Abstract
The Chinese government has implemented a number of environmental policies to promote the continuous improvement of air quality while considering economic development. Scientific assessment of the impact of environmental policies on the relationship between air pollution and economic growth can provide a scientific basis for promoting the coordinated development of these two factors. This paper uses the Tapio decoupling theory to analyze the relationship between regional economic growth and air pollution in key regions of air pollution control in China—namely, the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and surrounding areas (BTHS), the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and the Pearl River Delta (PRD)—based on data of GDP and the concentrations of SO2, PM10, and NO2 for 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2019. The results show that the SO2, PM10, and NO2 pollution in the key regions show strong and weak decoupling. The findings additionally indicate that government policies have played a significant role in improving the decoupling between air pollution and economic development. The decoupling between economic growth and SO2 and PM10 pollution in the BTHS, YRD, and PRD is better than that in other regions, while the decoupling between economic growth and NO2 pollution has not improved significantly in these regions. To improve the relationship between economic growth and air pollution, we suggest that the governments of China and other developing countries should further optimize and adjust the structure of industry, energy, and transportation; apply more stringent targets and measures in areas of serious air pollution; and strengthen mobile vehicle pollution control.
Highlights
Since China’s economic reform, the country’s economy has developed rapidly
This paper studies the following three major areas based on the Action Plan and the Three-Year Action Plan: (1) the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region and surrounding areas (BTHS), including the cities/provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi; (2) the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), including the provinces of Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Zhejiang; and (3) the Pearl River Delta (PRD), including
The analysis performed in this study showed that the concentrations of SO2 and PM10 have both reduced alongside economic growth in recent years, showing a good state of decoupling
Summary
Since China’s economic reform, the country’s economy has developed rapidly. This development has been accompanied by the excessive consumption of resources and the deterioration of environmental quality. The emission of air pollutants from the consumption of large amounts of fossil energy has a significant impact on human health [5,6]. This has had serious impacts on the general public and has become a major bottleneck for China’s sustainable development.
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