Regional Green Development Research Articles

Seasonal Spatiotemporal Changes in the NDVI and Its Driving Forces in Wuliangsu Lake Basin, Northern China from 1990 to 2020

In the context of global climate change, many studies have focused on the interannual vegetation variation trends and their response to precipitation and temperature, but ignored the effects of seasonal variability. This study explored the relationship between normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and seasonal climate elements in the Wuliangsu Lake Basin area from 1990 to 2020, and quantified the impacts of human activities on vegetation dynamics. We used Landsat series data to analyze the spatial and temporal variation of the NDVI using the trend analysis method, the Theil–Sen median, the Mann–Kendall test, and the Hurst index. Then, we used meteorological data and land use data to quantify the effects of human activities using residual analysis, and correlation methods to determine the driving forces of NDVI variations. The results showed that the NDVI changes presented obvious regional characteristics, with a decreasing trend from southeast to northwest in Wuliangsu Lake Basin. Due to global warming, the start of the growing season (SOS) is 4.3 days (2001 to 2010) and 6.8 days (2011 to 2020) earlier compared with 1990 to 2000. The end of the season (EOS) is advanced by 3.6 days (2001 to 2010), and delayed by 8.9 days (2011 to 2020). Seasonal (spring, summer, autumn, and winter) NDVIs with precipitation and temperature show spatial heterogeneity. Further, changes in grasslands and woodlands were vulnerable to climate change and human activities. Since the beginning of the 21st century, human activity was the driving force for vegetation improvement in the Dengkou, west-central, north and southwest regions, where ecological instability is weak. This finding can provide a theoretical basis for the implementation of the same type of ecological restoration projects and the construction of ecological civilization, and contribute to the regional green and sustainable development.

Coordination evaluation and dynamic adjustment mechanism of China’s green development at inter-provincial level

The inter-provincial green development evaluation is an essential tool for monitoring regional green development and helping the government create green development policies in China. This study defines the green index, economic index, and social index, and creatively constructs an index-based indicator system for evaluating green development. With the coordination of green development as an analytical guide, the current state of green development in each region of China is examined from a spatial perspective in both vertical and horizontal dimensions with the help of coupling coordination. The empirical findings demonstrate that each province’s three index values present distinct development features, which are reflected as an uncoordinated green development. With the macro policy incentive as the evaluation guide, a new dynamic weighting method of three indexes is proposed based on the measured data of the overall green development process of each province. For the purpose of realizing a dynamic evaluation method that can adopt differentiated government performance evaluation criteria according to the different green development evolution processes of each region, a lag extension evaluation theory is pioneered using dynamic policy incentives as the entry point. This will encourage each region to invest in the development of its weaker links.

Mechanism of attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence the green development behavior of construction enterprises

The green development behavior of construction enterprises is an environmental behavior that contributes evidence from construction enterprises to the field of resource recycling and environmental protection. Revealing the mechanism of green development behavior of construction enterprises has become the key to guide construction enterprises to adopt green development behavior and improve the level of green development. However, existing studies on the mechanistic discussion of green development behavior of construction enterprises do not reach a consensus. In order to reveal the mechanism of the green development behavior of construction enterprises, this study examines how the green development behavior of construction enterprises is influenced by factors based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), this study analyzed 306 questionnaire data points from construction enterprises in 28 provinces (cities) across China. The main conclusions are as follows. (1) Attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have significant positive effects on the green development behavioral intentions of construction enterprises, with attitudes being the strongest predictor. (2) Intention intermediates the relationships between attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and the green development behavior of construction enterprises to varying degrees. (3) Regional green development level and enterprise size positively moderate the four groups of the relationship between attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intention and green development behavior of construction enterprises. This study provides theoretical guidance for promoting green transformation and upgrading construction enterprises and helps the construction industry achieve a balanced mode of development that supports both economic growth and environmental protection.

How will industrial collaborative agglomeration affect the efficiency of regional green development?

The integrated development of various industries in China is essential for promoting long-term sustainable development and achieving carbon neutrality. In this study, we analyze panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) covering the period between 2005 and 2020 to investigate the impact of collaborative agglomeration between productive service and manufacturing industries on green development efficiency. We utilize a mediation effect model to examine the role of technological innovation in driving the relationship between industrial collaborative agglomeration and regional green development efficiency. Our findings reveal that the collaborative agglomeration of the productive service and manufacturing industries has a significant positive effect on improving regional green development efficiency. We also identify a non-linear relationship, indicating a double threshold effect. Technological innovation plays an important role in facilitating industrial collaborative agglomeration and promoting the efficiency of regional green development. Moreover, our results demonstrate significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of industrial collaborative agglomeration on regional green development efficiency. Based on these findings, we propose several policy recommendations to achieve high-quality regional economic development, including improving the quality of industrial synergy and agglomeration between regions, strengthening the intermediary promotion role of technological innovation, and enhancing regional green productivity.

Fiscal Expenditure on Sports and Regional Carbon Emissions: Evidence from China

Due to the problems of economic structure and the ways of industrial development, many countries have accumulated many ecological problems in the process of economic development, especially the increase in carbon emissions, the greenhouse effect, and the emergence of a series of problems, which makes the global ecosystem suffer severe challenges. Achieving green sustainable development has become a strategic development arrangement for all countries, and as the sports economy is closely linked to regional green development, it has become an important channel to influence regional green development by promoting sports development. Based on theoretical analysis, this paper empirically analyzes and tests the impact of government fiscal support for sports on regional carbon emissions and its mechanisms based on provincial panel data using baseline regressions, a mediated effects model, and a threshold model. We argue that the development of green and healthy sports can have a significant impact on regional green development and that government fiscal support for sports plays an important role in this process. We found that government fiscal support for sports can significantly reduce regional carbon emissions and thus promote regional green development. From the perspective of mechanism analysis, the government’s fiscal support for sports leads to the orderly development of the sports industry and its associated industries, which improves the rationalization of the regional industrial structure and thus reduces regional carbon emissions. Moreover, as the carbon productivity of the region continues to rise, the impact of fiscal support for sports on regional low-carbon development gradually deepens. This paper confirms the important role of the government’s emphasis on sports development in the process of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, verifies the mediating effect of industrial structure rationalization, and further quantifies the correlation through the threshold effect, extending the study of the influencing factors affecting regional carbon emissions.

Has pilot zones policy for green finance reform and innovations improved the level of green financial development and environmental quality?

This study uses the green finance reform and innovation pilot zone policy approved by the State Council in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment to explore whether the implementation of the policy has improved the level of green finance development and environmental quality in Chinese cities at the prefecture level and above. The results show that the green financial reform and innovation pilot zone policy can significantly improve the level of regional green financial development and environmental quality, and the results are robust. Further heterogeneity analysis finds that the green financial reform and innovation pilot zone policy have heterogeneous effects on the level of green financial development and environmental quality in different regions, sizes, environmental regulation intensity, financial development levels, and cities of different administrative levels. Based on this conclusion, suggestions are made that the scope should be further expanded and green finance policies should be formulated differently.

Green finance network evolution and prediction: fresh evidence from China

Green finance has become an important reform force to promote the sustainable development of China's economy. Therefore, it has a great significance for in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of regional green finance development, to further promote it by clarifying and predicting the regional differences and dynamic evolution trends. Based on this, this paper will select the relevant index from 2001 to 2020 to construct China Green Finance Core Network (CGFCN) in different years by using Space-L method at the first, then analyze its network characteristics and spatial evolution pattern in depth, and finally predict the future development trend of CGFCN by link prediction. The research results show that: firstly, the evolution of CGFCN is mainly divided into three stages: rapid development, stable development and optimal development, and the closeness of CGFCN is constantly improving. Besides, two strong relationship networks are gradually forming, that is Beijing-Tianjin region and the Yangtze River Detla region. Secondly, with the development of green finance, the community division has changed. It is mainly divided into four communities, named the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei leading community, the eastern provincial community, the Yangtze River Delta community and the central and southern joint community. Different communities will have different integration in different periods. Thirdly, the future development direction of green finance network is mainly Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Yangtze River Delta regions, and their outward radiation are mainly shown in the eastern coastal and central regions, which also have strong development potential. In this regard, it is proposed to coordinate development across provinces to speed up the "urban integration" of green finance services; Establish an efficient community development mechanism and promote the interconnection of green finance markets and infrastructure between different regions; Strengthen the resource flow among regions and coordinate the resource competition of green finance.

Incentive mechanism-based interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy dynamic comprehensive evaluation method for measuring regional green development level

Interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy number (IVq-ROFN) is a popular tool for modeling complex uncertain information and has gained successful applications in the field of comprehensive evaluation. However, most of the existing studies are based on the absolute values of evaluation data but fail to take incentive effects into account. Reasonable and appropriate incentive can guide the evaluated objects to better achieve the decision goals. Therefore, this study develops an incentive mechanism-based interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy dynamic comprehensive evaluation method. Firstly, new interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy measures including deviation measure and correlation coefficient are proposed for managing IVq-ROFNs data. To overcome the limitations of the existing aggregating operators that are not suitable for scenarios with need of many times of data aggregation, we introduce two new interval-valued q-rung orthopair fuzzy aggregating operators. Furthermore, a new interval-valued orthopair fuzzy CRITIC method is developed to objectively determine the importance of the evaluated criteria. More importantly, the horizontal incentive effects within a single period and the vertical incentive effects during multiple periods under IVq-ROFNs environments are proposed to reward (or punish) the evaluated objects in the evaluation process. The evaluated results are determined based on the full compensatory model and the multiplicative form model. The main advantage of the developed method is that the expectations of decision-makers and the dynamic characteristics during multiple periods are taken fully into account, which can make the evaluation results more reasonable and reliable. Finally, this developed comprehensive evaluation method is applied to evaluate the green development level of Jiangxi province within eleven cities from 2016 to 2020. We observe that the cities x2, x3, x4, x5, x7, x8 are rewarded within positive incentive values and the cities x1, x6, x9, x10, x11 are punished within negative incentive values. Especially, the positive incentive value for the city x3 is the biggest and the negative incentive value for the city x9 is the biggest. The best city in term of GDL is x3. The evaluated results with consideration of incentive effects are in line with the expectation of the decision-maker.

Can Digital Financial Inclusion Affect Green Development? An Empirical Analysis Based on China's Provinces

Abstract In the information age, how to release the positive effect of finance on green economy is a question that needs to be answered in the modern society. Using the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020 as the research sample, we evaluate the impact of digital financial inclusion on green development by calculating green total factor productivity. The results show that: Digital financial inclusion can promote regional green development significantly. This finding still remains valid after robustness tests. Moreover, the contribution of digital financial inclusion to green development is mainly reflected in technological advancement. While the positive impact of each dimension of digital financial inclusion on green development is also different, showing a decreasing trend in terms of coverage breadth, usage depth and digitalization. In further analysis, from the perspective of industrial structure optimization and scientific and technological innovation, we find that digital financial inclusion can improve the green development by increasing the rationalization and advancement of industrial structure as well as driving technological innovation. Using the panel threshold model, we find that there are double thresholds for industrial structure rationalization as well as three thresholds for technology innovation, digital financial inclusion displays a non-linear impact on green development. JEL classification numbers: G20, O31. Keywords: Digital financial inclusion, Green development, Green total factor productivity, Industrial structure, Technological innovation.

Emission reduction effect of digital finance: evidence from China.

This paper investigates the relationship between digital finance and carbon emissions and explores the ecological effects of digital finance. Based on a panel data of 256 cities in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper investigates the impact of digital finance on carbon emissions and its intrinsic mechanisms. First, digital finance significantly suppresses the intensity of regional carbon emission, and the breadth of coverage, depth of use, and degree of digital support of digital finance together curb regional carbon emissions, with the strongest suppressive effect being the breadth of coverage. In addition, the regression results remain significant after a series of robustness tests. Second, it reveals the potential mechanism of digital finance to curb urban carbon emissions. These mechanisms include the three channels: promoting industrial advancement, green technology innovation, and optimizing labor resource allocation. Third, the heterogeneity test finds that the energy saving and emission reduction effects of digital finance are significantly stronger in non-low-carbon pilot cities with low urbanization rates, confirming the emission reduction utility of digital finance development. Therefore, we should take advantage of digital finance to improve the green development of financial services and adopt diverse policy measures according to local conditions to maximize the ecological effects of digital finance on energy saving and emission reduction. In the context of the development strategy of "carbon peaking and carbon neutral," this study has some implications for management in developing a regional green development system supported by digital finance.

The Outlook of Green Building Development in China during the “Fourteenth Five-Year Plan” Period

To achieve the "Double Carbon" target, China is paying increasing attention to green building development. Thus, this study selected 26 regional green building development planning documents that have been put into practice since the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan and analyzed different development goals and common development barriers and paths presented in regional documents by conducting qualitative research. After the analysis of common goals and goals with regional characteristics, this study verified that spatial imbalances did exist in the development targets of green building in each region during the "14th Five-Year Plan", and the development priorities also varied from region to region. Due to the relation between development goals and the current situation, this study can also illustrate the spatial imbalances of the development situation between different regions. The results of this study can assist regional governments in gaining a clear self-positioning to judge whether they keep pace with the national development level of green buildings and encourage them to take measures to guarantee the stable development of green buildings.

Do China's pilot free trade zones promote green dual-circulation development? Based on the DID model.

Accelerating the formation of a green dual-circulation pattern is an essential strategic choice for China to achieve high-quality development. As a vital link for two-way economic and trade cooperation, the pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) is an important window for promoting green dual-circulation development. From the perspective of green dual-circulation, this paper attempts to construct a comprehensive index system of green dual-circulation by entropy weight method based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020 and uses the Propensity Score Matching-Difference in Differences method to test the policy impact of PFTZ building on regional green dual-circulation. The empirical results show that: (1) the establishment of PFTZs significantly promotes regional green dual-circulation development by 3%-4%. This policy effect has a strong positive impact on the eastern regions; (2) PFTZs can improve regional green dual circulation through the effect of green finance, technological progress, and the agglomeration of innovative talents. The mediating effect of green finance and technological progress is more pronounced; (3) The promotion effect of PFTZs is primarily due to the local green circulation effect, with no significant effects on the surrounding areas; and (4) There is a positive policy linkage effect between PFTZs and the Belt and Road Initiative. This study creates the analytical perspective and empirical support for assessing the policy impact of PFTZs and provides management insights for PFTZ policymakers in promoting green dual-circulation development.

Regional horizontal ecological compensation and ecosystem service value based on water resources pattern and insurance gain.

Ecological compensation plays an important role in maintaining ecosystem services and promoting regional green development. We built a regional horizontal ecological compensation model based on water resources pattern and insurance gain, and which was used to solve the problems of single compensation method and low compensation efficiency. Taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as an example, we analyzed water footprint and water ecological carrying capacity from 2000 to 2019. The compensation subject and object and water footprint compensation amount were determined according to the input cost of ecological protection and allocation factor. Then, the insurance pricing model was introduced to determine ecological insurance premium rate. We calculated insurance compensation, ecological compensation standard and different types of ecosystem service value. Results showed that the whole region was at a state of water ecological deficit, with the agricultural water footprint accounting for 94.5%. From the perspective of the compensation subject and object, Beijing and Tianjin, as the compensation subject, needed to pay 0.402 billion yuan and 0.396 billion yuan (the amount of compensation) to Hebei Province each year. Hebei Province obtained a total of 0.228 billion yuan of ecological insurance with an insurance premium rate of 1.4%, and should receive an average annual ecological compensation standard of 0.81 billion yuan from Beijing and Tianjin. Hydrological regulation was the core ecosystem service in the region, with an average value of 187.974 billion yuan. It was of strategic significance to introduce ecological insurance mechanism to construct horizontal ecological compensation mechanism, improve ecosystem service function, and enhance the value of ecosystem services in the study area.

Higher Education, Technological Innovation, and Green Development—Analysis Based on China’s Provincial Panel Data

Higher Education and technological innovations have so far proved to be key factors of regional green development as they have been seen to contribute greatly to economic growth and environmental protection. On the other hand, higher education positively supports technological innovation by offering knowledge production and transformation. The majority of the studies being conducted around this have focused more on promoting regional green development by backing the importance of technological innovation and the reinforcement of talent reserve in higher education. However, very few studies have been dedicated to pointing out specific ways in which higher education influences regional green development. In this study, based on provincial panel data for 2003–2020 in China, both the direct and in-between effect of higher education on green development was evaluated using the mediation effect model. Then a panel threshold model was created to explore the regional differences in this effect in China. Key results show that higher education significantly promotes regional green development, and technological innovation plays an in-between role in the above-mentioned influence relationships; there is significant diversity among regions with different developing levels of technological innovation, and the positive impact of higher education on green development in educationally developed provinces gradually decreases, while this positive impact in educationally developing provinces keeps rising. Specific policy recommendations to promote regional green development for higher education mainly include further balancing investment in higher education, coordinating the development of higher education and technological innovation, and strengthening the flow of resources among provinces.

Analysis of the Spatial Relationship between Ecosystem Regulation Services and Rural Tourism

In the context of China's implementation of the rural revitalization strategy and establishment of a mechanism to realize the value of ecological products, rural tourism as an eco-friendly industry promotes regional social and economic development with high-quality natural and ecological conditions in rural areas and is one of the key patterns to realize regional green development. Existing studies in the field focus on the spatial relationship between rural tourism and traditional factors such as economy, population, and transportation and ignore to some extent the relationship between ecosystem services and rural tourism. However, from the perspective of distribution, rural tourism is popular mainly in areas with high ecological quality, so it can be inferred that there is a relationship between ecosystem services and rural tourism. Therefore, this paper targets the key problem-the spatial relationship between ecosystem regulation services and rural tourism, taking rural tourist spots in six districts and counties in the Wuling Mountains in southeastern Chongqing as the subjects, and using the geo-econometric analysis method and geographic detector model to analyze the spatial-driving and development-support roles of ecosystem services on rural tourism. The results show that: (1) the nearest neighbor index of the distribution of rural tourist spots in the regions of study is 0.28, showing a significant clustering trend as a whole; (2) there are obviously high-value areas among the six types of ecosystem regulation services, which are mainly distributed in forest ecosystems; (3) the driving effects of dual factors are more significant, and the combined driving effects of climate regulation and anion supply services are the most significant, with the q value of these driving effects being 0.1962; (4) from the perspective of the supply-demand relationship of industrial development, ecosystem services play an important role in supporting the development of rural tourism. Based on these results, it is proposed in this paper that, in the next step, a comprehensive analysis of the impact of ecosystem regulation services should be conducted during the special planning of rural tourism and the rational layout of industries should be guided on the premise of compliance with space-use control, as well as economical and intensive land use, to support the scientific formulation of regional rural tourism development strategies with new ideas based on basic analysis and better realize the value of ecological products and boost rural revitalization.

Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Regional Green Development: An Empirical Study in Yellow River Basin

The sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin (YRB) is regarded as a national strategy for China. Previous literature has focused on the green efficiency measurement of YRB, ignoring its evolution process and influential mechanism. This paper tries to disclose the spatial-temporal evolution of green efficiency and its influential mechanism of the YRB region by proposing a novel integrated DEA-Tobit model to fill the gap. Based on the development path of the YRB region, the multi-period two-stage DEA model is adopted to evaluate the green development efficiency (GDE) from provincial and urban dimensions. In addition, the panel Tobit model is developed to investigate the influential factors of the GDE for the YRB region. The GDE in the YRB region shows an unbalanced state where the downstream is best, followed by the middle and upstream. The unbalanced development also exists within the province. Both Henan and Shandong Province achieved the optimal value, while cities in these two provinces show lower green efficiency. The results also show that economic development, technological innovation and foreign capital utilization obviously affect the GDE of the YRB region positively, while industrial structure, urbanization levels and environmental regulation have negative effects.

Research Assessment on the Supply and Demand for Forest Ecosystem Services: The Case of Zhuxi County

A refined assessment of small-scale to medium-scale forest ecosystem services based on the unique geographical conditions of Zhuxi County provides a basis for decision-making to create a regional green development strategy for the county. The specifications for assessing forest ecosystem services (GB/T38582-2020) were followed to calculate the supply of forest ecosystem services in Zhuxi County using the physical quantity method and the value quantity method, and the demand was calculated using the standard value comparison method. The total supply value of forest ecosystem services in 2020 in Zhuxi County was 35,677,894,500 yuan·a−1. In terms of the value of each service, the value of water containment was the largest, accounting for 41.08%, and the value of forest recreation was the smallest, accounting for only 1.36%. The value per unit area of the local broadleaf–mixed forest in Zhuxi County was the largest, at 140,658.65 yuan·a−1, while the value of the fir forest was the smallest, at 89,181.32 yuan·a−1. The comprehensive supply–demand ratio of forest ecosystem services in Zhuxi County was 1.54, which means a moderate surplus; the supply–demand ratio of supply services was 1.27, which means a slight surplus; the supply–demand ratio of adjustment services was 1.34, which means a slight surplus; the supply–demand ratio of support services was 1.13, which means a slight surplus; and the supply–demand ratio of cultural services was 6.01, which means a high surplus. The supply–demand ratio of cultural services of forest ecosystem services in Zhuxi County was the largest and that of the support services was the smallest. From an overall perspective, the supply of forest ecosystem services in Zhuxi County in 2020 was relatively abundant and sufficient to meet local people’s demand for forest ecosystem services. In the future, some goals may include: (1) improving management capacity of forest resources and the quality of forest resources; (2) increasing the value of forest ecological services per unit area; (3) using mixed-forest planting to transform low-value tree species; (4) developing the supply capacity of forest ecological services; (5) enhancing the reprocessing industry of forest products; and (6) expanding the output of nonforest products. A good ecological defence must be established to achieve the sustainable management of forest resources.

Spatiotemporal pattern and influencing factors of regional carbon emission efficiency: an empirical analysis of Jiangsu Province in China

Abstract Jiangsu Province is not only a large province in terms of carbon emissions but also a pioneer in pursuing the goal of carbon neutrality. Improving carbon emission efficiency (CEE) is the key to lowering carbon emissions. Therefore, exploring CEE is of significance for balancing economic growth and successfully cutting carbon emissions. Based on the measurement of CEE in Jiangsu Province from 2008 to 2020, this paper explores its spatiotemporal pattern and influencing factors to propose corresponding policies. The results are as follows. (1) From 2008 to 2020, the CEE of Jiangsu Province exhibited a fluctuating increase, reaching 0.894 in 2020. The temporal variation trend of CEE in each region is consistent, whereas CEE in southern Jiangsu is greater. (2) The regional differences in CEE are evident. The low-high (LH) agglomeration region is mainly in northern Jiangsu, whereas the high-low (HL) agglomeration area is mainly in southern Jiangsu. (3) Technological progress is the primary way to raise CEE in Jiangsu Province, and the contribution of technical efficiency is relatively small. (4) The primary factors that promote CEE are economic growth and green technology progress, but environmental protection has an adverse effect. Therefore, all cities in Jiangsu Province should formulate carbon emission reduction policies that are in line with their development and provide a successful reference for regional green and low-carbon development and global climate governance.

Digital economy and green total factor productivity-based on the empirical research on the resource-based cities.

Green economy is the core content of the high-quality economic development, and the digital economy is the new driving force to accelerate the realization of high-quality economic development. In this regard, this paper selects 248 resource-based cities in China from 2011 to 2019 as the research objects and uses the fixed effect model and mediation effect model to test the relationship between digital economy and regional green total factor productivity. We get the following conclusions: First, there is the nonlinear relationship between digital economy and regional green total factor productivity, and this relationship shows the inverted U-shape. Secondly, digital economy can influence regional green total factor productivity through the path transmission mechanism of regional technological innovation, industrial structure, and environmental regulation. Finally, the effect of digital economy on regional green total factor productivity is heterogeneous, especially in the eastern region and cities with high human capital level. Based on the digital economy, the findings of this paper provide theoretical basis and reference suggestions for promoting the green development of regional economy. The government should attach importance to regional green development, actively guide the digital economy to promote green development, accelerate the development of the digital economy, and achieve high-quality economic development finally.

How does International Transport Corridor affect regional green development: evidence from the China-Europe Railway Express

The operation of the China Railway Express (CRE) provides a quasi-natural experiment to test the impact of the new International Transport Corridor on regional green development. Based on the panel data for 265 prefecture-level cities in China and the China Patent Full-Text Database from 2003 to 2018, this study uses the SBM-DEA model to measure urban green economic efficiency (GEE). Then, we adopt the spatial Difference-in-Difference model to examine the effect of operating the CRE on the regional GEE. Moreover, the impact mechanism of the CRE on GEE is investigated from innovation and energy conservation perspectives. Finally, we consider the impact of the heterogeneity of factor endowments in different cities on green development. We found that operating CRE can improve regional GEE as a new overland trade channel between Europe and Asia. The impact mechanism test shows that promoting regional innovation and reducing urban energy intensity are two effective ways for CRE to improve regional GEE. In addition, in resource-intensive areas and areas with inadequate infrastructure, the marginal effect of CRE on promoting green development is more obvious. The conclusions can provide policy inspiration for countries along the CRE to achieve green economic development by operating CRE.