Evaluating Economic Growth, Industrial Structure, and Water Quality of the Xiangjiang River Basin in China Based on a Spatial Econometric Approach.

Xiaohong Chen,Guodong Yi,Jia Liu,Yang Chen,Xiang Liu

doi:10.3390/ijerph15102095

Abstract

This research utilizes the environmental Kuznets curve to demonstrate the interrelationship between economic growth, industrial structure, and water quality of the Xiangjiang river basin in China by employing spatial panel data models. First, it obtains two variables (namely, CODMn, which represents the chemical oxygen demand of using KMnO4 as chemical oxidant, and NH3-N, which represents the ammonia nitrogen content index of wastewater) by pretreating the data of 42 environmental monitoring stations in the Xiangjiang river basin from 2005 to 2015. Afterward, Moran’s I index is adopted to analyze the spatial autocorrelation of CODMn and NH3-N concentration. Then, a comparative analysis of the nonspatial panel model and spatial panel model is conducted. Finally, this research estimates the intermediate effect of the industrial structure of the Xiangjiang river basin in China. The results show that spatial autocorrelation exists in pollutant concentration and the relationship between economic growth and pollutant concentration shapes as an inverted-N trajectory. Moreover, the turn points of the environmental Kuznets curve for CODMn are RMB 83,001 and RMB 108,583 per capita GDP. In contrast, the turn points for NH3-N are RMB 50,980 and RMB 188,931 per capita GDP. Additionally, the environmental Kuznets curve for CODMn can be explained by industrial structure adjustment, while that for NH3-N cannot. As a consequence, the research suggests that the effect of various pollutants should be taken into account while making industrial policies.

Highlights

Water is an indispensable substance for human life, economic development, and social progress.With the rapid development of the economy and frequent human activities, the demand for water is increasing, which gives rise to pressure on ecosystems, and especially water ecosystems
We focus on the eutrophication of the Xiangjiang river basin that is caused by organic pollution and nutrients
In the Xiangjiang River from 2005 to 2015 were all positive and in the range of (0, 1), which indicates that there exists spatial autocorrelation between the two types of pollutants

Summary

Introduction

Water is an indispensable substance for human life, economic development, and social progress. With the rapid development of the economy and frequent human activities, the demand for water is increasing, which gives rise to pressure on ecosystems, and especially water ecosystems. A water crisis that includes water shortages, pollution, and quality deterioration is increasingly prominent and has become the main bottleneck in restricting sustainable development of human economy and society [1]. A large population, and concentrated industry, the river basin hosts 60% of the population and 81% of the total industrial output value of Hunan Province, which makes it the main economic belt with the densest population and fastest urbanization development in Hunan [2].

Methods

Results

Conclusion