Coordination of the Industrial-Ecological Economy in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Abstract

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is an important growth pole of China’s economy, but it is also one of the most environmentally polluted basins in China. Maintaining the vitality of economic development while at the same time realizing the coordinated development of industry and ecosystems, is an important issue that needs in-depth discussion and research. This paper analyzes the degree of coordination regarding the industrial-ecological economy in the YREB, identifies important influencing factors, and puts forward measures for improvement. First, an evaluation model of the industrial-ecological economy is constructed. Second, a model is constructed for the measurement of the coordination degree of the industrial economy and industrial ecology based on the Lotka-Volterra Model. Third, the relationship is assessed with respect to competition versus cooperation. Finally, the important factors affecting coordination are identified using a Neural Network Model. Four main conclusions can be drawn: 1) The comprehensive development of the industrial economy and industrial ecology in 11 provinces and cities in the YREB is generally trending upward. 2) The coordination level of the industrial-ecological economy in the midstream area is high. The provinces Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou are in a coordinated state. 3) The midstream area has a more balanced industrial-ecological economy with significant symbiosis between the industrial economy and industrial ecology. Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou Provinces show a symbiotic relationship; Shanghai City, Chongqing City, and Anhui Province show a partially symbiotic relationship; and Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, and Yunnan Provinces show a mutually inhibitory relationship. 4) The industrial ecosystem is the largest factor in the degree of coordination, and intensity of R&D investment, regional GDP per capita, and proportion of tertiary-industry added-value in GDP also have a great impact. Based on this analysis, this paper proposes measures for high-quality development of the industrial-ecological economy of the YREB with regard to balanced development of the industrial economy, transformation and upgrading of the surrounding environment, along with coordinated and integrated development.

Vulnerability evaluation and prediction of the water-energy-food-ecology nexus in the Yangtze River Economic Belt based on TOPSIS, neighborhood rough set and support vector machine

“…In addition, influenced by factors such as geographical location, climatic conditions and resource endowment, the upper reaches are rich in hydropower, forest and mineral resources, which are important for the development of energy as well as ecology system and environmental protection in China. However, the region is facing problems such as insufficient industrial construction (Yuan et al, 2022), more backward productivity levels, and lower utilization of water resources development. In 2019, the water consumption of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces was about 66.70 m 3 and 64.46 m 3 of 10,000-yuan GDP, which has improved the efficiency of water consumption compared with 2008, but there is still a significant difference with Shanghai and Zhejiang.…”

Decoupling agriculture pollution and carbon reduction from economic growth in the Yangtze River Delta, China

“…The relationship between the economy and the environment has been extensively researched by scholars at home and abroad, especially in developing countries that are facing the pressures of industrialization and urbanization [44]. Studies on the environment and the economy have focused on validating the environmental Kuznets curve, measuring the degree of decoupling between the two and measuring the coordination degree of ecology and economy [45]. Among these approaches, the Tapio model is considered to be a more effective tool for conducting decoupling analysis [46], and previous studies have analyzed the factors of decoupling.…”

Two-stage water resources allocation negotiation model for transboundary rivers under scarcity

“…In order to create an index of efficiency, we use the water use efficiency of irrigated agriculture, area equipped for irrigation, total population with access to safe drinking water, total renewable water resources per capita, total harvested irrigated crop area, people using at least basic drinking water services, people using at least basic sanitation services, and total water production. We then use the Entropy Method to calculate the water efficiency coefficient (Yuan et al, 2022a), WEC {wec 1 , wec 2 , /, wec n }, of riparian countries.…”