Impact of China's marine governance policies on the marine ecological environment – A case study of the Bohai rim

Abstract

In 2018, the Chinese government implemented the Action Plan for Comprehensive Management of the Bohai Sea(CMAP-BS) to improve the marine ecological environment in the Bohai rim. This study considered the Bohai rim as the research area to explore the impact of China's marine governance policies on the marine ecological environment and its mechanism of action. To this end, we used panel data of coastal provinces and municipalities from 2010 to 2020 and adopted a Differences-in-Differences model to analyse the impact of CMAP-BS on its marine ecological environment. Results of the baseline regression suggested that CMAP-BS can improve its marine ecological environment. To corroborate our findings, we further conducted a robustness test; the results were consistent. Heterogeneity analysis showed that the policy effect of CMAP-BS is more pronounced in areas with a better level of economic development than in those with less economic development. Further research and analysis showed that the improvement of the marine ecological environment can be achieved by adjusting the model of agricultural development.