Coastal Provinces Research Articles

The Driving Factors and Path Selection for the Development Level of China’s Mariculture—A Dynamic Analysis Based on the TOE Framework

Mariculture is a key practice to promote the supply-side reform of fishery, and it is of strategic significance to explore the causes and paths of its high-level development. Based on the TOE (Technology-Organization-Environment) theoretical framework and the configuration methodology, this paper adopts the dynamic qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method and panel data from 10 coastal provinces and cities in China from 2013 to 2021 to explore the configuration effects of six antecedents, namely, the intensity of technology promotion, investment in scientific research, personnel specialization, industry intensification, nearshore water quality, and offshore pollution discharge, along temporal and spatial dimensions, on the level of mariculture development. The results show that (1) individual driving factors do not constitute the necessary conditions for a high level of mariculture industry development, but the necessity of the three conditions—research funding, industry intensification and nearshore seawater quality—shows a general increasing trend; and (2) the results of the path analysis show that a total of seven configuration paths for a high level of development are generated, which can be further classified into “organization-led and technology synergistic”, “technology-organization-environment multiple-driven type”, and “technology-environment dual-driven type”. Based on the panel data, this study explores the impact of spatial and temporal changes in factor combinations on the development level of mariculture and provides a theoretical basis and practical insights for the development of locally adapted execution pathways.

The spatial correlation of economic institutional change in China and its impact on economic growth: A social network analysis approach.

Economic institutional change is a vital driving force behind the rapid rise of China's economy. However, the incremental approach to economic institutional change has caused unbalanced transformation and economic growth. To this end, we adopted the entropy method to measure the economic institutional change index, and employed social network analysis to reveal its spatial correlation characteristics. We then applied QAP analysis to empirically demonstrate the impact of China's economic institutional change on regional disparities in economic growth. The findings indicated a gradual increase in the level of economic institutions over time and a spatial gradient between the eastern, central, and western regions. Moreover, the spatial correlation network of China's economic institutional change is stable and gradually improving. Nevertheless, the role of provinces in the process of economic institutional change varies: the eastern coastal provinces play a dominant role, the central and western provinces benefit to a lesser extent, and some provinces in northeastern China play a "bridging" and "intermediary" role. Regional differences in China's economic institutional change have widened the regional disparities in China's economic growth, and the impact of each dimension of economic institutions on regional disparities in economic growth is characterized by phases.

Regional Coexistence in the Digital Era: Spatial–Temporal Evolution and Sustainable Strategies of the Coupled System in the Yangtze River Basin, China

Against the backdrop of globalization and ecological civilization, this study aims to analyze the patterns of system coupling coordination development in the Yangtze River Basin under the interacting influences of population growth, ecological conservation, energy utilization, and digital economic development. Using a multisource model, this paper explores the state of coordinated development, spatial–temporal evolution characteristics, and influencing factors in the Yangtze River Basin from 2011 to 2020. The results indicate the following: (1) The overall degree of coupling coordination in the Yangtze River Basin shows better performances in the eastern coastal areas compared to the central and western regions. Over time, the spatial autocorrelation of coupling and coordination increases, exhibiting a significant spatial clustering trend. (2) The Moran’s I index increased from 0.327 to 0.370, with high–high clusters primarily distributed in economically developed coastal provinces, while low–low clusters were observed in remote provinces in the central and western regions, revealing regional development imbalance issues. (3) The driving force analysis shows that green coverage and GDP are the core factors influencing the spatial differentiation of coupling coordinated development. Factors such as the urbanization rate, nighttime light index, and energy consumption had significant impacts in certain years but are generally considered minor factors. The results of this study not only contribute to understanding the dynamic mechanisms of regional coupling and development but also provide a scientific basis for formulating regional coordinated development policies, promoting the achievement of win–win goals of economic growth and ecological civilization in the Yangtze River Basin and similar regions.

Demographic influences on digital service perceptions and satisfaction at World Heritage Sites in Chinese coastal cities: An empirical analysis

This study investigates how digital transformation influences visitor satisfaction at 12 World Heritage Sites (WHS) across eight coastal provinces in Eastern and Southern China. Utilizing 402 valid survey responses, it explores the impact of demographic factors—education, age, and income—on visitors’ perceptions of digital services, particularly focusing on usability, quality, and overall experience. The findings reveal that younger, higher-income, and STEM-educated visitors express significantly higher satisfaction with digital services, while older, lower-income visitors report lower levels of engagement and satisfaction. This research highlights the need for tailored digital strategies that cater to diverse demographic groups, ensuring the balance between technological innovation and the preservation of cultural authenticity at heritage sites. The originality of this study lies in its focus on non-Western contexts, particularly China’s rapidly developing coastal regions, which have been largely overlooked in the global discourse on digital tourism. By applying established theoretical frameworks—such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Expectation-Confirmation Theory (ECT)—to a non-Western setting, this research fills a crucial gap in the literature. The insights provided offer actionable recommendations for heritage site managers to enhance visitor engagement, adapt digital services to demographic variations, and promote sustainable tourism development.

Current Status of Logistics Infrastructure Associated with the Development of Vietnam’s Sea Tourism

With a coastline of 3260 kilometers, 2.773 islands, and 28 coastal provinces, Vietnam has a great potential for sea tourism development. One of the factors affecting this development is logistics infrastructure. This research paper aims to analyze all of the logistics infrastructure factors including highways, railways, inland waterways, seaway, and airways; and the connection between logistics transport infrastructure and marine tourism development. The result shows that coastal tourism areas have made strong investments in logistics infrastructure and future planning. However, the lack of synchronization in transport networks connecting tourist destinations, the adaptation of the seaport systems and waterway transports, along with the overall infrastructure serving the needs of accommodations and tourism services have not met the increasing demand. Based on these bases, this paperwork proposes solutions to developing the logistics infrastructure associated with the development of Vietnam’s sea tourism.

Different roads take me home: the nonlinear relationship between distance and flows during China’s Spring Festival

Human mobility modelling has attracted scholarly attention from physics-based methods and social science explanatory approaches. However, there is limited knowledge of the nonlinear relationship of flows and distance in intercity mobility and regional differences in the nonlinear relationship. Focusing on China’s long-distance and large-scale mobility during the Spring Festival, this paper develops a framework to explain the nonlinear relationship. Using the Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT) model and Tencent Big Data, we find that there are three types of nonlinear relationships, namely plateau (almost zero distance decay parameter), drop (decreasing distance decay parameter) and rebound (increasing distance decay parameter after decreasing). The provincial differences also reveal that the nonlinear relationships depend on the domestic relative location and the intra-provincial urban system. This result shows that the cities in the coastal province enjoy a more inclusive spatial structure, which supports the migration from the periphery of the province. In contrast, the inland cities are concerned with embracing the migrants and settling them down.

Visualising trade-related virtual urban land transfers in China

ABSTRACT As a type of environmental footprint, the concept of virtual land captures the indirect land use embedded in our consumption and trade activities. Utilising the environmentally-extended multi-regional input–output model (EEMRIO) and Kaleidoscope diagram, we visualise for the first time the interprovincial flow of virtual urban land in China. It unveils the intricate urban network connections and the telecoupled interactions between human activities and land use amidst China's rapid urbanisation phase. The results indicate that the eastern region of China emerges as the primary net beneficiary of virtual urban land, whereas the western region stands as the principal net contributor. The local urban land in 65% of the provinces suffices for their own consumption demands. However, provinces like Zhejiang, Henan, and Jiangsu rely heavily on inter-provincial urban land to fulfil their consumption requirements. Inter-regional trade plays a pivotal role in facilitating the flow of land resources, significantly easing the strain between human demands and land availability in the developed coastal provinces of eastern China. Yet, it imposes additional ecological pressure on the more ecologically vulnerable areas in the west. The insights from this research are poised to offer valuable guidance for the Chinese government in harmonising urban development strategies, industrial distribution and the allocation of construction land on a national scale.

Substantial reduction in population exposure to sea level changes along the Chinese mainland coast through emission mitigation

Abstract Rising sea level increases the exposure to flooding and related damage in coastal areas with high population density and substantial economic activity. As global temperatures continue to rise due to climate change, sea levels have been consistently increasing and are projected to continue this upward trend. This study assesses the future exposure at provincial and city levels populations coastal mainland China coast to local sea level changes under five greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenarios from IPCC-AR6, as well as two low-confidence scenarios accounting for the potential impact of uncertain ice sheet processes with low- and high-GHG emissions. We incorporate spatial heterogeneity into regional sea level projections and population projections from 2020 to 2100, extreme sea levels (ESLs) of 10-, 50-, and 100 year return periods (RP), and local coastal protection standards. Our findings indicate that the inundated areas expand continuously within the century with heightened exposure under higher emission scenarios. Although the coastal population is projected to decline, the fraction of the coastal population exposed to flooding increases across all scenarios, with accelerated growth under higher GHG emissions and higher ESLs. Zhejiang and Jiangsu emerge as the provinces most exposed to sea-level rise, whereas Taizhou, Nantong, Wuxi, Panjin, and Huzhou are identified as the top five cities with the highest population exposure to local sea level rise (SLR). Transitioning towards a sustainable scenario (i.e. SSP1-2.6) rather than a fossil fuel-intensive one (i.e. SSP5-8.5) can reduce the local SLR and substantially mitigate these exposures. Compared to the median projections under SSP5-8.5, aligning GHG emissions with SSP1-2.6 could reduce population exposure substantially in all coastal provinces, especially in Jiangsu, where population exposure to 100 year RP coastal floods would be reduced by ∼1.6 M in 2050 and by ∼5.4 M in 2100.

Phytogeographical specificity of bogs of the northwestern Karelian Isthmus (Leningrad Region)

The vegetation of the bogs of the northwestern part of the Karelian Isthmus is characterized. Main attention is paid to oligotrophic, ridge-hollow massifs which are reference for the southern half of the taiga zone, and have reached the ridge-pool stage of development. It was found that the bog vegetation of this part of the Karelian Isthmus differs from that of the rest of the Leningrad Region, having features that bring it closer to the vegetation of the bogs of the Baltic Sea coast. Trichophorum cespitosum occurs constantly, in places abundantly, on the ridge-pool sites of these bogs. Chamaedaphne calyculata is missing. In the herb-dwarf-shrub layer of the ridges, Calluna vulgaris holds undivided dominance, while Rhynchospora alba dominates in the hollows. In the moss layer, Sphagnum cuspidatum dominates in most hollows, S. tenellum in some massifs, and S. rubellum is often found and sometimes dominates on ridges. In the bogs of this part of the Isthmus, both Sphagnum divinum and S. medium grow, their ratio in terms of occupied area and frequency of occurrence varies in both different and sometimes neighboring massifs, and a trend to a gradual decrease of the share of Sphagnum medium along the west–east gradient is observed. Also, they ocupy different habitats. There are few lichens on the ridges, and they do not play any phytocenotic role in the studied bogs. The bogs of the studied area differ sharply in vegetation from the bogs of the South Karelian and East Baltic mire provinces, having many similarities with the bogs of the Baltic Coastal province.

Carbon sink efficiency of Chinese mollusk mariculture

Chinese mollusk mariculture plays a key role in boosting ocean carbon sink capacity through biological processes, supported by large-scale production. However, its full potential remains underutilized due to the absence of comprehensive efficiency evaluations. This interdisciplinary study applies a three-stage approach to assess the carbon sink efficiency of Chinese mollusk mariculture, with a focus on regional variations across nine coastal provinces from 2012 to 2022. The results show that environmental variables and statistical noise distort efficiency scores, leading to overestimation in six provinces and underestimation in three. After adjusting for these influences, regional disparities in efficiency become more apparent. High-production provinces such as Shandong, Fujian, and Guangdong exhibit higher efficiency, while low-production provinces like Hainan show diminished performance. Although there is a positive correlation between production volume and carbon sink efficiency, further improvements are constrained by the sector's low profitability. To address this, we propose two strategies: (1) reallocating subsidies from capture fisheries to mollusk mariculture, and (2) accelerating carbon trading between mollusk mariculture and other industries. These measures could enable the global mollusk mariculture to enhance both its carbon sink capacity and efficiency, contributing to food security and climate change mitigation.

Bidirectional evaluation and differentiation analysis of marine economic resilience in China

With the continuous improvement of the marine economy, the role of marine economic resilience is becoming ever more prominent. This study evaluates China’s marine economic resilience based on a bidirectional evaluation index system, and analyzes spatiotemporal characteristics and regional differences. The results show that: (1) marine economic resilience is increasing in the system object dimension and the resilience attribute dimension in China. Strengthening the protection of marine resources and the environment is important for improving marine economic resilience; (2) the development of marine economic resilience among 11 coastal provinces is unbalanced, forming a three-polar pattern with Shandong as the core in the north, Shanghai as the core in the east, and Guangdong as the core in the south; (3) the difference between the northern marine economic circle and the southern marine economic circle is the main reason for the overall difference.

Impact of Environmental Regulation on the Resilience of Marine Economy: A Case Study of 11 Coastal Provinces and Cities in China

Enhancing marine economic resilience is a necessary response to both domestic and international shocks, and it is also key to achieving the sustainable development of the marine economy. In recent years, rising uncertainties both domestically and internationally have posed significant challenges to the resilience of China’s marine economy. In response, China has continuously strengthened its environmental regulations, influencing the resilience of its marine economy through various environmental regulations. This paper measures marine economy resilience index using panel data from 11 coastal provinces and municipalities in China from 2010 to 2019. It empirically examines the direct impact, spatial spillover effects, and mediating mechanisms of environmental regulations on marine economy resilience. The results show that: (1) Environmental regulations significantly enhance the resilience of the marine economy. Among the various environmental regulation tools, command-and-control regulations have a stronger effect in promoting marine economic resilience compared to market-incentive regulations. (2) Environmental regulations exhibit spatial spillover effects in enhancing marine economic resilience, and the spatial influence of different regulatory tools is heterogeneous. (3) The optimization of marine industrial structure serves as a crucial avenue for environmental regulations to enhance the resilience of the marine economy. This study offers theoretical support and a scientific basis for the adjustment and optimization of environmental regulations and the enhancement of marine economic resilience, while also contributing to the sustainable development of the marine economy.

Spatial–Temporal Development Trends and Influencing Factors of Government Environmental Information Disclosure: Empirical Evidence Based on China’s Provincial Panel Data

Government environmental information disclosure (GEID) plays an important role in promoting the digital transformation of environmental governance, leading the concept of sustainable development, enhancing public oversight capacity, and promoting democratic decision-making governance. Using provincial panel data from China spanning from 2009 to 2021, we conducted spatial data exploratory analysis and used the dynamic spatial panel model to investigate the spatial–temporal development trends and influencing factors of GEID. The results show that (1) GEID in China exhibits significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, with an “H-H” (High-High aggregation type) agglomeration characteristic observed in three national strategic development regions: Yangtze River Delta, southeast coastal areas, and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. (2) The spillover effect from the southeast coastal provinces gradually radiates to the northwest, resulting in an overall westward movement of GEID. (3) GEID exhibits a significant path-dependency feature in the temporal dimension and a “peer effect” in the spatial dimension. (4) Population size has the greatest impact on GEID. Population size, public participation, and the industrial and transportation sectors positively influence GEID improvement at the local level. However, they generate negative spillover effects to neighbouring provinces. Environmental status and the size of the Real Estate sector have no significant effect. Therefore, China should strengthen regional cooperation, narrow regional disparities, cultivate new quality productive forces, establish a government-led proactive disclosure mechanism under public supervision, and improve the level of GEID at the national level.

Exploring the "Double-Edged Sword" effect of the digital economy on sustainable agricultural development: Evidence from China

The prolonged reliance on excessive resource utilization and unsustainable production methods has resulted in significant environmental issues in China, posing serious challenges to the sustainable development of agriculture. While the digital economy offers new opportunities for enhancing agricultural sustainability, its rapid and unregulated growth could also lead to negative effects. Therefore, exploring the relationship between the digital economy and sustainable agriculture development (SAD), along with clarifying the mechanisms involved, is of paramount importance. This study uses the EBM-GML index to calculate AGTFP as a representation of SAD and empirically tests the impact and mechanism of the digital economy on SAD. Additionally, it explores the moderating role of government behavior, specifically Agricultural fiscal support and digital policies. The main findings are as follows: (1) During the observation period, SAD showed a steady upward trend, but regional disparities widened, forming a contiguous agglomeration pattern. The decentralization of the digital economy weakened, trending towards unipolarization and homogenization, with a north-to-south diffusion. (2) The impact of the digital economy on SAD presents an inverted "U" shape, indicating a "double-edged sword" effect. This relationship remains significant after robustness and endogeneity tests. Additionally, the digital economy exhibits significant spatial effects, maintaining an inverted U-shaped relationship with SAD in neighboring areas. (3) Regional heterogeneity shows that coastal provinces are in digital economy suppression or alert areas, while inland regions are in enhancement areas. During the study period, the number of suppression and alert areas did not significantly increase, but there was a trend of shifting from coastal to inland regions. (4) When below the threshold, the digital economy promotes agricultural green technology innovation, optimizes resource allocation, and fosters synergetic agglomeration of agriculture with the secondary and tertiary industries, enhancing SAD. However, surpassing the threshold negatively impacts these mechanisms. (5) Fiscal support for agriculture smooths the inverted "U" curve, mitigating the negative impact of excessive digital economy growth on SAD. Conversely, digital policies steepen the inverted "U" curve, exacerbating these negative effects. The findings highlight the need for balanced digital economic development to support sustainable agricultural growth.

Landscape Dynamics and Environmental Fragility Zoning in Hinh River Basin: Insights for protecting natural ecosystems

The landscapes in the Hinh River Basin are crucial and highly sensitive to climate change for the coastal province of Phu Yen and the entire south-central coastal region of Vietnam, offering vital environmental services to its downstream areas. Hinh River Basin has a rich system of rivers and streams and abundant surface water resources. However, it remains one of the region's top localities at risk and a very vulnerable region. This study aims to evaluate the changes in landscape (LC) over 10 years (2010-2023) and predict LC over the next six years using machine-learning (ML) algorithms on Google Earth Engine. To achieve these study goals, we establish: (i) potential environmental fragility (PEF) levels based on: terrain slope; geological domains; river hierarchy; percentage of sand in soil; annual mean precipitations; and (ii) emergent environmental fragility (EEF) levels through the addition of LC parameter to model. The methodology includes integrating the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) into a Geographic Information System (GIS). Results show that three LC types (water, annual industrial crop, forest) are related to extremely high EEF. The predictive model suggests that, by 2030, the forest and annual industrial crop LCs in the study area will increase by around 20%. The analysis results show that there has been an increase in the area of planted forests, which can confirm the futher effectiveness of agricultural, forestry, afforestation and forest protection programmes in the study area (Plan for the implementation of forestry development strategy for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050, Phu Yen Province, No 126/KH-UBND 13/7/2021; and Decision on the approval of the project for planting 15 million trees in Phu Yen Province for the period 2021-2025, No 1646/QĐ-UBND 16/11/2021).

High-quality marine economic development in China from the perspective of green total factor productivity growth: dynamic changes and improvement strategies

High-quality marine economic development (HMED) is regarded as a new development pattern of the marine economy in China. This paper aims to examine the dynamic changes and improvement strategies of HMED from the perspective of the green total factor productivity (GTFP) growth. First, the GTFP growth of the marine economy in China’s coastal regions for the period 2007–2020 is calculated using the bootstrapped Malmquist index. Second, the dynamic changes and spatial impacts of the GTFP growth are characterized using kernel density estimation (KDE). Moreover, a novel analytical framework to study the improvement strategies of the GTFP is developed. Within this framework, the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method is used to explore the paths to achieve HMED. The findings show that: (i) the GTFP growth for coastal regions shows significant fluctuations, suggesting that a stable pattern of marine economic development has yet to be established; (ii) the regional distribution of GTFP growth varies significantly, with provinces with fast GTFP growth gathering resources from neighboring provinces, resulting in a siphon effect; (iii) for coastal provinces that lack certain development conditions, the combined effect of other advantageous factors can be used to achieve HMED. Finally, this study presents policy recommendations for achieving HMED, which can provide insights into the design of China’s future marine economic policies.

China's logistics evolution: A study of development characteristics and catalytic effects on economic growth.

The impact of logistics development on the economy covers many aspects, such as production, cost, employment, international trade, etc. It is an indispensable part of the modern economy, which helps to improve overall economic efficiency and social prosperity. This study studies the spatiotemporal dynamic evolution characteristics of China's logistics development from 2008 to 2018 and explores its impact on economic growth in multiple dimensions of time and space. The research findings indicate the following: (1) From 2008 to 2018, China's logistics development level (LDL) exhibited a clear upward trend. The differences between the eastern, central, and western regions showed fluctuating downward patterns, ultimately converging towards a high-level concentration. Concerning spatial distribution, China's logistics development demonstrated a trend towards the west and south. However, the spatial pattern of "strong in the east and weak in the west " has existed for a long time. Moreover, the "T-shaped" pattern between coastal provinces and those along the Yangtze River Basin deepened, and the LDL in the central and western regions significantly improved. (2) The advancement of China's LDL effectively promotes its economic growth, confirming that the Belt and Road Initiative enhances the role of logistics development in driving economic growth. Regarding regional differences, logistics development positively influences economic growth in the eastern and western regions, with a less significant impact on the central region. Regarding the strength of influence, logistics development has a more substantial effect on promoting high-ranking provinces in the entire country, the eastern region, and the central region, as well as boosting economic growth in low-ranking provinces in the western region.

Variations in some Morphological Indicators of Tubuca rhizophorae Regarding Sex and Site at Bac Lieu and Ca Mau

This study was conducted to supplement information on the fluctuation of some morphological characteristics for species identification of Tubuca rhizophorae in some coastal provinces of the Mekong Delta. A total of 407 individuals (296 males and 111 females) were collected by hand in Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces from January 2024 to April 2024. The analysis results showed that Tubuca rhizophorae exhibited differences in manus width (MW3), pollex width (PW5), and dactyl width (DW7) between the two sampling sites (p<0.05). Specifically, MW3, PW5, DW7 values in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu were 1.55±0.01 and 1.62±0.02; 0.54±0.01 and 0.59±0.01; 0.48±0.01 and 0.53±0.01, respectively. Similarly, carapace width [CW(L-R) and CW(R-L)] and manus width (MW2) showed significant change with sex (p<0.05). Specifically, CW(L-R), CW(R-L), and MW2 of females and males were 12.30±0.10 and 12.99±0.08; 12.31±0.09 and 12.93±0.08; 1.03±0.02 and 1.17±0.03, respectively. The results also noted that environmental factors such as temperature, salinity, and pH displayed a positive relationship with morphological trait variations of this species.

Valuing community awareness and willingness to pay for marine environment management: empirical analysis in coastal central region of Vietnam

Vietnam is a country with strengths in marine resources and economy. The coast provides habitats and livelihoods for millions of households but is in decline due to economic activity and climate change. This study’s purpose is to evaluate the awareness of people in the central coastal provinces of Vietnam about marine environmental values and their willingness to pay for the management and improvement of marine environmental quality. The study applied a binary random assessment model and surveyed 980 households in 4 coastal provinces to evaluate community payments. The results show that people have good awareness of tangible environmental values, associated with life and livelihood. They also highly agree with protecting marine environmental values and emphasize passing these values on to future generations. Community payment for sea environment management was estimated at 420 thousand/household/year in parametric model and 398 VND thousand/household/year in non-parametric model. Bid level, income and education are main factors affecting people’s ability to pay. The study also proposes implications for marine environmental management including strengthening community awareness and capacity, establishing financial mechanisms for community-led conservation at the local level, and integrating education marine environmental values for high school students to aim for sustainability in community awareness and behavior.

Can the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ initiative improve the opening-up of China’s coastal provinces?

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) serves as China’s blueprint and major strategy for opening-up in the new era. This study theoretically examines three mechanisms of the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ (CMSR) to promote the opening up of provinces and cities along the line, including the allocation, integration, and circulation mechanisms. Using 2009–2021 data from prefecture-level cities, this study designed a quasi-natural experiment based on the CMSR by combining propensity score matching (PSM) and differences-in-differences (DID) methods. The study findings show CMSR significantly promoted China’s opening-up. Various robustness tests demonstrate that our findings are robust. Mechanism analysis shows that CMSR improved China’s opening-up by promoting the flow of production factors, integrating domestic and international product markets, and accelerating circulation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that CMSR strongly influences large, coastal, and nonprovincial cities. These findings provide a new perspective for evaluating the policy effects of the 21st CMSR.