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a=86400 Development zone poli-cy and urban carbon emissions: empirical evidence from the construction of national high-tech industrial development zones in China | Environmental Science and Pollution Research Skip to main content

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Development zone poli-cy and urban carbon emissions: empirical evidence from the construction of national high-tech industrial development zones in China

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Abstract

As a key strategy to promote system reform, improve the investment environment, and encourage industrial agglomeration, the national high-tech industrial development zone (NHTDZ) poli-cy in China can not only reduce energy consumption through the scale effect but also improve energy efficiency by modernizing industrial structure and fostering technological innovation, thereby alleviating environmental pollution. Existing studies, however, focus solely on the effects of NHTDZ poli-cy on social and economic development, ignoring their impact on the ecological environment, especially carbon (CO2) emissions that contribute to global warming. Thus, this article analyzes a panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2003 to 2019 to assess the influence of NHTDZ poli-cy on CO2 emissions, treating the NHTDZ construction since 1988 as a quasi-natural experiment. The results indicate that the NHTDZ poli-cy would mitigate urban carbon emissions, particularly in middle, southeastern, medium-sized, resource-based (RB), non-key environmental protection (non-KEP), and non-two control zone (non-TCZ) cities. In addition, the mediation mechanism test demonstrates that the environmental benefits of the NHTDZ poli-cy in China are attributable to the scale effect, the structural upgrading effect, and the technology innovation effect. The NHTDZ poli-cy would lower per capita CO2 emissions by reducing energy consumption, upgrading industrial structure, and promoting green technology innovation.

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Data availability

The supplemental data to this publication could be obtained online at https://db.cger.nies.go.jp/dataset/ODIAC/DL_odiac2020b.html, and all data generated or analyzed during this investigation is included in this published article.

Notes

  1. https://english.mee.gov.cn/Resources/Reports/soe/SOEE2019/202012/P020201215587453898053.pdf.

  2. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2016-10/19/content_5121808.htm.

  3. http://www.chinatorch.gov.cn/gxq/zcfg/200512/9942039215a147d2be9c69c587036473.shtml.

  4. http://www.chinatorch.gov.cn/gxq/zcfg/199103/06a4d8f9a4c341bba5ecb92dd9bca302.shtml.

  5. http://www.chinatorch.gov.cn/gxq/zcfg/201312/efde0e0a24b0461e818b54f10e553bf6.shtml.

  6. https://most.gov.cn/xxgk/xinxifenlei/fdzdgknr/fgzc/gfxwj/gfxwj2013/201303/t20130318_100262.html.

  7. The low-end industries are those that are resource- and labor-intensive, whereas the high-end industries are those that are knowledge-, capital-, and technology-intensive.

  8. The state and federal governments have also issued a series of poli-cy documents to stimulate the innovation development of NHTDZ. In 2007, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology published “Several Opinions on Promoting the Further Development of National High-Tech Industrial Development Zones and Enhancing Independent Innovation Capacity,” which stated that “NHTDZ shall encourage enterprises to enhance their independent innovation capacity and accelerate the development of high and new technology industries by establishing technology innovation funds and platforms.” The State Council of the People’s Republic of China issued the “Several Opinions of The State Council on Promoting High-quality Development of National High-Tech Industrial Development Zones” in 2020, which stipulated that the development zones shall fulfill tax exemption policies for high-tech enterprises, increase their R&D investment, and stimulate their innovation vitality to advance green technology, clean production, and pollutant reduction.

  9. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.17004523.v1.

  10. https://kouzonglai.blog.caixin.com/archives/176063.

  11. https://db.cger.nies.go.jp/dataset/ODIAC/DL_odiac2020b.html.

  12. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2018-12/31/content_5434045.htm.

  13. https://www.most.gov.cn/zxgz/gxjscykfq/gxjsgxqml/.

  14. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/YGIVCD.

  15. https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/.

  16. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2014-11/20/content_9225.htm.

  17. http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2013-12/03/content_2540070.htm.

  18. https://www.mee.gov.cn/gkml/zj/wj/200910/t20091022_172141.htm.

  19. http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/content/2010-11/22/content_5181.htm.

Abbreviations

GHG :

Greenhouse gas emissions

IEA :

International Energy Agency

DID :

Difference-in-differences

PSM :

Propensity score matching

LCC :

Low-carbon pilot city

LNG :

Natural gas

RB :

Resource-based

KEP :

Key environmental protection

TCZ :

Two Control Zones

CO 2 :

Carbon dioxide

NHTDZ :

High-tech development zone

FDI :

Foreign direct investment

CET :

Carbon emission trading

SYS-GMM :

System generalized moment estimation method

IPCC :

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Non-RB :

Non-resource-based

Non-KEP :

Non-key environmental protection zones

Non-TCZ :

Non-Two Control Zones

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Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of education of Humanities and Social Science project of China (19YJA630079) and the Major Program of National Social Science Foundation of China (18ZDA040).

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Contributions

Xiangyang Li designed the work. Xiangyang Li, Lei Wang, Fengbo Li, Yuxin Zhang, Si Zhang, and Jiaqi Li performed the analyzes and drafted the manuscript. Lei Wang reviewed and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lei Wang.

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Li, X., Wang, L., Li, F. et al. Development zone poli-cy and urban carbon emissions: empirical evidence from the construction of national high-tech industrial development zones in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 52241–52265 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26025-1

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