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To cope with huge carbon emission pressure, China has implemented a carbon emissions trading pilot policy that aims to provide reasonable suggestions for the smooth operation of the national carbon market. This paper selects the provincial panel data in China from 2005 to 2019 and uses the propensity score matching-difference in difference (PSM-DID) method to evaluate the carbon emission policy’s reduction effect. Based on carbon emissions (CE) and carbon emission intensity (CI), provinces and cities are divided into four regions, and each region is verified by spatial difference analysis. Furthermore, the mediating effects of carbon emission reduction through the dual aspects of technological progress and industry structure are also discussed. Results verified that, (1) under the carbon emission trading policy, regional carbon emissions and carbon emission intensity are both significantly reduced. (2) Technological progress helps to reduce carbon emissions, while industrial structure shows no obvious contribution. (3) The four regions all show ideal emission reduction effects, of which the High CE-High CI region shows the best, but is greatly restricted by techniques. The industrial structure of the High CE-Low CI region needs to be further optimized for carbon reduction. In the Low CE-High CI region, the carbon emissions brought by economic development fail to effectively improve per capita GDP. The Low CE-Low CI region contributes greatly to carbon emission reduction with technical advantages.

With the imminent need of regional environmental protection and sustainable economic development, the concept of virtual water is widely used to solve the problem of regional water shortage. In this paper, nine provinces, namely Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong in the Yellow River Basin (YRB), are taken as the research objects. Through the analysis of input-output tables of 30 provinces in China in 2012, the characteristics of virtual water trade in this region are estimated by using a multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model. The results show that: (1) The YRB had a net inflow of 17.387 billion m 3 of virtual water in 2012. In interprovincial trade, other provinces outside the basin export 21.721 billion m 3 of virtual water into the basin. In international trade, the basin exports 4334 million m 3 of virtual water to the international market. (2) There are different virtual flow paths in the basin. Shanxi net inputs virtual water by interprovincial trade and international trade, while Gansu and Ningxia net output virtual water by interprovincial trade and international trade. The other six provinces all net output virtual water through international trade, and obtain the net input of virtual water from other provinces outside the basin. (3) From the industrial structure of the provinces in the basin, the provinces with a relatively developed economy, such as Shandong and Shanxi, mostly import virtual water in the agricultural sector, while relatively developing provinces, such as Gansu and Ningxia, mostly import virtual water in the industrial sector. In order to sustain the overall high-quality development of the YRB, we propose the virtual water trade method to quantify the net flow of virtual water in each province and suggest the compensation responsibility of the virtual water net inflow area, and the compensation need of the virtual water net outflow area, in order to achieve efficient water resources utilization.

The determination of the optimal tax rate of water resources is one of the core as well as the key economic and technological issue in the ‘fee to tax’ work of water resources in China. Therefore, based on the introduction of the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of water resources tax, using production parameters and consumption parameters of Hebei province in 2008–2017, the optimal tax rate of water resources is simulated and calculated, and the impact of the optimal tax rate on social welfare is analyzed. The results show that the reference of the best water resources tax rate in Hebei Province is 18%, and taxation on water resources effectively promotes the water use structure and water resources utilization efficiency in Hebei, which is beneficial to its water resources protection. The effective calculation of the optimal tax rate of water resources tax in Hebei Province proves the effectiveness of the CGE model in the formulation of water resources tax rate, which provides an important reference for the nationwide popularization of water resources ‘fee to tax reform’ in China and the formulation of water resources tax rate in other regions.

Climate change and increasing demand of water aggravate the frequency and intensity of trans-boundary water conflicts, which are evolving into one of the most sensitive economic and social issues in trans-boundary areas. This paper analyzes the inefficiency of traditional regional negotiation models to deal with trans-boundary water conflicts, and argues that Coase's theory of property rights is more suitable for dealing with trans-boundary water conflicts. Based on the Bayesian evolutionary game model with incomplete information of property rights, we put forward the following two ways to promote the smooth progress of water rights trading and, furthermore, resolve water resources conflicts: first, to reduce the transaction costs of the upstream and downstream regions; second, to increase utilization efficiency of water resources in the upper reaches. Finally, taking the water conflict of Dayankeng Hydropower Station as a case simulation, we give answers to the three questions: (1) under what conditions, both sides of the conflicts will choose water rights trading; (2) what is the impact of transaction costs on water rights trading, which provided a new way to solve trans-boundary water conflicts; (3) what is the improvement of welfare effects of water conflict participants because of water rights trading.

Agriculture is one of the three major industries in China, and its level of development occupies an important position in the development of the national economy. At present, China vigorously promotes the strategy of rural revitalization, which provides new opportunities for agricultural modernization. Since modern agriculture and regional economy are coupled in a mutually influencing and constraining relationship, this paper constructs a coupled and coordinated evaluation index system of agricultural modernization and regional economic development. Using the entropy value method and coupled coordination degree model, the comprehensive development level and coordinated development degree of agricultural modernization and regional economic development of 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and cities in China from 2011 to 2020 were evaluated, revealing the time evolution and spatial distribution characteristics of the two systems. The results show that: (1) In the past decade, China’s agricultural modernization and regional economy have made some progress in terms of their respective development levels and the degree of coupling and coordination between them. (2) In terms of spatial evolution, there are obvious regional differences between the two systems, and the coupling coordination degree shows a “ladder” distribution pattern from the east to the central, northeastern, and western parts of the country. (3) Regions with a high level of regional economic development also have a relatively high degree of coupling and coordination between agricultural modernization and regional economic development. Our results provide insights into the economic effects of agricultural modernization in China and provide useful insights into the future direction of agricultural development programs in countries around the world.

Achieving high-quality economic development under the new development pattern has become an inevitable requirement for China's economic development. Correctly calculating the value of water resources and optimizing the price mechanism of water resources is one of the important guarantees for promoting the high-quality development of the regional economy. Based on this fact, this paper takes Hubei Province as an example to construct a coupling relationship model between water resources and economic high-quality development and to evaluate the coupling coordination between the two. And then, the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model is used to evaluate the value of water resources in Hubei Province, and recalculate its water price. The results show that Hubei province now is a lagging development of water resources, and the current water price is far lower than assessed. The government should improve the mechanism of water price which should be driven by innovation to adjust the water use structure, finally achieve high-quality economic development of Hubei Province.

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