level of EE and HQED increased simultaneously, but the two indexes of each city showed obvious heterogeneity. (2) EE and HQED have a coupling coordination relationship; the coupling degree (CD) is in a high coupling stage, and the coupling coordination degree (CCD) is in a good and moderate coordination state. (3) In the interactive coordination relationship, the CCD sequence of subsystems is coordinated development > shared development > innovative development > open development, and pressure subsystem > response subsystem > status subsystem. This study provides a new evaluation perspective for EE and HQED and puts forward suggestions for their coupling and coordinated development. Full article

Achieving the improvement of water resource efficiency is the common key foundation for the country to promote the adjustment of the energy structure, promote the development of low-carbon technology and environmental protection, cope with global climate change, and achieve the strategic goal of “carbon peaking and carbon neutralization”. The study explores the role of green finance and water resource utilization efficiency in high-quality economic development (HQED). The development index of resource utilization efficiency constructs an indicator system of HQED from three dimensions of HQED capability, structure, and benefit, constructs a spatial lag model, introduces a nested matrix, and empirically studies their spatial effect. The mediating effect of water resource utilization efficiency was verified using the mediating effect model. According to the empirical analysis, the results are as follows: (1) green finance and water resource utilization efficiency are important influencing factors for promoting HQED, and green finance can promote HQED with direct short-term effects but no direct effects in the long term; (2) the short-term direct effect of water resource utilization efficiency can also improve HQED and has no effect in the long term; (3) the short-term effect of the interaction term of green finance and water resource utilization efficiency exists as a negative effect, but the long-term, indirect, and total effect cannot affect HQED; (4) green finance and water resource utilization efficiency show no spatial effect on HQED; green finance has an incomplete intermediary role in promoting HQED. Full article

Finance is the blood of the economy, and energy is the foundation and source of power for economic and social development. It is crucial to the prosperity and development of the country, the improvement of people’s lives and the long-term stability of society. It is a booster for the implementation of the concept of green development and the realization of high-quality economic development (HQED). Based on the panel data of 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2007 to 2019, this paper selects green investment and carbon emission intensity as green financial values and calculates energy development indicators from the three dimensions of energy supply, energy consumption and energy efficiency. The three dimensions of development capability, high-quality development structure and high-quality development benefit are used to construct an indicator system for high-quality economic development, and the spatial Durbin model is selected to study the spatial effects of green finance and energy development on high-quality economic development. At the same time, the mediation effect model is used to test whether there is a mediation effect in the development of green finance on high-quality economic development. The results show that: green finance has a significant positive impact on high-quality economic development, and the spatial spillover effect is not significant; energy development has a significant positive impact on high-quality economic development, and the spatial spillover effect is significantly negative; the interaction term between green finance and energy development has a significant negative impact on high-quality economic development, and the spatial spillover effect is not significant and green finance plays a partial intermediary role in the process of energy development promoting high-quality economic development. Existing research considers less of the impact of green finance on high-quality development. On the one hand, the research in this paper can theoretically supplement and improve existing research and expand the research field; on the other hand, it can provide a policy basis for the realization of high-quality development in the region, which has important practical significance for the realization of sustainable development goals in the region. Full article