Economic Zones In China Research Articles

Econometrics of the environmental Kuznets curve: Testing advancement to carbon intensity-oriented sustainability for eight economic zones in China

Threats posed by global climate change have heightened the urgency for economies to transition to sustainability. However, quantitative metrics that measure sustainability status remain under development, hampered in part by the difficulty of identifying clear relationships between economic growth and sustainability. The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis provides a framework for describing sustainability status relative to socioeconomic development. In this study, the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was adopted to investigate statistical relationships between the carbon intensity of human well-being (as an indicator of sustainability) and economic development in eight economic zones of China during 1997–2015. The results provide new evidence that seven of eight Chinese economic zones began advances to sustainability (defined here as downward turning points marked by inverted “N” shapes in the Environmental Kuznets Curve) between 2012 and 2015. The lone exception was the Northwestern economic zone, in which an approach to sustainability had not yet occurred by 2015. This study thus supports the contention that environmental policies and technologies have contributed to improving sustainability in terms of carbon intensity. The results suggest two strategic options for further increasing sustainability in China: 1) “first help the weakest”; and 2) “first help the latest to sustainability”.

Study on coupling coordination and spatiotemporal heterogeneity between economic development and ecological environment of cities along the Yellow River Basin.

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) is an important ecological barrier and an important economic zone in China. Under the new requirements of realizing ecological protection and high-quality development of the YRB, the coordinated development of basin economic development and ecological environment is an urgent research topic. Taking 36 cities along the Yellow River Basin as samples, this paper constructs an evaluation index system of economic development and ecological environment. The coupling coordination model and geographical weighted regression were adopted to analyze the coupling coordination relationship between economic development and ecological environment from 2008 to 2017, and the influencing factors were analyzed. The results showed that (1) the coupling coordination of urban economic development and ecological environment along the YRB showed significant regional heterogeneity, forming a low-value sag of the Loess Plateau; (2) the regional hot spots in the downstream of the YRB continuously extended inland, while these in the midstream converged; (3) the coupling coordination degree between economic development and ecological environment is affected by factors such as population size, openness, and advanced industrial structure, and the intensity varies significantly among regions.

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Water Use Efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Zone in China: Based on Undesirable Super-efficiency EBM-DEA Model

Xie, Y. and Song, Y., 2020. Spatiotemporal analysis of urban water use efficiency of the Yangtze River Economic Zone in China: Based on undesirable super-efficiency EBM-DEA model. In: Yang, Y.; Mi, C.; Zhao, L., and Lam, S. (eds.), Global Topics and New Trends in Coastal Research: Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 103, pp. 458–463. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.Water is an important social and economic resource for the sustainable development of mankind. This paper measures water use efficiency (WUE) of 106 cities in Yangtze River Economic Zone (YREZ) of China during 2006-2017 based on undesirable super-efficiency EBM-DEA model which takes sewage and social output into consideration. The results show that: (1) On average, WUE (technical efficiency, TE) of the YREZ does not reach efficient level, of which the west performs best among the three regions. Furthermore, pure technical efficiency (PTE) in the middle and west as well as scale efficiency (SE) in the east is constraint factor of their WUE respectively. (2) WUE in most cities is found above 0.4, and in a few cities is found efficient. (3) It must be noted that all capital cities' technical efficiency are revealed to be restrained by their SE. (4) Whether on overall level or regional level, WUE has been decreasing over time except for 2017, but the annual decreasing rate is becoming smaller and smaller and even convert to increasing rate in 2017. (5) The change of WUE mainly depends on efficiency change, and the deceasing of it should be attributed to technology regress. (6) More attention should be paid to the east whose total decreasing rate is largest and annual decreasing rate fluctuates greatest over time. These findings may provide a scientific basis for further studies on city level WUE and practical water resource management in the YREZ.

Comparing the spatial and temporal dynamics of urban expansion in Guangzhou and Shenzhen from 1975 to 2015: A case study of pioneer cities in China’s rapid urbanization

The distinct urbanization process of China has attracted worldwide attention because of its impressive speed, massive scale, and policy intervention. However, the interrelationship between urban expansion and government policies is still not well understood. The Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration of China is the first national pioneering urbanization area since the implementation of the policy “Reform and Opening-up” in the late 1970s. Here we compared the spatial and temporal patterns of urbanization in two leading cities of the Pearl River Delta (i.e., Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the provincial capital and the first Special Economic Zone of China, respectively) from 1975 to 2015, using Landsat data integrated with urban growth and landscape metrics analysis, and examined possible footprints of major economic and urbanization policies. Our results illustrated that urban land areas in both Guangzhou and Shenzhen have experienced magnificent annual growth rates at 8.1% and 11%, respectively between 1975 and 2015. On average, Shenzhen witnessed substantially higher urban growth rate than Guangzhou during the past four decades, particularly in the initial period (1978–1990) when the Reform and Opening-up policy was launched and Shenzhen was designated as the first Special Economic Zone in China in the late 1970s. However, the speed of urban expansion in Shenzhen became considerably lower than Guangzhou from 2005 to 2015, subject to physical conditions and a series of urban land use policies. Both cities showed a generally similar dynamics of urban growth forms with leapfrogging as the predominant type of urban growth at first and then edge-expansion while the contribution of infilling in Shenzhen was higher than that in Guangzhou, especially since 2005. The urbanization processes characterized by landscape and urban growth metrics revealed that a diffusion-coalescence-diffusion-coalescence process was identified for Guangzhou, while Shenzhen was generally consistent with the diffusion-coalescence urban growth hypothesis.

The disequilibrium in the distribution of the primary health workforce among eight economic regions and between rural and urban areas in China

BackgroundEquity is one of the major goals of China’s new medical reforms launched in 2009. This study aimed to analyze the disequilibrium in primary health care (PHC) workforce among various economic zones in China and to compare the fairness between urban and rural areas since the implementation of the new medical reforms.MethodAccording to China’s 11th Five-Year Plan, China is divided into eight economic regions. The data of this study were obtained from China Statistical Yearbook 2009–2016. The Atkinson index was used to depict the trend of PHC workforce fairness; the Gini coefficient was used to compare the fairness of workforce distribution between urban and rural areas; the health resource agglomeration degree was used to analyze the distributional equity of the workforce in the eight regions; and the Theil Index was used to compare the fairness of urban and rural workforce distribution across eight regions.ResultThe Atkinson index indicated that the equity of the entire PHC workforce allocation had generally improved during the new medical reforms; the Gini coefficient indicated that the fairness of the entire workforce allocation had improved in cities, but only the nurse allocation became fairer in rural areas. The agglomeration degree and the Theil index indicated that the fairness gaps across the eight regions were still large. These analyses differed from previous studies where China was divided into western, central and eastern regions. In what was previously defined as eastern region, the northeast was under-resourced, while the eastern coastal areas were observing a resource surplus. In western region, we found that the fairness in the northwest was significantly worse than southwest.ConclusionIn China, the distribution of healthcare workforce has been improved with continuous effort. The gaps in the distribution of PHC workforce across different economic regions and between urban and rural areas are still large, with different regions facing different problems. The government should consider the population and geographical factors in allocation of PHC workforce, especially nurses.

Analysis and Prediction of the Coupling Coordination Relationship between Tourism and Air Environment: Yangtze River Economic Zone in China as Example

The results show that the comprehensive development degree (CDD) of the tourism-air environment system mainly maintains stable with fluctuation and the gap among different reaches in the Zone is declining; the coupling coordination degree’s (CCD) tendency in most regions remains similar as in the previous decade. The results illustrate that the method combing information entropy weight and the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (IEW-TOPSIS), coupling coordination degree model (CCDM), and gray GM (1, 1) prediction model is effective in evaluating the coupling coordination relationship between the subsystems of tourism and air environment and in proposing specific countermeasures for tourism development and air environment governance.

Assessing Synergies, Linkages and the Role of Hainan Special Economic Zone in Development of Natural Rubber Ecosystem

China has successfully created value and wealth, by integrating its industrial and technological development with Global Value Chains through deployment of economic zones. This paper looks at Hainan Special Economic Zone (‘HSEZ’), which was established as the largest special economic zone in China and has grown into second largest contributor of Natural Rubber (‘NR’) production in China. HSEZ has played a key role in design and development of socio-economic policies by acting as a ‘greenhouse’ to test these policies, and in process delivering extraordinary results. The application of triple helix structure to design policies, utilize institutions and implement initiatives by the HSEZ has allowed it to develop some key clusters within the zone where NR ecosystem is regarded as a great accomplishment. This paper identifies the output variables for socio-economic impact rendered by the HSEZ, and output variables of the local NR ecosystem. It then correlates and regresses them to gain insight on the synergies and linkages between the HSEZ’s vibrant environment and the local NR ecosystem. It also looks into new technologies and innovations that are being diffused from universities and research centers with the help of the private sector, under liberal but protective regulations instituted by the government agencies, and seamlessly flowing into the local NR ecosystem. These innovations are helping to address challenges and transforming this traditional but strategic agricultural industry in China, thereby opening venues for its growth and sustainability. This study builds up on primary data collected from visit to the province, discussions with stakeholders in Hainan and analysis of secondary data from various public sources. The results show that HSEZ, has successfully created a ‘collaborative and conducive environment’ that binds key ingredients of the natural rubber ecosystem together. On one hand, NR based entrepreneurial ecosystem has formed significant linkages within the HSEZ thereby influencing its gross regional product, government revenue, employment, investments, trade and innovation. On the other hand, NR based entrepreneurial ecosystem retains its uniqueness, and strengthens its contribution to the global and regional trade supply chains. Keywords: Trade & Environment, Government Policy, Agriculture, Technological Change JEL: F18, L78, O13, O33

Comparative study of municipal solid waste disposal in three Chinese representative cities

China is facing severe environmental problems, the total municipal solid waste (MSW) generation has dramatically increased and presented great challenges all over the country. Cities have different characteristics in MSW components, generation quantity, influencing factors and disposal ways. Beijing, Guangzhou and Lhasa of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic circle, Pearl River Delta economic zone, and Qinghai-Tibet plateau regions were selected as representative cities, to compare and analyze the features, influencing factors to the MSW generation quantities, and its components by grey correlation analysis. Predictions of MSW generation quantities for Beijing, Guangzhou and Lhasa in 2025 would be 1251.22, 704.71 and 71.040 million tons, respectively, made by BP (back propagation) nerve work using MATLAB software. Results showed that the main indicators of influencing factors to MSW in three cities were all of economic development levels, population and investments of government input. Based on the analysis of internal relationship and characteristics of MSW, some barriers of MSW management were analyzed, and recommendations were given. Our study analyzed the influencing factors and forecasted quantities of MSW generation in representative cities in China, providing valuable evidences for the severe MSW disposal situation of different economic zones in China.

Adaption to climate change risk in eastern China: Carbon emission characteristics and analysis of reduction path

To improve its ability to adapt to climate change, China has promised considerable carbon emission reduction and proposed the policy strategy of “energy revolution”. Considering the lowest carbon emission intensity and the greatest mitigation task in the Eastern Economic Zone of China, this paper analyses the change of carbon emission intensity in Eastern China from 2000 to 2015. First, to prove the significance of carbon emission intensity, this paper studies the cointegration relationship between carbon emissions and the GDP. Afterwards, from the spatiotemporal perspective, this paper decomposes and analyses the carbon emission intensity of the whole country, Eastern China and the provinces of Eastern China and quantifies the impact of different factors. This paper finds that the energy structure of China and the East was in a relatively stable state during this period. In the past, the decrease in carbon emission intensity mainly depended on the improvement of sectoral emission efficiency, and the influence of industrial structure is growing. Furthermore, changes in the eastern region are similar to those in the whole country. The eastern region needs to give full play to its economic advantage in the future. On the spatial scale, GDP per capita and the ratio of tertiary industry have a significant impact on the spatial heterogeneity of carbon emission intensity in East China, while the ratio of secondary industry has few effects. Replacing energy-intensive industry with the service industry will be the focus of emission reduction in the future.

Study on Total Factor Carbon Emission Efficiency in the Yangtze River Economic Zone, China

With the continuous acceleration of the modernization process, the Eco-environmental problems of the Yangtze River Economic Zone in China have become increasingly prominent, which makes the study of carbon emission efficiency become a long-term concern. Based on the panel data of 11 provinces and cities of the Yangtze River Economic Zone in 2009～2016, this paper calculates the DEA-Malmquist index of the Total Factor Carbon Emission Efficiency containing undesirable output in various provinces and cities and three major regions. By studying the DEA-Malmquist index and its decomposition, the results show that the Total Factor Carbon Emission Efficiency of various regions in the Yangtze River Economic Zone presents a growth trend, and its main contribution comes from technological progress. In the future, the emission reduction rules of the Yangtze River Economic Zone will be transformed from the traditional top-down emission reduction model to the bottom-up “independent contribution” emission reduction model.

Study on Green Development Efficiency of Yangtze Economic Zone in China considering Resources and Environment

This paper evaluates the green development efficiency of 11 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Zone considering resources and environment. Input factors include assets, human resources and resources. Output takes into account GDP and major pollutants (as unexpected output). This paper makes a static analysis of the economic development efficiency of the provinces and municipalities in 2015. Considering the resource and environment constraints, the overall economic development efficiency is constrained to a certain extent. The Malmquist index model is used to calculate the changes of economic efficiency in 2005-2015, which is decomposed into pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency and technological progress index. Considering the impact of resources and environment, the overall economic efficiency of 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Zone showed an upward trend in 11 years, with an average MI index of 1.014. Technological efficiency (EC) is declining as a whole. Pure technical efficiency (PEC) is the main factor that causes the decline of technical efficiency, while technological progress (TC) is an important factor to promote the increase of development efficiency during the research period. The results of regional analysis show that the decline of technological efficiency (EC) in Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei and Anhui provinces is mainly affected by pure technological efficiency (PEC). The decline of technological efficiency (EC) in Guizhou, Jiangxi and Jiangsu provinces is mainly affected by scale efficiency (SEC).

Impact of Urbanization on Ecosystem Health: A Case Study in Zhuhai, China.

The past decades have witnessed rapid urbanization around the world. This is particularly evident in Zhuhai City, given its status as one of the earliest special economic zones in China. After experiencing rapid urbanization for decades, the level of ecosystem health (ESH) in Zhuhai City has become a focus of attention. Assessments of urban ESH and spatial correlations between urbanization and ESH not only reveal the states of urban ecosystems and the extent to which urbanization affected these ecosystems, but also provide new insights into sustainable eco-environmental planning and resource management. In this study, we assessed the ESH of Zhuhai City using a selected set of natural, social and economic indicators. The data used include Landsat Thematic Mapper images and socio-economic data of 1999, 2005, 2009 and 2013. The results showed that the overall ESH value and ecosystem service function have been on the decline while Zhuhai City has continued to become more urbanized. The total ESH health level trended downward and the area ratio of weak and relatively weak health level increased significantly, while the areas of well and relatively well healthy state decreased since 1999. The spatial correlation analysis shows a distinct negative correlation between urbanization and ESH. The degree of negative correlation shows an upward trend with the processes of urban sprawl. The analysis results reveal the impact of urbanization on urban ESH and provide useful information for planners and environment managers to take measures to improve the health conditions of urban ecosystems.

Market segmentation and urban CO2 emissions in China: Evidence from the Yangtze River Delta region

As the largest CO2 emitter in the world, China plays a crucial role in global CO2 emission reduction. Meanwhile, as the largest developing country, China gives top priority to economic development, especially balanced regional development. In order to narrow regional development inequality, China has formulated some economic zone plannings to weaken market segmentation. However, existing studies pay little attention to the impacts of intra-national trade barrier on CO2 emissions within China. This is the first study to investigate the impact of market segmentation on urban CO2 emissions in China, taking the Yangtze River Delta region as a sample that is the most developed region with a high economic integration in China. Using a city-level panel data set during the period of 1995–2014 and the fixed effect model, we verify the nonlinear relationship between market segmentation and urban CO2 emissions measured by three indicators, i.e., total CO2 emissions, per capita CO2 emissions and CO2 emissions per unit of GDP. We also use the generalized method of moments (GMM) to control the endogeneity problem, and further adopt the threshold regression model to check the robustness of the baseline results. The results show that there is a U-shaped curve relationship between market segmentation and urban CO2 emissions. A low level of market segmentation restrains CO2 emissions, while a high level of market segmentation promotes CO2 emissions. This finding is helpful to understand CO2 emission trends and narrow regional economic inequality accompanied with the implementation of China's economic zone plannings.

Improving socially inclusive development in fast urbanized area: Investigate livelihoods of immigrants and non-immigrants in Nansha Special Economic Zone in China

Social inclusion poses challenges in many areas, especially regarding immigrants. This study contributes to the understanding of the multidimensional nature of livelihoods of immigrants and non-immigrants and their associated satisfaction, with an empirical study of Nansha Special Economic Zone in China. Overall levels of immigrants’ livelihoods were found to be lower than those of non-immigrants, especially in the social and physical dimensions. Immigrants with higher livelihood capital were more satisfied than those with lower livelihood capital, and they were generally less satisfied with their livelihoods than non-immigrants at similar livelihood levels. These results advance our understanding of the situations of immigrants compared to non-immigrants, informing the policy-making process better dealing with provisions to improve living conditions in desired ways towards socially inclusive development.

Research on Competitiveness Evaluation Index System of Cultural Tourism Enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

As the most free-spirited and open economic zone in China, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is constructed towards the destination as a quality living circle for living, working and travelling. The integration of culture and tourism is a new business format derived from the construction, which also supports the system architecture of cultured bay area. This paper selects the practitioners of the business format as the research subject, and constructs the competitiveness evaluation index system of cultural tourism enterprises in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area through Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process from five dimensions of resource endowment, financial operation, cultural creativity and technology, regional environment and potential development, taking Guangzhou Lingnan Group, Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town and China Travel HK as the empirical test objects. According to the test results and analysis, the research proposes the path for enhancing competitiveness of cultural tourism enterprises under the new circumstances and discusses the future development.

Temporal-spatial decomposition computing of regional water intensity for Yangtze River Economic Zone in China based on LMDI model

The shortage of water resources has become a burning issue constraining China’s sustained development. Quantifying the driving effect of temporal and spatial differences of water intensity in Yangtze River Economic Zone is very important to Three Red Lines and the dual implementation action of water resources and intensity. In this study, an Index Decomposition Analysis-Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (IDA-LMDI) model is developed to decompose the temporal-spatial differences of water intensity into intensity effect and structure effect from 2000 and 2015 in Yangtze River Economic Zone. Our findings are as follows. (1)Industrial water intensity and industrial structure are primary and secondary factors that promote the reduction of water intensity, the water intensity of the three industries has generally declined. (2)The primary industry and secondary industry contribute more to the decline of water intensity than the tertiary industry and the primary industry transfers to the secondary industry and the tertiary industry to drive the decline of water intensity. (3)The gap between the water intensity of each province and the average level of the Yangtze River Economic Zone gradually narrowed, and there are significant differences in the evolution trend of intensity effect and structural effect in each province. (4)Only water intensity of the three industries in Zhejiang is always lower than average level, nevertheless, Jiangxi, Hunan are always higher than average level, the proportion of primary industry in GDP in the Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang) is less than the average level. Therefore, the provinces should give consideration to the improvement of industrial water efficiency and industrial structure adjustment and other water resources policies to promote the decline of water intensity, greatly improve the effective utilization coefficient of irrigation water and reuse of industrial water. Government should increase support for the management, capital and technology of less developed provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Zone. Provinces should focus on policies that reduce the water intensity, Zhejiang and Chongqing can be a model for other provinces to learn from advanced experience, especially in Zhejiang.

Spatial⁻Temporal Variations in NO₂ and PM2.5 over the Chengdu⁻Chongqing Economic Zone in China during 2005⁻2015 Based on Satellite Remote Sensing.

The Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Zone (CCEZ), which is located in southwestern China, is the fourth largest economic zone in China. The rapid economic development of this area has resulted in many environmental problems, including extremely high concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, current ground observations lack spatial and temporal coverage. In this study, satellite remote sensing techniques were used to analyze the variation in NO2 and PM2.5 from 2005 to 2015 in the CCEZ. The Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol optical depth (AOD) product were used to retrieve tropospheric NO2 vertical columns and estimate ground-level PM2.5 concentrations, respectively. Geographically, high NO2 concentrations were mainly located in the northwest of Chengdu and southeast of Chongqing. However, high PM2.5 concentrations were mainly located in the center areas of the basin. The seasonal average NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations were both highest in winter and lowest in summer. The seasonal average NO2 and PM2.5 were as high as 749.33 × 1013 molecules·cm−2 and 132.39 µg·m−3 in winter 2010, respectively. Over 11 years, the annual average NO2 and PM2.5 values in the CCEZ increased initially and then decreased, with 2011 as the inflection point. In 2007, the concentration of NO2 reached its lowest value since 2005, which was 230.15 × 1013 molecules·cm−2, and in 2015, the concentration of PM2.5 reached its lowest value since 2005, which was 26.43 µg·m−3. Our study demonstrates the potential use of satellite remote sensing to compensate for the lack of ground-observed data when quantitatively analyzing the spatial–temporal variations in regional air quality.

The Problems and Countermeasures of E-waste Disposal in Yangtze River Delta Region of China

The e-wastes contain a variety of harmful substances. In the past decade, the number of e-wastes in the Yangtze River Delta region, the largest economic zone in China, has increased rapidly. If the e-wastes are not handled properly, it will cause great damage to the human body and the ecological environment. Firstly, this paper analyses the e-waste disposal situation in the Yangtze River Delta from 2013 to 2016 and indicates that the regular disassembly rate of the electronic waste is very low. Secondly, the reasons for the problem are analyzed and explored. Such as irregular dismantling, the recycling network system of e-waste is not perfect, and consumers' awareness of environmental protection is uneven, etc. At last, corresponding countermeasures and suggestions are proposed.

Decoding the carbonization mode of the south coastal economic zone in China from the perspective of a dynamic industrial structure

Rapid economic development in China has resulted in a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in recent years. Hence, how to control the growth of emissions is a great challenge for China. In fact, changes to the industrial structure have played an increasingly significant role in mitigating emissions. However, since different regions in China are in various stages of development, the industrial structure and its impact on emissions vary throughout the country. As one of the first areas that opened up economically, the south coastal economic zone, comprising Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan provinces, developed with relatively low carbon emissions among the eight economic zones in China. With the aid of a detailed framework based on input-output analysis and structural decomposition analysis, we explored the effects of industrial structure changes on CO2 emissions in this area during 2002–2012. The results show that CO2 emissions experienced slower growth under the influence of industrial structure changes in this area. CO2 emissions from secondary industries in this area were highly concentrated in construction, machinery manufacturing, and light manufacturing, which support the dominant industrial structure. The slower growth rate of CO2 emissions in machinery manufacturing was mainly due to the change in the final demand structure and the improvement of the production structure. Considerable CO2 emissions in construction were avoided by importing carbon-intensive products. Further, CO2 intensity improvement served as an increasingly important factor in reducing CO2 emissions in secondary industries. The tertiary industry played an increasingly significant role in the overall CO2 emissions structure, while its share in the industrial structure continued to decrease during 2002–2012. A number of CO2 emissions that were abated in the tertiary industry resulted from changes to the final demand structure and CO2 intensity improvement in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, but not in Hainan province, indicating greater potential for mitigating CO2 emissions in tertiary sectors of Hainan.

Investigation and Evaluation of the Ecological and Geological Environment Quality of High-Efficiency Ecological Economic Zone (HEEEZ) Coastal Regions within the Yellow River Delta

Wang, K.F., 2018. Investigation and evaluation of the ecological and geological environment quality of high-efficiency ecological economic zone (HEEEZ) coastal regions within the Yellow River Delta. In: Wang, D. and Guido-Aldana, P.A. (eds.), Select Proceedings from the 3rd International Conference on Water Resource and Environment (WRE2017). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 84, pp. 169–180. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.The high-efficiency ecological economic zone (HEEEZ) in the Yellow River Delta is an economic area that comprises the alluvial plain of the Yellow River, the northern coastal regions of Shandong Province, China. Of all delta-based economic zones in China, the HEEEZ boasts the greatest development potential. It plays a central role in driving the economic development in the Bohai rim area and the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Due to its location along the land–sea transition and the young age of the land, this zone's ecological and geological environment (EGE) appears to be changeable, unstable, and vulnerable. This study investigated the coastal EGE of the HEEEZ. Based on the investigation results, an ecological and geological environment quality (EGEQ) evaluation system was developed using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). This system consists of 18 indicators, which are organized into 7 dominant factors, including water and soil environments, geological environment and hazards, coastal geological resources, coastal landform and ocean dynamics, coastline change, coastal wetland change, and engineering and economic activities. Grading criteria for these indicators were provided. Then the coastal EGEQ of the HEEEZ was evaluated using a weighted aggregate index (WAI), with each county-level administrative division being an evaluation unit. The results show that the coastal EGEQ of different evaluation divisions can be rated on a scale of excellent, good, fair, and poor. Kenli County is the only county with an excellent coastal EGEQ. Wudi and Changyi counties are rated as good. Zhanhua County, Hekou District of Dongying City, and Laizhou City have a fair coastal EGEQ. Regions rated as poor include Dongying District of Dongying City, Guangrao County, Shouguang County, and Hanting District of Weifang City. The findings prove reliable and can offer a helpful guide on how to improve the coastal EGE of these regions.