How has China's industrial eco-efficiency been improved? Evidence from multi-scale countrywide study.

The process of industrialization often causes resource depletion and environmental pollution. To shed light on China's resource use and pollution trends in the context of the country's rapid industrial growth, this study analyzes the eco-efficiency of China's industry from 2000 to 2015. We quantify industrial eco-efficiency (IEE) for China and its provinces using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and analyze potential influencing factors at national and regional levels using Tobit regression. IEE in China and in most provinces shows a clear upward trend with some fluctuations, with national scores increasing from 0.394 to 0.704. There is strong regional disparity, with average IEE scores in eastern provinces (0.840) higher than those in central provinces (0.625), which are in turn higher than those in the northeast (0.537) and west (0.438). We next consider potential drivers. Economic development and foreign direct investment (FDI) are positively associated with IEE but appear to show diminishing returns. Environmental enforcement and market for technology are also positively associated with IEE, as expected. The impact of economic development, industrial sector structure, and investment in research and development (R&D) are modified by the stage of industrialization in each region. Targeted measures that can adjust industry structure, enhance environmental enforcement, attract FDI, and increase R&D investment may help further improve IEE in China.

The diminishing effects of winter heating on air quality in northern China.

Cleaner winter heating has been promoted to abate the winter air pollution in northern China. Although improvements in air quality have been observed, the effectiveness and mechanism of cleaner heating measures on air quality have not been examined on the empirical ground. In this study, we estimate the annual effects of winter heating policy on air quality from 2014 to 2017 using a regression discontinuity design (RDD) and dynamic regression model. The results show that winter heating aggravates Air Quality Index (AQI). Specifically, the AQI raised by winter heating reduce from 85.3 in 2014 to 24.1 in 2017, indicating diminishing effects of winter heating with the implementation of clean heating measures. The heterogeneous characteristics of winter heating in terms of different pollutants and city scales are further quantified. The effects of clean heating are more evident for particulate pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10) than for SO2, NO2, CO and O3. The promotion of clean heating is more effective in larger cities. These findings provided insights into the diminishing air pollution change with continuous advancement in clean heating policy and the heterogeneity among cities and pollutants should be taken into account when formulating future policies in response to energy transition and climate change.

Investigating the eco-efficiency of China's textile industry based on a firm-level analysis.

Industrial eco-efficiency has been an invaluable measurement for the relationship between production activities and environmental depletion, which is important to investigate when aiming for sustainable development. For the textile industry, however, limited rigorous studies have comprehensively evaluated the eco-efficiency from a firm-level perspective, and research on multi-level comparisons of the sub-sectors has also been lacking. Given the differences in environmental impacts due to the selection of various raw materials and unstandardized production processes in the textile industry, we focused on three sub-sectors, i.e., the cotton, chemical fibers textile sector (CCTS), the non-cotton textile sector (NCTS), and the printing and dyeing sector (PDS). By applying the slacks-based measure (SBM) model based on the principle of the data envelopment analysis (DEA), i.e., the SBM-DEA model, the eco-efficiency of China's textile industry was measured at the firm level from 2001 to 2011 using a large sample dataset. We then further analyzed the factors affecting eco-efficiency using the Tobit regression model. An empirical analysis showed an upward trend of eco-efficiency over time in the eastern, central, and western regions of China with great disparities for the three sub-sectors. Analyses of the typical provinces in the eastern region all showed increasing trends in eco-efficiency, with Shandong Province consistently performing the best. We also found that large-scale firms had the highest annual average eco-efficiency than that of small- and medium-scale firms. For the influencing factors on the eco-efficiency, our results indicated that the economic scale and export delivery value both had a significant positive correlation with the eco-efficiency, while foreign direct investment and environmental regulation were both significantly negative for the eco-efficiency in all three sub-sectors. These findings provide valuable insights into helping the textile industry address high-quality green development and sustainability.

Environmental-social-economic footprints of consumption and trade in the Asia-Pacific region.

Asia-Pacific (APAC) has been the world's most dynamic emerging area of economic development and trade in recent decades. Here, we reveal the significant and imbalanced environmental and socio-economic effects of the region's growths during 1995-2015. Owing to the intra-regional trade of goods and services, APAC economies grew increasingly interdependent in each other's water and energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) and PM2.5 emissions, and labor and economic productivity, while the environmental and economic disparity widened within the region. Furthermore, our results highlight APAC's significant role in globalization. By 2015, APAC was engaged in 50-71% of the virtual flows of water, energy, GHG, PM2.5, labor, and value added embodied in international trade. While the region's final demand and trade grew less resource- and emissions-intensive, predominantly led by China's transformations, APAC still lags behind global averages after two decades. More joint efforts of APAC economies and attention to sustainable transformation are needed.

Low-carbon transition of iron and steel industry in China: carbon intensity, economic growth and policy intervention.

As the biggest iron and steel producer in the world and one of the highest CO2 emission sectors, China's iron and steel industry is undergoing a low-carbon transition accompanied by remarkable technological progress and investment adjustment, in response to the macroeconomic climate and policy intervention. Many drivers of the CO2 emissions of the iron and steel industry have been explored, but the relationships between CO2 abatement, investment and technological expenditure, and their connections with the economic growth and governmental policies in China, have not been conjointly and empirically examined. We proposed a concise conceptual model and an econometric model to investigate this crucial question. The results of regression, Granger causality test and impulse response analysis indicated that technological expenditure can significantly reduce CO2 emissions, and that investment expansion showed a negative impact on CO2 emission reduction. It was also argued with empirical evidence that a good economic situation favored CO2 abatement in China's iron and steel industry, while achieving CO2 emission reduction in this industrial sector did not necessarily threaten economic growth. This shed light on the dispute over balancing emission cutting and economic growth. Regarding the policy aspects, the year 2000 was found to be an important turning point for policy evolution and the development of the iron and steel industry in China. The subsequent command and control policies had a significant, positive effect on CO2 abatement.