Economic Belt Research Articles

Research on Empowering the Development of Green Finance in the Yangtze River Delta Economic Belt with Digital Economy

This article constructs a model of the development trend of green finance under the influence of various factors such as big data and the Internet of Things through literature review and personal practice. Based on the pattern of domestic "dual carbon" environment driving the vigorous development of digital economy, it solves the problem of the effect differences under traditional financial system, credit constraint mechanism, and financial supervision on the development of green finance. At present, green finance in the Chinese market is only at a relatively large scale, but it has broad development prospects and can further break through with the development of the digital economy. Therefore, exploring it, finding the right direction and reasonable development strategies can improve the quality and efficiency of China's financial market.

Research on Spatio-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Driving Factors of Tourism Destination Environmental System Resilience in Yangtze River Economic Belt

Research on Spatio-Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Driving Factors of Tourism Destination Environmental System Resilience in Yangtze River Economic Belt

Analysis of the Current Situation of Sustainable Development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on SDGs

This paper evaluates the level of sustainable development of 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2011 to 2020, and analyzes its spatial and temporal differentiation and trend evolution characteristics. This paper adopts the coupling coordination model based on CRITIC-entropy weight combination weight, spatial autocorrelation model, spatial Markov chain and other methods, based on the measurement indicators of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and conducts a comprehensive evaluation from four aspects: innovation-driven, welfare guarantee, resources and environment, and economic development. The research results show that the sustainable development level of the Yangtze River Economic Belt presents the characteristics of continuous improvement, regional difference, hierarchical leap, spatial dependence, spillover effect, etc. According to the research findings, this paper puts forward some suggestions, such as strengthening regional coordinated development, optimizing spatial planning and governance, coordinating policies and work, promoting rule of law and innovation, etc., aiming to promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, achieve the coordinated development of economy, society and ecology, and localize the SDGs. This paper’s research has important theoretical significance and practical value for deeply understanding the current situation and problems of sustainable development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Exploring the mechanisms affecting energy consumption in the construction industry using an integrated theoretical framework: Evidence from the Yangtze River economic Belt

Significant environmental challenges remain due to growing construction industry energy consumption (CIEC). Most existing studies focus on energy consumption at the city level, neglecting industry-level perspectives. To clearly explain the CIEC mechanism in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), this study adopts panel data from the YREB collected by the Chinese government from 2004 to 2020 and constructs an analytical model of the CIEC impact mechanism. Through Granger causality, impulse response function, and variance decomposition analyses, we found that technological innovation has an inverted U-shape and the greatest impact on CIEC, with a contribution rate gradually increasing with the cycle, finally reaching 0.4 %. The impact of urban development and foreign direct investment on CIEC shows a gradual upward trend, with a final contribution rate of 0.3 %; and the impact of urban resident population on CIEC is very small, with a contribution rate of only 0.1 %. Therefore, this study provides a new theoretical framework for future research on energy consumption and a theoretical basis for CIEC management from a government and construction industry manager perspectives.

Large-scale land use/land cover extraction from Landsat imagery using feature relationships matrix based deep-shallow learning

Deep learning has demonstrated its effectiveness in capturing high-level features, with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) excelling in remote sensing classification. However, CNNs encounter challenges when applied to Landsat images with limited multi-spectral bands, as they struggle to learn stable features from the spectral domain and integrate them with spatial features to enhance accuracy. Additionally, most CNN applications focus on learning features directly from the raw image, making them susceptible to spectral environment changes. To overcome these limitations, this paper introduces a novel approach for large-scale Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) extraction from Landsat OLI images. The proposed classification architecture comprises two modules. The first module utilizes a feature relationships matrix to generate an extent feature map (EFM), and a specifically designed CNN structure learns deep features from the EFM and spatial domain. In the second module, a multiple classifiers system (MCS) is employed to obtain shallow learning features, which are further enhanced by another CNN structure through continued learning. The combined features from these modules contribute to improved classification of remote sensing images. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed method effectively acquires stable features for training deep learning models with strong generalization ability. It exhibits significant advancements in accuracy improvement and large-scale LULC extraction in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China, surpassing comparative approaches based on deep learning and non-deep learning methods.

Study on Transportation Green Efficiency and Spatial Correlation in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), a crucial transportation corridor spanning China’s east and west and linking coastal and inland regions, is not only pivotal in the nation’s strategic development but also drives regional economic and social progress through its transportation industry. Despite rapid growth, the industry faces challenges such as low efficiency, resource supply–demand imbalances, and environmental issues. To advance green and sustainable progress, this study establishes a regional transportation green efficiency evaluation system. Using principal component analysis (PCA) to refine input data, the undesirable super-SBM model quantitatively assesses green transportation efficiency (GTE) in YREB provinces and cities, revealing regional disparities. The study also explores spatial correlations and distribution characteristics of GTE. Results indicate that ① YREB’s GTE shows a U-shaped trend, with significant differences between upper, middle, and lower reaches, being stronger in the east and weaker in the west (lower > middle > upper reaches); ② GTE exhibits spatial correlation in YREB regions, with clear clustering; and ③ cold and hot spots of GTE in the middle reaches are relatively stable, with upstream areas generally cold or sub-cold, and hot spots mainly downstream.

Evaluating the Evolution and Regional Disparities in Green Finance within the Yangtze River Economic Belt: A Longitudinal Analysis from 2007 to 2020

Evaluating the Evolution and Regional Disparities in Green Finance within the Yangtze River Economic Belt: A Longitudinal Analysis from 2007 to 2020

Sustainability under policy transitions in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China: Historical and the shared socio-economic pathways

China has responded to the sustainability challenges via a range of policies with evolving objectives in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB) since the 1990s. However, the multi-scale analysis of YEB's comprehensive sustainability and the human-environment nexus amid policy impact remains unexplored. A comprehensive review and forecast of historical and future sustainability pathways under policy impacts are imperative. Here, we systematically examined sustainability under ten National Policies (NPs) and Regional Development Policies (RDPs), forecasting Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) in the 21st Century using the entropy weight method and machine learning models. We found that RDPs have contributed to 1.6 times increase in human development from 2000 to 2018 across dimensions of demography, economy, and society in YEB. However, it also revealed that the west-east disparity has widened from 0.14 to 0.19 during this period. Conservation efforts and national initiatives for ecological civilization have led to environmental improvement in the YEB, especially after the RDP3 in 2014, when the eastern provinces, like Shanghai, have already surpassed the peak inverted U-shape curve of the environmental-human nexus. Among the SSPs, SSP1 shows the most sustainable scenario with the lowest ecological footprint at 6.2 hm2 per capita and the highest value of regional sustainability and environmental subsystem. To achieve SSP1, an iterative, inclusive, and context-specific Science-Policy-Practice dialogue is essential. This enables feedback loops and collaboration among policymakers, scientists, and practitioners to foster regional sustainability by studying the implications of historical and future pathways.

Effect of eco-compensation policy on the environmental quality varies with city size and location in China’s Yangtze river economic belt

Effect of eco-compensation policy on the environmental quality varies with city size and location in China’s Yangtze river economic belt

Spatiotemporal variations in the association between PM2.5 and ozone in the yangtze river economic belt: Impacts of meteorological and emissions factors

PM2.5 and O3 are the primary air pollutants affecting air quality in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). We analyzed the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the association between PM2.5 and O3 using the Pearson correlation coefficient and geographically weighted regression methods, as well as the effects of meteorological and emissions factors. In the YREB, pollution days attributed to PM2.5 have consistently decreased, while pollution days attributed to O3 began decreasing in 2020 after a continuous increase. When PM2.5 levels were below approximately 37 μg/m3, O3 levels increased as PM2.5 levels rose. However, as PM2.5 levels continued to increase, O3 levels began to decline, except in the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau (YKP). The inflection point gradually decreased from 64 μg/m3 in 2015 to 31 μg/m3 in 2021. The positive PM2.5–O3 association strengthened from 2015 to 2018, and it reached a relatively stable state after 2018. Further investigation revealed that the O3 levels were significantly affected by the boundary layer height (BLH) in the Sichuan Basin (SCB). In the YKP, PM2.5 levels were more strongly affected by wind speed and BLH in spring. Emissions were predominantly positively associated with PM2.5, exhibiting a positive association with O3 in summer but a negative one in winter. Temperature and solar radiation were the key factors affecting the PM2.5–O3 association. In addition, the emission reductions of primary PM2.5, NH3, and NOx enhanced the PM2.5–O3 association.

The Significance of Chinese Cultural Dissemination from The Perspective of the "Silk Road".

With the gradual advancement of the Silk Road Economic Belt, the cultural dissemination of the Silk Road has also become very important, and it is necessary to rely on the function of the Silk Road to spread China's excellent traditional culture and promote the development between China and the countries along the Silk Road. How to make good use of the intermediary nature of the Silk Road to spread China's culture, this paper will explain the significance of Chinese cultural communication from the cultural communication channels of the ancient Silk Road, and put forward suggestions on how to better promote the communication of Chinese culture in combination with the current era.

Dynamic evolution of urban resilience and its coupling mechanism with EF3D-driven natural capital utilization: Case study in three typical urban agglomerations of China

Improving urban resilience (UR) and natural capital utilization are critical for supporting regional sustainable development. However, most of the previous studies have separately assessed them, and their coupling mechanism is still unclear. This study develops a cloud model-based urban resilience (UR) assessment framework to explore the dynamic evolution of UR in the three typical urban agglomerations of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). Natural capital utilization is analyzed by an improved ecological footprint (EF3D) model. Coupling Coordination Degree (CCD) and Environmental Kuznets Theory (EKC) are integrated for revealing the relationship between UR and natural capital utilization. Results show that UR in the YREB shows an increasing trend with an average annual rate of 1.33%, and there is a significant difference in the sub-dimensions of UR. Water system resilience generally has a positive impact on UR in the early periods, but its impact later becomes negative, with over 45% of all cities' UR being negatively affected by water system resilience. The spatial distribution of EF3D shows a decentralized trend in the YREB. The consumption of resource stocks represented by ecological footprint depth increases during the period from 2000 to 2015, with increase rates of 1.09%, 4.73%, and 3.42% for the upstream, midstream, and downstream urban agglomerations, respectively. The CCD between UR and natural capital utilization increases from an intermediate coordination stage to a well-coordinated stage. The EKC analysis discloses that UR and natural capital utilization present inverted U-shaped curves in three urban agglomerations with spatial differences. The inflection point of UR in the upstream is earlier (in 2008) than that in the midstream (in 2014) and downstream (in 2015) urban agglomerations. Findings can help quantify the development space for each city to enter into coordinated development in the future.

Fostering inclusive green growth in China: Identifying the impact of the regional integration strategy of Yangtze River Economic Belt

Inclusive green growth has garnered significant attention from governments and international organizations worldwide. Utilizing data from 282 cities in China spanning from 2010 to 2020, this study employs the dual machine learning model and the chain mediated effect model to delve into the effects and internal mechanisms of the regional integration of Yangtze River Economic Belt on inclusive green growth. Our findings indicate that the regional integration of Yangtze River Economic Belt has a substantial influence on inclusive green growth, particularly in cities with a higher degree of marketization, non-industrial cities, and cities lacking natural resource advantages. Mechanistic analysis reveals that the regional integration of Yangtze River Economic Belt exerts its influence on inclusive green growth through three parallel development paths including enhancing urban innovation levels, fostering mass entrepreneurship, and promoting the advancement of digital financial inclusion. Furthermore, the chain mediated effect is supported. Additionally, the spatial spillover effect of target policy is observed. These findings offer empirical evidence regarding the impact of the regional integration of Yangtze River Economic Belt on inclusive green growth, and provide valuable insights for optimizing and enhancing inclusive green growth strategies in China and other emerging economies.

Impact path of digital economy on carbon emission efficiency: Mediating effect based on technological innovation

The digital economy (DIE), a new economic form with digitalization at its core, has become an important driving force for promoting regional economy development. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the impact path of the DIE on carbon emission efficiency (CEE) is conducive to giving full play to the “carbon-reduction-and-efficiency-enhancement” role of the DIE, and to promoting the realization the “dual carbon” goal of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. In this paper, the Yellow River Basin (YRB) and the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) are taken as study areas, the panel Tobit model is used to explore the impact of the DIE on CEE, and the intermediary-effect model and threshold-effect model are constructed to test the intermediary and threshold effects of technological innovation, respectively. The results show that the DIE has a U-shaped nonlinear impact on CEE in both the YRB and the YREB and that the impact has regional heterogeneity. Technological innovation can play a mediating effect between the DIE and CEE, whereas the mediating effect in the YRB is stronger than that in the YREB. Technological innovation has a threshold effect on the DIE to improve CEE, while the threshold value in the YREB is higher than that in the YRB. Furthermore, this paper proposes some suggestions to guide regional low-carbon and sustainable development.

Integrating ecosystem service value in the disclosure of landscape ecological risk changes: a case study in Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Urban expansion and inappropriate land uses have caused a decline in the regional ecosystem services capacity, which is contrary to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 aiming to protect and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Landscape ecological risk (LER) visually depicts the disturbances to ecosystem services and environmental shifts resulting from human activities. Consideration of ecosystem services in LER assessment has not been sufficiently researched. Here, we employed ecosystem service values (ESV) to define landscape vulnerability, and adopted an enhanced risk assessment framework, amalgamating landscape patterns and ecosystem processes, to evaluate the spatial-temporal shifts in ESV and LER in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2000 to 2020. We attempted to analyze the relationship between LER and anthropogenic disturbances. The results showed that over the past 20 years, the general trend revealed a diminishing high-risk area, while medium and low-risk regions expanded. Notably, the urban agglomeration of the YREB experienced a marked surge in risk. Regarding migration direction, the low-risk category has expanded in the east–west direction, while the medium and high-risk categories have shown inward contraction mainly in the north–south direction. The findings highlight the complex changes between ecological processes and LER under anthropogenic disturbances, and can serve as a guide for sustainable risk management and the development of ecological security patterns.

The Effect of Government Environmental Auditing on the Efficiency of Green Development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt under the Background of Big Data

The issue of environmental pollution has grown more noticeable due to the rapid expansion of our country's economy. The urgent demand for sustainable growth and the protection of ecological environment has arisen. In such a context, the role of governmental environmental audits is of utmost importance. This article is based on the background of the big data, from a variety of vantage points, this paper investigates the mechanisms and direct effects of government environmental assessments on green development efficacy in 108 localities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The study's results signify the following: (1) Government environmental evaluations substantially increase green development efficacy, even when no other control variables are taken into account. (2) The principal factors that impact such efficiency in the YREB are industrial structure upgrading and local government competition. (3) Robust tests conducted through variable substitution, estimation method replacement, and sample period alteration consistently yield significant results. This research holds significant implications for expanding the research perspective on governmental environmental audits, addressing ecological environmental issues, promoting high-quality green growth in the YREB, and achieving sustainable growth.

Quantifying the trends and affecting factors of CO2 emissions under different urban development patterns: An econometric study on the Yangtze river economic belt in China

Environmental issues are rarely investigated within the framework of different urban development patterns, especially concerning CO2 emissions. This research works to reveal the trends and determining factors of urban CO2 emissions under different urban development patterns. Taking the cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as an example, this study develops an identification system in light of the dynamics of urban population and population density to categorize urban development patterns as growth, potential shrinkage, smart shrinkage, and continuous shrinkage. Then, the Theil-sen medium analysis and spatial econometric modeling are applied to shed light on the trend and influencing factors of CO2 emissions, respectively. The findings indicate that urban growth and potential shrinkage are the main development patterns in the YREB, and the percentage of growing cities and potentially shrinking cities is more than 77 % across the different geographic areas of the YREB. CO2 emissions are remarkably heterogeneous under different urban development patterns. Over 90 % of cities show a growth trend or fluctuation in per capita CO2 emissions under the four development patterns during 2010∼2019. Only a few growing and potentially shrinking cities show a decreasing trend in per capita carbon emissions, suggesting a severe peak carbon challenge in the YREB. CO2 emissions in growing and shrinking cities are significantly influenced by their neighboring cities. Factors affecting CO2 emissions are different in shrinking and growing cities, and spatial spillover effects enhance the role of these factors. Compared with growing cities, improving population concentration, developing appropriate tertiary industries, strictly controlling land expansion, and developing green areas can pave the way for carbon emission reduction in shrinking cities. This study can support designing efficient carbon emission reduction measures for various cities.

The Coupling Coordination between Digital Economy and Green High-Quality Development of Industries in China’s the Yangtze River Economic Belt

The Coupling Coordination between Digital Economy and Green High-Quality Development of Industries in China’s the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Spatiotemporal pattern of NPP and its response to climatic factors in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Net primary productivity (NPP) of terrestrial ecosystems serves as a crucial carbon sink, playing a significant role in mitigating climate change. This study, focusing on the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), a key area for both economic development and ecological conservation in China, evaluates the temporal and spatial changes in regional NPP and its responses to climatic factors against the backdrop of global change. Utilizing long-term NPP and meteorological grid data from 1981 to 2017, we analyzed the annual change patterns of NPP and its linear and nonlinear responses to climatic factors using copula functions. Our findings indicate that 57.00 % of the YREB has experienced a significant increase in NPP, with the most substantial decreases observed in Shanghai and its surrounding areas (P < 0.05). Temperature emerged as the primary climatic driver, positively correlating with NPP changes in over half of the study area (P < 0.05). Moreover, the nonlinear response of NPP to temperature and precipitation underscores the complex interactions between these factors, revealing a sensitivity to temperature variations that surpasses that to precipitation. The study also highlights the influence of solar radiation and topographic factors, with a significant positive correlation between NPP and solar radiation observed in 15.85 % of the area (P < 0.05). The practical significance of these findings lies in their implications for regional ecological management and climate resilience strategies. The positive correlation between temperature and NPP underscores the potential for targeted temperature management to optimize carbon sequestration across the YREB. Furthermore, the identified nonlinear responses and the role of solar radiation and topography in influencing NPP offer valuable insights for the formulation of adaptive strategies that enhance ecosystem productivity and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality goals. By elucidating the dynamics of NPP in response to a range of environmental factors, this study provides a foundation for informed decision-making in ecological conservation and climate change mitigation efforts within the YREB and similar regions globally.

Analysis of regional differences and evolution features for waterway transport efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Belt considering undesired outputs

Waterway transport plays an increasingly important role in pursuing the sustainable development of the transportation industry and promoting regional economic development. Understanding the regional differences and evolution features of waterway transport efficiency (WTE) is a requisite for formulating waterway transport development policies. However, many studies of transport efficiency mainly focus on road, railway, and air transportation. Few studies have conducted an in-depth analysis of the WTE in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from the perspective of considering undesired output. Adopting the Super slack-based measure (Super-SBM) model, Dagum Gini coefficient, and kernel density estimation as an analysis tool, this study explored the WTE’s region disparities and dynamic evolution features based on the data from 2011 to 2020 in YREB. The analysis results represent that: (1) there represented a fluctuating and slowly upward trend of waterway transport efficiency during the study period. (2) The midstream region has the highest waterway transport efficiency, followed by the upstream region, and last is the downstream region. (3) The regional disparities in waterway transport efficiency exist in YREB, and the primary source of these differences is the inter-regional difference. And (4) the polarization phenomenon and agglomeration characteristics of waterway transport efficiency in YREB are gradually weakened and decreased, respectively. In the end, this article summarized the implications of this study to improve the waterway transport efficiency and service capabilities in YREB.