Industrial Wastewater Emissions Research Articles

Trade and Water Pollution: Evidence from China

China’s economy has achieved significant success by integrating itself into the globalized production system over an extended period. However, it is crucial to address the environmental consequences that accompany rapid economic progress. The correlation between trade and environmental pollution is still controversial in the existing literature, with a lack of research specifically investigating this relationship using detailed data at the firm level. Based on the quasi-natural experiment of China’s accession to the WTO, this study uses the DID method to evaluate the causal relationship between trade and the environment experimentally. It is found that trade liberalization significantly increases firms’ industrial wastewater emissions, and the empirical results remain robust after parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and replacement variables. The mechanism of action suggests that trade expansion enhances corporate pollution emissions through two channels: attracting foreign investment into the country and intensifying energy consumption. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the pollution-enhancing effect of trade expansion on enterprises is mainly concentrated in export-oriented enterprises, labor-intensive industries, and coastal regions. Additionally, further analysis shows that trade liberalization not only has local impacts but also spatial spillover effects on enterprise pollution. It is found that enhancing environmental governance and reducing corruption can effectively mitigate the adverse environmental consequences caused by trade liberalization.

Does ecological economic zone policy affect pollutant emission: Evidence from a case study of Dongting Lake

Environmental pollution affects human health, reduces work motivation, and addressing environmental pollution is a common challenge faced by the world. The Chinese government has recently implemented a new environmental policy - the national-level ecological economic zone - to develop a green economy and reduce environmental pollution. This study utilizes the difference-in-difference method to analyze the impact of the Dongting Lake ecological economic zone on environmental pollution. The results show that: policy led to a 68 % reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions. This impact was more pronounced in economically developed areas, regions with a high concentration of foreign-invested, and areas with greater economic openness. Mechanism tests indicate that the policy reduces environmental pollution by promoting technological progress. Robustness checks show that the policy also resulted in a 37 % reduction in industrial wastewater emissions. The results offer new insights to advance the development of the ecological economic zone more effectively. The ecological economic zone should focus on enhancing technological advancement and green total factor productivity to amplify the policy's positive effects.

Pollutant reduction effects of vertical environmental reform in China.

The vertical environmental reform in China has led to the change of environmental management system from territorial management model to vertical management model. This study uses the data of 263 prefecture-level cities in China to examine the effects of China's vertical environmental reform on pollutant emissions, including industrial sulfur dioxide, wastewater emissions, and industrial fumes emissions. The findings demonstrate that vertical environmental reform resulted in a reduction in industrial sulfur dioxide, wastewater emissions, and industrial fumes emissions. And the governance effects is gradually enhanced with the passage of time, which are long-lasting effects. The above conclusions are still valid after a series of robust estimates including mitigating selection bias, placebo test, changing the dependent variables, and mitigating heterogeneous treatment effects. According to heterogeneity analysis, the vertical environmental reform has reduced the increase of pollutants caused by financial pressure and official associations, and treats border pollution problems more effectively. Under the decentralized governance system, the implementation of vertical environmental management helps to reduce local pollutant emissions. This conclusion provides the latest evidence from China for the academic debate on the advantages and disadvantages of territorial environmental management and vertical environmental management and also provides policy implications for the government's environmental governance.

An Empirical Study on The Impact of Digital Economy on Industrial Pollution Emissions

In order to explore the impact of digital economy on industrial pollution emissions, based on the data of 288 cities at or above the prefecture level from 2011 to 2019, this paper takes a set of composite variables composed of industrial waste gas emissions, industrial wastewater emissions and industrial solid waste emissions as explained variables, and the development level of digital economy as explained variables. A series of control variables were added to establish a benchmark regression model to empirically test the impact of digital economy on industrial pollution emissions. The results show that: (1) digital economy can significantly inhibit the emission of pollutants; (2) There are regional differences in the effect of digital economy on pollutant emission reduction. The effect of pollution reduction is strongest in central region, middle in eastern region, and weakest in western region. In order to better protect the environment, to achieve energy saving and emission reduction. This paper proposes that the construction of digital infrastructure should be accelerated; We will raise the level of human capital and strengthen inter-regional exchanges and cooperation.

Study on the impact of central environmental protection inspection on the health of the older adult population-A quasi-natural experiment in China.

In 2015, the central government of China established the Central Environmental Protection Inspection (CEPI) system for oversight of local governments. It enhanced local government enforcement of environmental regulations, which had a considerable influence on the health of the local older adult population. This study quantifies the effects of local government regulation brought about by CEPI on the health of the older adult. It examines the impact mechanism using the DID model and panel data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). The results show that (1) local governments' environmental protection regulations implemented by CEPI have a positive impact on the general health of the older adult. The results of the study passed the parallel trend test, PSM test, replacement variable test, and placebo test and remained significant; (2) in terms of the impact mechanism, CEPI has promoted local governments' environmental governance initiatives, which has reduced industrial wastewater emissions, industrial sulfur dioxide emissions, and industrial fumes emissions. This has improved air quality, thereby creating a good living environment for the older adult and improving their overall health; (3) according to heterogeneity research, the health of older adult living in the Yangtze River Basin, urban older adult, and older adult without chronic diseases is more significantly affected by the environmental protection regulations of the local governments brought about by CEPI.

Study of the Ecosystem Service Value Gradient at the Land–Water Interface Zone of the Xijiang River Mainstem

The ecosystem service value (ESV) gradient-evolution pattern of a river basin’s land and water-intertwined zones has a variety of ecosystem service values, such as biodiversity conservation, water conservation, water purification, etc. The study of the ecosystem service value (ESV) gradient-evolution pattern of a river basin’s land and water-intertwined zones will provide a scientific basis for the construction and protection of the ecological security pattern of the river basins. In this study, we combined the unit area equivalent factor method and geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to classify and analyze the gradient change pattern of ESV upstream, downstream, and along the river of the Guangdong mainstream section of the Xijiang River in China, and the conclusions are as follows: (1) The corresponding ESV share of each land use type was in the following order: water bodies > broad-leaved forest > artificial wetland > scrub > paddy field > coniferous forest > natural wetland > grassland. The level of each type of ESV does not depend entirely on the size of the area but is determined by the ecosystem service functions it can provide and the level of ESV per unit area; (2) the relationship between land use types along both sides of the river in the Guangdong section of the Xijiang River Basin shows a tendency to shift from water ecosystems to terrestrial ecosystems, and the ESV gradually decreases with the increase in distance from the water. (3) The upstream to the downstream area showed a trend of changing from terrestrial ecosystems to aquatic ecosystems, such as broad-leaved forests, scrublands, water bodies, artificial wetlands, etc., and the mean land ESV showed a general trend of undulating change and decline with the reduction in the distance from the downstream area. (4) Natural factors, such as the topography and geomorphology of the basin and the socio-economic factors of power consumption, influence the spatial distribution characteristics of the ESV in the region; among them, socio-economic factors, such as total power consumption, industrial exhaust gas emissions, industrial wastewater emissions, etc., in the economically developed areas of the Xijiang River Basin are the determinants of the changes in ESV, which are generated by human living and production activities, and these indirectly affect the magnitude of the ESV by influencing the factors of temperature and gas.

Does the environmental protection tax reduce environmental pollution? Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China.

The environmental protection tax (EPT) is an important environmental policy in China. However, it remains unclear whether the EPT has reduced environmental pollution effectively since its implementation in 2018. Based on the panel data of 229 prefecture-level cities in China during 2015-2019 and the difference-in-differences (DID) model, this study empirically assesses the causal effect of the EPT on environmental pollution. It is found that the EPT has a significantly negative effect on industrial sulfur dioxide (SO2) and industrial soot (dust) emissions but has no significant impact on industrial wastewater emissions. The mechanism analysis reveals that the EPT has the tax enforcement effect and energy efficiency effect, that is, the EPT reduces pollution emissions through increasing actual tax burden and improving the efficiency of energy utilization. However, the innovation effect is weak, which is only effective in reducing industrial SO2 emissions. Finally, we compare how different types of cities responded to the EPT. The results show that the EPT has limited effect on environmental pollution in large cities and southern China.

International trade of PRC and its place in environmental sustainability

The sustainable development of trade and the environment is related to the sustainability of a region, a country, and even the global economy. As a major trading country, China has achieved remarkable results in international trade growth in recent years, driven by its continuous deepening of open trade policies. Article identify the key factors that contribute to the changes in environmental sustainability in China’s international trade. Research defined the ways of China’s growth of international trade volume with promoting sustainable environmental development. Analysis found the impact and role of the continuous expansion of trade scale on China’s sustainable environmental development. By analyzing the data on the scale and structure of China’s international trade, research checked the data changes that affect the relationship between international trade and environmentally sustainable development. In this paper we substantiate the conceptual provisions of the theoretical and methodological model of the international trade and its place in environmental sustainability: system characteristics (international trade development to total GDP; international trade pattern structure analysis; geographic direction of international trade) and the principles of environmental sustainability (total industrial waste gas emissions and treatment; industrial solid waste generation, disposal and comprehensive utilization; industrial wastewater emissions, industrial chemical oxygen demand emissions, and Industrial ammonia nitrogen emissions).

Trade Openness and Environmental Pollution Management: Push or Pull?

Foreign trade, as one of the troika of China's economic development, plays a vital role, bringing great benefits to the country through trade, but also accompanied by a series of environmental problems such as the export industry's carbon emissions increasing year by year and a series of environmental problems. Therefore, to explore the impact of trade openness on the environmental pollution control mechanism has practical and theoretical significance. Based on relevant theories and literature, this paper first combed through the mechanism of trade opening on environmental pollution and found the entry point. Then, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2017, this paper explored the mechanism of trade opening on environmental pollution in the whole country and the eastern, central and western regions of China, and introduced technological innovation intermediary variables to build an intermediary model. The empirical results show that the relationship between the level of trade openness and industrial wastewater emissions is inverted "N", "U" with industrial sulphur dioxide emissions and negative linear with industrial soot emissions; trade openness will exert a mediating effect on environmental pollution control through technological innovation as a mediating variable.

环杭州湾城市群生态环境与社会经济耦合协调关系及其影响因素

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 环杭州湾城市群生态环境与社会经济耦合协调关系及其影响因素 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202109222659 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 浙江省社会科学领军人才培育专项课题(21YJRC12ZD,21YJRC12-2YB) Coordinated relationship and influencing factors of ecological environment and socio-economic coupling of urban agglomeration around Hangzhou Bay in China Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:生态环境与社会经济之间的耦合协调关系是可持续发展关注的一个重点和热点。以环杭州湾城市群为研究对象,构建环杭州湾城市群生态环境与社会经济耦合协调度综合评价指标体系,借助ArcGIS软件,采用耦合协调度模型和Pearson相关分析,分析环杭州湾城市群在2000-2019年间生态环境、社会经济发展指数与耦合协调度的演变特征及其影响因素。结果表明:(1)2000-2019年间环杭州湾城市群的社会经济指数呈稳定上升趋势,生态环境指数呈先上下波动后逐年上升的变化趋势;(2)2000-2014年间环杭州湾城市群社会经济的发展速度大于生态环境的发展速度,2015-2019年间生态环境的发展速度大于社会经济发展速度;(3)2000-2019年,环杭州湾城市群生态环境和社会经济之间的耦合协调度从良好协调过度到了完美协调,其中,2000年上海和杭州的耦合协调度小于其它城市,2019年苏州是杭州湾城市群中唯一没有达到完美协调的城市;(4)人口密度、空气质量、工业废水排放量、工业固体废弃物是环杭州湾城市群生态环境与社会经济耦合协调度提高的主要阻碍因素。 Abstract:The coupling and coordination relationship between social economy and ecological environment is a key concern and hot spot for sustainable development. Taking the Hangzhou Bay city cluster in China as the research object, this paper constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system for the coupling and coordination degree of social economy and ecological environment. With the help of ArcGIS software, the coupling and coordination degree model, and the Pearson correlation coefficient, the paper analyzed the ecological environment, social and economic development index, and coupling and coordination degree and their influencing factors of the Hangzhou Bay urban agglomeration from 2000 to 2019. The results showed that: (1) from 2000 to 2019, the socio-economic index of the Hangzhou Bay urban agglomeration presented a stable upward trend, while the ecological environment index showed an up-and-down fluctuation followed by an upward trend year by year; (2) During 2000-2014, the development rate of the socio-economic index was greater than the growth rate of the ecological environment index. The development rate of the ecological environment was greater than the development rate of the social economy from 2015 to 2019; (3) From 2000 to 2019, the coupling coordination between the socio-economic and ecological environment of the Hangzhou Bay Rim City Cluster overtook good coordination to perfect coordination. Among which, the coupling coordination of Shanghai and Hangzhou in 2000 lagged behind the other cities, and Suzhou was the only city in the Hangzhou Bay urban agglomeration that did not reach perfect coordination in 2019; (4) Population density, air quality, industrial wastewater emissions, and industrial solid waste were the main hindering factors for the improvement of the coupling coordination of the Hangzhou Bay urban agglomeration. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

How does environmental pollution affect housing price

Environmental quality and housing prices have become two hot topics closely related to people's lives. When choosing housing, residents pay more and more attention to the quality of the surrounding environment. However, in view of the differences in living standards, there are huge regional differences in economic conditions and air pollution in different regions, resulting in different distributions of immigration rates, and immigration rates have a significant impact on housing prices. This article discusses the difference in immigration rate caused by environmental pollution and its impact on housing prices from a spatial perspective. In this article, we use the GIS system to analyze the impact of environmental pollution on an immigration rate. We use Chicago's immigration rate, economic conditions, pollution and other GIS data to show that environmental pollution is relevant to the immigration rate. People are willing to relocate to areas with low levels of environmental pollution. Then we use the spatial Dubin model to study the impact of environmental pollution on housing prices. We used housing price data, environmental data and other economic data from 258 cities in China from 2008 to 2019. The city data mainly comes from the city statistical yearbook. Environmental data mainly comes from environmental monitoring websites. This paper found that the increase in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions will significantly reduce prices, while the increase in industrial wastewater emissions has no significant impact on housing prices. In addition, we also investigated the impact of surrounding cities on local prices. The increase in industrial wastewater discharge in surrounding cities has no significant impact on local housing prices, while the increase in environmental gas emissions has no significant impact on local housing prices. Finally, if the residents are assumed to be healthy producers, and the residents' demand-supply curve for health is transformed, it indicates that a place with a good economy in this area is often willing to pay more to maintain their health, or enjoy better medical care, or move to an area with lower air pollution levels. The conclusion of this article is that reducing the level of air pollution plays an important role in increasing the attractiveness of the city and thereby increasing housing prices. Therefore, if government policymakers want to increase the attractiveness of the city and promote economic development, they can start with improving the air quality in the city.

Health risks of industrial wastewater heavy metals based on improved grey water footprint model

The Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) promotes cooperation among participating countries from multiple perspectives, especially infrastructure construction and investment, which is a critical driving force for industrial activities. The accelerated industrial development would inevitably cause environmental consequences in participants, in which pollution and related health risks caused by industrial heavy metal emissions were among the most concerned. In this study, an improved grey water footprint of industrial heavy metal emissions (GWFHMs) was proposed from the perspective of health risks to address the limitation of conventional GWF in reflecting their properties and impacts of pollutants, such as the health toxicity of heavy metals. Meanwhile, the water pollution level of GWFHMs (WPLHMs) was estimated to reveal the degree of aquatic industrial heavy metal pollution concerning health risks. We use China, the B&RI member with severe heavy metal pollution, as a case. The spatial distribution of GWFHMs (at the resolution of 1 km × 1 km) and WPLHMs (at the watershed level) monthly during 1998–2015 were uncovered. Results show that the GWFHMs of China have significantly decreased in this period, but WPLHMs in some regions are still high due to cyclical fluctuations in heavy metal emissions and water runoffs. The middle reaches of the Yangtze River had the highest GWFHMs but relatively low WPLHMs due to abundant water runoffs. In contrast, the Liaohe watersheds in north China had the highest WPLHMs due to water shortage, especially in dry seasons (from December to February). This study reveals critical periods and hotspot regions for heavy metal pollution, which would support decision-making for delicacy industrial heavy metal control measures concerning human health in B&RI countries. In addition to direct emission control, production activities and the following industrial wastewater emissions should also consider the time variation of water runoffs in each region, which would contribute to keeping the health risks of industrial heavy metal emissions within acceptable limits.

Co-blow-spinning of two-phase liquid to build Bead-Curtain fiber substructure for oil adsorption

The development of oil sorbents with special substructure, high adsorption capacity, reusability and good mechanical properties is of great significance for dealing with frequent maritime oil spill incidents and industrial oil-containing wastewater emission. In this work, the polystyrene (PS)/ polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite fibrous sponges with high oil adsorption capacity were fabricated by constructing a two-phase dispersion system from the microscopic perspective in fiber forming process used co-blow-spinning method. The special Bead-Curtain fiber substructure was obtained due to the difference in the stretching process of the PS and PVDF solution with different viscosity. The precursor solution of the PS/PVDF composite fibrous sponge with PVDF concentration of 20 % (SF2) increased to 79 mPa·s attributed to the addition of PVDF. The SF2 exhibited a high specific surface area (43.418 m2/g), total pore volume (0.4348 cm3/g) and adsorption capacity for various organic solvents (especially up to 279 g/g for motor oil), as well as retaining 159 g/g for motor oil after 10 cycles. Moreover, the addition of PVDF enhanced the mechanical properties of the sponges, whereas the tensile strength of the SF6 sponge was 2.36 times that of the pure PS sponge. The co-blow-spinning of two-phase liquid is a novel strategy for controlling the substructure of fibers from the microscopic perspective, which provides a novel point of view in recycling marine spilled oil.

The Early Effect of Black Land Protection Plan in Northeast China on Industrial Pollution Using Synthetic Control Method

This study used relevant industrial pollution emission data collected between 2004 and 2020 in northeastern China. It utilized the synthetic control method (SCM) and used entire county-level areas within the scope of the typical black land protection as the experimental group. Thirty regions in China (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan), including the three non-black land areas of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia, and the other 26 entire provinces were taken as the control group. We studied whether the Outline of Black Land Protection Plan in Northeast China (2017–2030) (BLPP) has reduced local industrial pollution emissions since it was issued in 2017. The study found that implementation of the BLPP reduced industrial wastewater and sulfur dioxide emissions in black land areas significantly. Between 2017 and 2020, local industrial wastewater production decreased by 29.3% compared to the period without implementation of the outline, while industrial sulfur dioxide decreased by 12%. These results remained robust under the placebo and difference-in-difference (DID) tests. This once again showed that implementation of the outline had a significant effect on reducing industrial pollutant emissions in the black land area of northeastern China.

Superhydrophobic, flame-retardant and magnetic polyurethane sponge for oil-water separation

With the increasing environmental pollution by frequent spill accidents and industrial wastewater emissions, superhydrophobic materials for oil-water separation have attracted considerable attention. Herein, we proposed a facile method to prepare superhydrophobic, flame-retardant and magnetic polyurethane sponge (SFRM-PUS) for oil-water separation. Firstly, pristine PUS was immersion-coated with ferric oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles, graphene oxide (GO) and phytic acid, and then treated with hydroiodic acid (HI) to reduce GO and modified with perfluorooctyltriethylsilane to provide low surface energy. The SFRM-PUS had a high water contact angle of 156° and a low water sliding angle of 8.9°, and exhibited excellent anti-adhesion property and high oil-water separation efficiency of 98.9%. By means of the magnetic property, the SFRM-PUS was also applied for the removal of oil from water in specified area. In addition, the SFRM-PUS showed superior flame-retardant performance, and the ignited flame extinguished within only 4 s. Our findings conceivably provided a new strategy to prepare functional superhydrophobic materials for the treatment of oil spill accidents and industrial sewage emissions.

The Heterogeneous Relationship between Pollution Charges and Enterprise Green Technology Innovation, Based on the Data of Chinese Industrial Enterprises

Enterprises’ green technology innovation is critical to achieving the “win-win” of enterprise competitiveness and environmental protection. The impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation by enterprises has been widely considered, but the conclusion has not yet been determined, and needs to be studied in detail. To this end, we studied the impact of pollution charge policy on different types of green technology innovation by industrial enterprises in China. We found that (1) the impact of pollution charges on most types of green technology innovation by enterprises has increased significantly over time; (2) the pollution charge policy has a certain inhibition effect on the end-of-pipe technology innovation, but can promote the process improvement of reducing industrial wastewater emissions; (3) there is a U-shaped relationship between the pollution charges and some green technological innovation (e.g., emission intensity of SO2, industrial wastewater emission intensity, and industrial wastewater removal intensity), which is dynamically adjusted over time; and (4) the larger the enterprise’s solid assets, the faster the asset depreciation will inhibit the enterprise from adopting the green process innovation strategy.

Evaluating Green Innovation Efficiency and Its Socioeconomic Factors Using a Slack-Based Measure with Environmental Undesirable Outputs.

Understanding green innovation efficiency (GIE) is crucial in assessing achievements of the current development strategy scientifically. Existing literature on measuring green innovation efficiency with considering environmental undesirable outputs at the city level is limited. Consulting existing studies, this paper constructs an evaluation index system to measure green innovation efficiency and its socioeconomic impact factors. Employing a super slacks-based measure (Super-SBM) model, which takes into account undesirable outputs (industrial wastewater emissions, industrial exhaust emissions and CO2 emissions), and a Global Malmquist–Luenberger index (GML), we calculate the green innovation efficiency of 15 cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) urban agglomeration from 2009 to 2017, exploring the impact factors behind green innovation efficiency using a Tobit panel regression model. The empirical results are as follows: Due to the heterogeneity of urban functional division and economic development in the Pearl River Delta, more than half of the region’s cities were found to be in ineffective or transitional states with respect to their green innovation efficiency. A GML decomposition index shows that technological efficiency and technological progress are out of step with one another in the Pearl River Delta, an asymmetry which is restricting regional green innovation growth. The influencing factors of industrial structure, the level of economic openness, and the urban informationization level are shown to have promoted green innovation efficiency in the Pearl River Delta’s cities, while government R&D expenditure and education expenditure exerted negative effects. This paper concludes by highlighting the importance of cooperation between the government and enterprises in achieving green innovation.

The Impact of Pollution on China Marine Fishery Culture: An Econometric Analysis of Heterogeneous Growth

The damage caused by pollution is not equal across individuals within a given population, due to the differences in pollution level and coping ability. Identifying the different impacts of environmental pollution on agricultural economic growth and the source of the pollution is of great reference significance for realizing the organic integration of ecological protection and relative poverty alleviation. This study takes marine fishery culture as an example, with the cultured products data of 53 coastal cities in China from 1994 to 2018 and empirically captures the heterogeneous effects of environmental pollution on mariculture growth by constructing a theoretical analysis framework of heterogeneity in pollution damage. Results show that the deepening of marine environmental pollution will reduce the growth rate of marine cultured output, emerging significant regional differences. Nevertheless, under the background of the complex environmental situation currently, further damages mainly derive from the difference in the ability to deal with environmental pollution rather than the difference in pollution degree. In terms of different wastewater sources, the impact of industrial wastewater discharge on marine aquaculture production is not very significant. In contrast, the adverse shocks of urban domestic sewage are more prominent. Notably, the environmental pollution has a significant cumulative effect, which is not reversed. Therefore, a pollution shock in one period may leave the region permanently further behind. Based on this, in the follow-up process of pollution control, we should fully consider the heterogeneity in coping ability of individuals. While promoting industrial wastewater emission reduction, we should emphasize strengthening of the urban domestic sewage treatment strategies and give overall consideration to the ecological environment treatment and regional coordinated development.

Evaluating the Effect of Government Emission Reduction Policy: Evidence from Demonstration Cities in China.

The effectiveness of government environmental policies is pivotal to environmental quality and provides the reference for further policy design. This paper estimates the effect of comprehensive demonstration of fiscal policy for ECER (Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction) on pollution emissions in Chinese cities with the sample period from 2003 to 2016, which is an important practice for policy integration. We find that this policy reduces the industrial SO2 (sulfur dioxide) emission by 23.8% on average and the industrial wastewater emission by 17.5% on average. This policy, implemented by Chinese government, has effectively achieved its target for emission reduction. A series of robustness checks are also conducted to verify the baseline results. Mechanism analysis indicates that this policy has the effect by the change in the industry structure and the enhancement of fiscal capacity, especially the capacity of fiscal revenue. Some policy recommendations, such as laying emphasis on the policy integration, integrating the financial resources of governments and expanding the demonstration effect, are proposed in order to facilitate green development in Chinese cities.

Analysis of the Effect of China’s Regional FDI Inflows on Environmental Pollution

Purpose Since China’s reform and opening up policy, foreign direct investment (FDI) in China has gradually increased, and its economic and environmental impact has increased. Therefore, the study of FDI’s environmental impact while promoting China’s economic development is a subject of note for sustainable policy. Design/Methodology/Approach In order to analyze this issue, this study constructed a panel data model using data from 30 regions in China from 2000 to 2015, and set up four types of models that consider regional differences, and targeting three pollutants. The effect of FDI on environmental pollution was analyzed and “Environmental Kuznets Curve” (EKC) was tested. Findings According to the results of the study, EKC theory was found to be consistent between GDP per capita in each region of China and sulfur dioxide as well as industrial wastewater emissions, but the EKC hypothesis was not satisfied due to the positive correlation of industrial waste generation. In addition, it was estimated that the emission of pollutants increases as the proportion of secondary industries in all three pollutants increases, including sulfur dioxide, industrial wastewater and industrial waste. Research Implications The results of this study show that unlike most previous studies, the effect of the “Pollution Heaven Hypothesis” and FDI on environmental pollution differs by pollutant and by region. This shows that China’s environmental policy is improving. The results of this study show that changes in China’s environmental policies that consider environmental quality are desirable, but are not yet perfect, so sustainable policies that consider environmental quality improvement should continue in the future.