Are Industrial Structure Adjustment and Technical Progress Conducive to Environmental Improvement?

China actively broadens its channels for environmental protection and limits pollutant emissions through industrial structure adjustment and technical progress. Based on panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2017, this study investigated the effects of industrial structure adjustment and technical progress on environmental pollution using spatial Dubin models. The findings show the following. (1) As the economy develops, the situation of environmental pollution in various regions deteriorates; moreover, spatio-temporal dependence is an aspect of environmental pollution. (2) Industrial structure adjustment and technical progress are beneficial to environmental improvement. Furthermore, there are spillover effects in factors such as industrial structure and technical progress to varying degrees. Thus, this study suggests that the path of coupling between industrial structure and technical progress should be explored to establish a pollution filtering mechanism, thereby improving environmental quality.

System-Dynamics Modeling for Exploring the Impact of Industrial-Structure Adjustment on the Water Quality of the River Network in the Yangtze Delta Area

The coordinated development of the environment and economy is the core of sustainable development. This research investigated sustainable water-quality management by exploring the impact of socioeconomic activities on water quality associated with a major global city. To achieve this goal, a system dynamics (SD) model was developed to capture the feedback processes and interactions between the water quality; population; water resource; and the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors of the Yangtze Delta area, especially Jiaxing City. More importantly, we further subdivided and identified the nine key subindustries within three sectors as high-polluting factors. Using this model, five scenarios based on different industrial restructurings were investigated. The simulation results suggested that Jiaxing City’s water quality would conform to a steadily increasing trend over 2021–2035. Changes in the farming industry have the most significant impact on water quality, followed by those in the paper and paper production (PPP) industry and the livestock and poultry breeding (LPB) industry. In terms of individual pollutant concentrations, the concentrations of COD and TN were most sensitive to changes in the farming industry, while PPP and LPB were identified as having the most influence on the concentrations of NH3-N and TP, respectively. It is feasible for Jiaxing City to improve its water quality through collaborative optimization of three industries. However, the effect of industrial structure adjustment is limited. Strategies comprising cleaner production should be undertaken to reduce pollution generation.

Marine economic industrial structure based on fuzzy entropy and least square regression model

China’s economy is in the critical period of transformation from a traditional land economy to a marine economy. China is rich in marine resources, facing important development opportunities and challenges. The adjustment of marine economic industrial structure is of great significance to promote the development of China’s marine economy. To intuitively analyze and clearly understand the effect of industrial structure adjustment of marine economy in recent years in China, using the data of China’s marine industry from 2008 to 2018, fuzzy entropy theory, and least square regression model, the influence of the scientificity and advancement of marine economic industrial structure adjustment on marine economic was analyzed. Results show that the fitting degree of the model is good and significant, with every 1% increase in the scientificity and height of marine economic industrial structure adjustment, the marine economy increases by 1.88% and 2.80%, respectively. The development of marine science and technology can promote the rise of the marine economy.

Sustainable Risk Assessment of Resource Industry at Provincial Level in China

The development of China’s resource industry is facing great pressures from industrial structure adjustment and environmental restraints, and the sustainable risk of the provincial resource industry is different. Considering the development of the resource industry and environmental pressure, this article selects the panel data of 31 provinces from 2015 to 2019 to construct an index evaluation system with six dimensions: influence, induction, supply and demand safety, regional pollution emission, environment quality, and pollution control. The results showed that Shanxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shanghai had the highest sustainable risk in the resource industry, while Heilongjiang, Jilin, Tianjin, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Qinghai had the lowest sustainable risk. The resource industry model of all the provinces is divided into sustainable, industrial, ecological, and unsustainable. Finally, this article puts forward reasonable suggestions for the four scenarios and argues that the balanced development of the resource industry sector and environmental protection is conducive to reducing the sustainable risks of the resource industry.