High-quality Development Of China Research Articles

Regional unevenness and synergy of carbon emission reduction in China's green low-carbon circular economy

This study draws upon general systems theory and Bronfenbrenner's theory of ecosystem studies. Utilizing panel data from 2000 to 2019 covering 30 provinces in China, this study applies the entropy value method to measure the index of high-quality development in China's Green Low-Carbon Circular Economy. Subsequently, the study employs the generalized matrix moment estimation to analyze the regional unevenness and synergistic pathways of carbon emission reduction in the low-carbon circular economy. Findings indicate that carbon emission reduction within China's green, low-carbon circular economy exhibited inter-regional variations from 2000 to 2019, accompanied by a significant non-equilibrium spatial distribution and a gradual evolutionary pattern. Except for the northeast region, the deviation of the high-quality development index in China's Green Low-Carbon Circular Economy from the national and regional averages converged across the eastern, central, western, and northeastern regions, assuming control of other factors. Therefore, China takes action to stimulate the development momentum of each region, expediting the adoption of green production methods. Furthermore, optimizing the policy system should be prioritized to address the regional development gap. Additionally, implementing a comprehensive and intensive strategy to enhance resource recycling efficiency is crucial. These measures aim to provide valuable insights for decision-makers in formulating strategies for the transformation toward China's Green Low-Carbon Circular Economy.

Role of Digital Inclusive Finance for High-Quality Business Development: A Study of China’s “Five Development Concept” Policy

The “Five Development Concept” policy is the foundation of high-quality development in China, and enterprises should base their high-quality development on this new paradigm. Can digital inclusive finance play a vital role in the high-quality growth of those businesses? This paper examines the relationship between digital inclusive finance and high-quality corporate development and its mechanism of action. This study demonstrates that digital financial inclusion can facilitate high-quality business development. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the contribution of digital inclusion to high-quality businesses development is more evident among non-state, large growth capacity and small-scale enterprises. An investigation of the mechanism reveals three pathways through which high-quality enterprise development is facilitated via digital inclusive finance, namely improving innovation, easing financing constraints, and improving risk taking, and a triple internal drive mechanism of innovation, capital, and risk is extant. This paper enhances the research related to the micro-level of digital inclusive finance on the high-quality development of enterprises, which is conducive to the construction of a long-term mechanism of digital inclusive finance under the new development pattern, so as to effectively facilitate the high-quality development of enterprises in developing countries.

Impact of Digital Economy on the High-Quality Development of China’s Service Trade

High-quality development of service trade (HDST) is becoming increasingly important for China’s high-quality development (HD). This builds new development patterns and cultivates new competitive advantages. In the digital economy (DE) era, HDST ushers an important opportunity. The use of DE to promote HDST is the focus of China’s current economic development strategy. After theoretical analysis using panel data of 18 sample regions (municipalities, provinces, directly under the central government, and autonomous regions) in China from 2012 to 2021, this study empirically studies the impact and mechanism of DE on HDST. The research results indicate that DE has significantly promoted the HDST in China. Based on its mechanism, the HDST can also be promoted by improving the human capital level. Moreover, compared with the eastern region, DE plays a more significant role in promoting the HDST in the central and western regions. With the opening of the new process of “digital China” construction, DE has played a stronger role in promoting the HDST after 2015. Based on theoretical and empirical analysis, suggestions are put forward to promote the HDST through the development of DE considering three aspects: improve the DE level, promote the coordinated development of regions, and strengthen personnel training, which provides references for relevant departments to formulate policies. For the promotion of HDST in China, this study provides an important reference from the perspective of improving the level of DE.

Institutional Environment, Executive Equity Incentive, and Enterprise Innovation: The Case of China

Abstract The increase in national-level innovation driven by corporate innovation is an inherent requirement for the current shift from high-speed growth to high-quality development in China’s economy. In this study, we empirically analysed the influence of the institutional environment on corporate innovation and its underlying mechanism based on panel data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2008 to 2016. The empirical results demonstrated that the institutional environment is conducive to the improvement of corporate innovation, and this result is validated by further robustness tests. The analysis of the companies’ subsamples showed that the stimulation effect of the institutional environment on corporate innovation is more significant in Central and Western China than in Eastern China. The role of the institutional environment is also more evident in non-state-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. Further analysis demonstrated that investment in R&D plays a mediator role in the context where the institutional environment promotes corporate innovation, and the executive equity incentives in this process have a moderating effect.

Does Marketization Promote High-Quality Agricultural Development in China?

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening, the enhancement in marketization has greatly promoted the development of the Chinese economy. At present, China’s economic development model has shifted from a focus on speed to a focus on quality. Against this background, it is necessary to further promote marketization reform to promote high-quality development in China. This paper begins with an introduction to high-quality agricultural development and the degree of marketization. According to the definitions of high-quality development and marketization, we constructed an index of high-quality agricultural development and an index of marketization degree, respectively. First, we determined the characteristics of high-quality agricultural development in China. There are large regional differences in agriculture development, but these disparities are improving simultaneously, and regional differences are showing a narrowing trend, except for the western region. Then, we measured the impact of marketization reforms on high-quality agricultural development using the Quadratic Assignment Procedure. Based on sample data from 2009 to 2019, this paper found that marketization reform has played a significant role in promoting high-quality agricultural development. The three sub-indicators of non-state-owned economy, factor market, and the market’s level of order, which represent the marketization degree, had significant impacts on reducing regional differences in high-quality agricultural development. Additionally, the effects of these three variables gradually increased, narrowing the regional differences in high-quality agricultural development. Finally, we suggested that promoting the development of a non-state-owned economy, factor market, and the market’s level of order would be an important path to boosting the high-quality development of agriculture.

National innovative city and green technology progress: empirical evidence from China.

In this paper, a quasi-natural experiment of national innovative city pilot policy (NICPP) is carried out to investigate the impact of the NICPP on green technology innovation (GTI) and its intrinsic mechanism with the method of difference-in-differences. It is found that the NICPP significantly enhances GTI, and there is a certain lag and persistence in this effect. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the higher the administrative level and the more the geographical advantages of NICPP, the more obvious the driving effect of GTI. The mechanism test shows that the NICPP has an effect on the GTI through three channels: innovation factor input, agglomeration effect of science and technology talent, and entrepreneurial vitality empowerment. The findings of this study provide policy insights for further optimizing the construction of innovative cities and then promoting GTI development, ultimately realizing green dynamics transformation and high-quality development of China's economy.

High-quality development of China’s power industry: Measurement, spatial pattern, and improvement paths

As the largest manufacturing country, China is striving to improve the development quality of its power industry with the goal of Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality, in order to sustain its high-quality economic growth. In this regard, it is of importance to reveal both the regional development level of China’s power sector and its characteristics in terms of inspiring the next improvement direction. Motived by this purpose, this paper constructs an evaluation indicator system from three dimensions at the province level based on the connotation of high-quality development of the power industry (HDPI). Next, it calculates the HDPI indexes of 30 provinces and explore their development trend and spatial pattern. The results indicate that the total comprehensive performance of all regions was improved in general in the recent decade, but the spatial distribution characteristics of clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient are different. In the aspects of improvement space in future, not only do actively ameliorate the related management regimes or technical fields so as to improve the corresponding indicators’ value, but also passively rely on the macro-development such as China’s urbanization level improvement, technological level improvement, and industrial structure upgrading as usual.

Can contract farming improve farmers’ technical efficiency and income? Evidence from beef cattle farmers in China

IntroductionContract farming is seen as a tool to create new market opportunities that can address market imperfections in many developing countries and thus increase smallholder income.MethodsThis study examines the impact of contract farming on farm household income using survey data from 610 rural households in China. The propensity score matching method addresses the sample selection bias of participation in contract farming.ResultsContract farming can significantly increase farmers’ income, and both marketing contracts and production-management contracts can substantially increase farmers’ income levels, with production-management contracts having a greater degree of impact. Additional analysis reveals that breeding years, farm size, and training time can significantly affect how contract farming enhances farmers’ income. At the same time, contract farming can also considerably improve farmers’ technical efficiency in agricultural production. Participation in contract farming enhances the tendency to centralize the technical efficiency of agricultural production. Further analysis shows that the technical efficiency of agricultural production partially mediates the effects of contract farming on farm household income.DiscussionContract farming can be an effective institutional arrangement for improving the technical efficiency of farm household production and revenue. We also point out that farmers should strengthen their comprehensive ability levels and actively participate in training to acquire new knowledge and improve their cognitive ability. Simultaneously, according to the characteristics of farmers’ resource endowments, small farmers are encouraged to cooperate with companies in depth and develop contractual contracts in a targeted manner. Promote win-win cooperation and benefit-sharing among various business entities to promote the sustainable and high-quality development of China’s beef cattle industry.

Predicting the Potential of China’s Geothermal Energy in Industrial Development and Carbon Emission Reduction

The goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality requires major systemic changes in the energy supply sector. As one of the major non-carbon-based energy sources, geothermal energy is characterized by large reserves, stability, and reliability. This paper summarizes the current situation of geothermal resource endowment and industrial development in China. Based on this, a system dynamics model of geothermal industrialization is established, and the potential of geothermal industrialization and carbon emission reduction in China is predicted. The prediction results show that the growth rate of geothermal heating and cooling areas in the next 40 years will follow a trend of acceleration followed by deceleration. China’s geothermal energy heating and cooling area will reach 11.32–14.68 billion m2 by 2060, an increase of about 9–12 times compared to 2020. The proportion of geothermal heating and cooling area to the total building area in China will reach 13.77–17.85%. The installed capacity of geothermal power generation will reach 14,452.80–20,963.20 MW by 2060 under the scenario with electricity subsidies. The proportion of geothermal energy in China’s primary energy consumption structure will reach 3.67–5.64%. The annual carbon emission reduction potential of the geothermal industry will reach 436–632 million tons, equivalent to 4.41–6.39% of China’s carbon emissions in 2020. The results of this study can provide a reference for the healthy and high-quality development of China’s geothermal industry and help to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals.

Dynamic evolution of green total factor productivity growth of China’s coastal ports

ABSTRACT As an important part of the comprehensive transportation system, ports play an important role in economic development. In the context of the ‘3060 double carbon’ target, the high-quality development (HQD) of ports is receiving attention from many parties. The aim of this paper is to examine the dynamic evolution of HQD in China’s coastal ports from the perspective of green total factor productivity (GTFP). Firstly, the calculation standards of undesirable outputs are given, and integrated environmental dumping indicator is calculated by the combination weight calculation model based on game theory. Then, the super-efficiency DEA-GML (Data Envelopment Analysis-Data Envelopment Analysis-Global Malmquist-Luenberger) index model based on directional distance function (DDF) is used to measure the GTFP growth of ports. Furthermore, the dynamic evolution of GTFP growth of ports is explored using the kernel density estimation. The findings show that the GTFP growth of coastal ports has continued to improve during the examined period. However, there is the problem that port construction inputs cannot bring effective outputs, and there is a bifurcation that tends to stabilize within coastal ports. Finally, targeted policy implications are given to promote HQD of ports.

Spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms of land-use conflicts affecting high-quality development in China

Rapid urbanization in China led to widespread land-use conflicts (LUCs), requiring understanding the spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms to support the high-quality development (HQD). This study evaluated the evolution and association mechanisms of LUCs and HQD in Chinese counties from 2000 to 2020 by developing a theoretical framework comprising of land-use structural conflict (SC), functional conflict (FC), HQD, and their relationship, based on the geographically weighted regression models, a coupling relationship matrix, and change scoring methods. Results show that the average HQD improved (12.85% change rate) and LUCs reduced (−3.63%) simultaneously, mainly contributed by FC reconciliation (−9.33%). SC was correlated with FC (average R2 = 0.13, p < 0.05), which directly and significantly affected HQD (average R2 = −0.16, p < 0.05). Furthermore, comprehensive land-use conflict had significant positive and negative effects on HQD in the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins, respectively (p < 0.1). Additionally, coupling relationships between LUCs and HQD would affect subsequent changes, particularly from 2000 to 2010, counties with low-middle FC and HQD tended to shift to low-high. Finally, four geographic area types (i.e., urban agglomeration, high-intensity agricultural, ecological functional, and ecologically fragile areas) with unique LUCs affecting HQD mechanisms were identified. Our findings can provide targeted optimization suggestions for land-use policies under diverse regional contexts.

Impact of biased technological progress on the total factor productivity of China's manufacturing industry: The driver of sustainable economic growth

Sustainable economic growth relies on an increase in total factor productivity (TFP). To upgrade the core competitiveness and support the sustainable growth and high-quality development of China's economy, ascending TFP in China's manufacturing industry counts. This study analysed the impact of biased technological progress on TFP, which was estimated by using the relevant data of 27 subsectors of China's manufacturing industry from 1980 to 2019. The results revealed that from the early industrialisation period (1980–2000) to the mid-industrialisation period (2001–2012) and then to the middle and late industrialisation period (2013–2019), the mean value of TFP in China's manufacturing industry grew from 0.291 to 0.394 and then to 0.555, embodying a continuously upwards advancing tendency. Technological progress was capital biased from 1981 to 2011 and labour biased during the rest of the sample period. In addition, its direction was heterogeneous among various industries. To some extent, the growth of TFP has been hindered by biased technological progress and factor allocation. The per unit increase in them has led to 1.495 and 1.017 unit decreases in the TFP. Upon examining the factor efficiency and the factor structure, we found that the estimated coefficients of biased technological progress dropped to −1.516 and −1.719, preventing TFP from growing to a greater extent. Consequently, there is room for their optimisation in China's manufacturing industry.

An Empirical Analysis of the Synergistic Effect of Urban Pilot Policies in China

The strengthening of urban innovation capacity has emerged as the main force behind the promotion of the high-quality development in China because it is a significant carrier of regional innovation. This work uses the multi-time point difference approach to study the synergistic effect, mechanism, and heterogeneity among the pilot policies of national innovation city, low-carbon city and smart city based on the panel data of 282 cities from 2001 to 2016. The findings demonstrate that (1) The national innovative city pilot policies, low-carbon city pilot policies, and smart city pilot policies have a significant effect on the improvement of urban innovation and show a synergistic effect. (2) With the help of government investment in science and technology and the construction of an innovation platform, the pilot policies of smart cities and innovative cities show a superposition effect; in addition, through the upgrading of industrial structure, the green technology innovation, public participation, low-carbon urban pilot policy, and the innovative city present the supplementary effect. (3) From the perspective of heterogeneity, the superposition and supplementary effects of lower administrative level cities are better. The effect of policy synergy overlay is the largest in the eastern region, whereas the effect of policy synergy supplement is stronger in the eastern and western regions than in the central region. The robustness test supports the conclusion of this paper. This paper analyzes the collaborative innovation effect of urban pilot policies, which can provide ideas for the combination design of policy tools.

The power of technology: FinTech and corporate debt default risk in China

With the economic downward pressure increasing and the COVID-19 spreading, avoiding the corporate debt default risk is a basic requirement for achieving high-quality economic development in China. Can FinTech empower traditional finance and contribute to the healthy development? We explore the impact of FinTech on corporate debt default risk. The findings suggest that FinTech reduces the corporate debt default risk. And the impact is more pronounced in non-SOEs and in firms with small-scale and in the growth and maturity stages. Further analysis shows that financial supervision plays a role in strengthening the negative impact of FinTech on the corporate debt default risk. Therefore, FinTech development should be actively promoted and corresponding regulatory measures should be formulated, then the finance can better serve the real economy and achieve high-quality development in China.

Research on the strategy of knowledge sharing among logistics enterprises under the goal of digital transformation

Accelerating the digital transformation of the traditional logistics industry is an important step toward the high-quality development of China's economy, a fundamental task to ensure the smooth operation of the entire industrial chain, and a necessary path to building the Digital-China. Carrying out knowledge sharing can help promote knowledge integration and absorption among logistics enterprises, optimize the allocation of enterprise resources and enhance their business capabilities. To explore the knowledge sharing strategy selection mechanism of logistics enterprises in the process of digital transformation, this paper establishes a dynamic game model of knowledge sharing among logistics enterprises based on evolutionary game theory, and further demonstrates the reliability of the model by combining enterprise data with Matlab2022a for case analysis. The results show that: (1) the higher the cost of knowledge sharing in the digital transformation of logistics, the lower the willingness of enterprises to share; (2) when a single enterprise provides too much knowledge, it may trigger the breach of trust of the other party to “hitchhiking”; (3) appropriately increasing the amount of penalty for breach of trust helps promote both parties to reach a knowledge sharing strategy; (4) The benefit distribution coefficient significantly affects the knowledge sharing strategies of both parties, and a reasonable benefit distribution coefficient can prompt both parties to reach a stable strategy quickly; (5) Government financial incentives positively promote enterprises' willingness to share knowledge, and both parties can obtain higher revenue when a sharing strategy is reached. Thus, this paper explores the knowledge sharing strategy and evolution mechanism in the process of digital transformation of the logistics industry from the micro perspective of enterprises, which is of great practical significance and reference value.

Coupling and interaction between science and technology finance and green development: Based on coupling coordination degree model and panel vector autoregression model

Exploring the coupling and coordination between science and technology finance and green development is a critical action that needs to be addressed in achieving high-quality development in China. Based on the coupling coordination degree model and panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model, this paper uses the relevant data of 274 cities in China from 2003 to 2020 to study the relationship between science and technology finance and green development. The results show that: 1) The relationship between science and technology finance and green development has changed from low coupling coordination to medium coupling coordination in the sample period. 2) The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta regions are at a relatively high level of coupling and coordination as a whole, while other regions are at a relatively low level of coupling and coordination. 3) Through the analysis of the spatial characteristics of the coupling coordination degree, it is found that the coupling coordination degree of China’s urban science and technology finance and green development is generally positive spatial autocorrelation. Spatial correlations continue to strengthen over time. 4) By establishing a PVAR model, we examined the interaction between science and technology finance, green development, and their coupling coordination. Science and technology finance, green development and their coupling coordination degree are themselves affected. We have comprehensively and objectively grasped the matching status of China’s urban science and technology finance and green development, providing a reference for promoting the adaptation of science and technology finance to green development.

Spatial network and driving factors of low-carbon patent applications in China from a public health perspective.

The natural disasters and climate anomalies caused by increasing global carbon emissions have seriously threatened public health. To solve increasingly serious environmental pollution problems, the Chinese government has committed itself to achieving the goals of peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. The low-carbon patent application is an important means to achieve these goals and promote public health. This study analyzes the basic situation, spatial network, and influencing factors of low-carbon patent applications in China since 2001 at the provincial and urban agglomeration levels using social network analysis based on data from the Incopat global patent database. The following findings are established. (1) From the number of low-carbon patent applications, the total number of low-carbon patent applications in China increased year by year, while the number of applications in the eastern region was larger than those in the central and western regions, but such regional differences had been decreasing. (2) At the interprovincial level, low-carbon patent applications showed a complex and multithreaded network structure. In particular, the eastern coastal provinces occupied the core position in the network. The weighted degree distribution of China's interprovincial low-carbon patent cooperation network is affected by various factors, including economic development, financial support, local scientific research level, and low-carbon awareness. (3) At the urban agglomeration level, the eastern coastal urban agglomerations showed a radial structure with the central city as the core. Urban innovation capability, economic development, low-carbon development awareness, level of technology import from overseas, and informatization level are highly correlated with the weighted degree of low-carbon cooperation networks of urban agglomerations. This study provides ideas for the construction and governance of low-carbon technology innovation system and perspectives for theoretical research on public health and high-quality development in China.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution of High-Quality Development and the Impact of Carbon Emissions Trading Schemes

Carbon control has become a key strategy in the high-quality development (HQD) phase of emerging countries, but the spillover effects of implementing carbon control instruments on HQD remain to be verified. In order to explore the realistic level of HQD in China and the mechanism of how carbon controls impact on it, this paper analyzes the regional differences and spatio-temporal dynamics of HQD in China by using Chinese provincial panel data from 2006 to 2019. This study evaluated the implications of a regionally implemented carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) on HQD by using the difference-in-differences (DID) model. The results show that the overall level of HQD in China’s provinces continues to rise. The level of HQD in most provinces showed a transition from low to high and then stabilization. Over the sample period, the national average HQD index increased from 18.95 to 29.96, a growth rate of 58.1%. There was significant regional heterogeneity in HQD. The highest HQD indices in the eastern, central and western regions were 35.67, 27.52 and 24.78, respectively. The level of HQD in the eastern regions was much higher than in the central and western areas. Further analysis revealed that ETS was able to significantly increase the overall level of HQD. Having found that there is regional heterogeneity in HQD, this research examines the specific effects of ETS on HQD and discovers that ETS supports regional HQD in the eastern and central areas, but has no significant influence on HQD in the western region. The robustness of the results was confirmed by the use of parallel trend tests, lagged effects, the removal of environmental disturbances and the replacement of evaluation variables or models. The above findings can be used as a reference for formulating low-carbon policy and promoting HQD levels.

Forward perspective on the development and strategic pathway of green hydrogen in China

Abstract Fundamental transformations are taking place in the areas of energy structure on the supply side and on the energy-consumption side towards clean, low-carbon and safe energy. Furthermore, a new energy system is being constructed with renewable energy as its core in China with energy transition and ‘carbon peak and carbon neutral’ as the overall goal. China’s hydrogen-industry plan, ‘Mid-to-long term hydrogen industry development plan (2021–2035)’, has an emphasis on hydrogen generation by using renewable energies as the centre piece, which points in the right direction for hydrogen’s green development. In this paper, the current status of China’s hydrogen industry is analysed; strategic needs for green hydrogen’s development and its hurdles in its paths are sorted out. Integrated demonstration at provincial levels, development of a ‘great hydrogen base’ and the green-hydrogen development path by gradual substitution with renewable hydrogen are proposed. Scaled-up hydrogen production, expanded consumer hydrogen usage and established hydrogen commodity exchange are recommended to safeguard its development and promote its high-quality development in China.

The impact of China’s high-quality development of energy on carbon neutrality

This study highlights the significance of high-quality development of energy (EHQD) in achieving carbon neutrality. Researchers have explored how to successfully achieve carbon neutrality, but few studies have examined the impact of the EHQD on carbon neutrality. Accordingly, while considering the high-quality development of China’s economy, this study constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system for China’s EHQD using the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method based on entropy weight to measure the EHQD level of energy in 30 provinces in China from 2004 to 2019. Considering the possibility of endogeneities, the two-stage least squares (2SLS) regression is applied to empirically analyze the impact of the EHQD on carbon neutrality. Cointegration tests show a long-term cointegration relationship between the EHQD, real GDP per capita, urbanization, traffic pressure, industrial structure, and CO2 emissions (CE). The 2SLS method empirically shows that the EHQD has a significant negative impact on CE. The EHQD can significantly reduce CE, which is conducive for China to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. The results of this study indicate that to reduce CE and enable China to successfully achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2060, policymakers should take effective measures to promote the EHQD.