Yingzhi Xu

Purpose: In China, resource-based cities, being of vital significance for energy and resources, are confronted with severe threats such as depletion, environmental deterioration, and economic disequilibrium. Inclusive green growth, in response to the two predominant global trends of inclusiveness and greening, represents the inevitable path for the international community to pursue sustainable development. Therefore, this study aims to explore the inclusive green growth path of resource-based cities in China. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, this research measures inclusive green growth in both quantity and quality, overcoming single-dimensional limitations. Secondly, based on the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) for resource-based cities (2013–2020) as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper explores whether resource-based cities can achieve simultaneous improvement in both “quantity” and “quality” through DID method. Additionally, it explores the role of economic, industrial, and population agglomeration in promoting inclusive green development in resource-based cities. Findings: The results show that the NSDP significantly promotes the simultaneous improvement in both “quantity” and “quality” of inclusive green growth, and this promoting effect shows a fluctuating upward trend with the increase of years. Besides, mechanisms such as energy conservation and consumption reduction, pollution abatement, industrial transformation and upgrading, and essential factor structure optimization have played a significant mediating role, while the agglomeration effects of the economy, industry and population have also played a significant moderating role. Originality/value: These results provide significant policy implication for the long-term planning of industrial development of resource-based cities, promoting energy conservation and emission reduction, correcting resource misallocation, and exerting agglomeration effect.

Purpose: This study combines the Energy Ladder and Family Altruism Theory to analyze the impact of non-agricultural employment and family separation on energy poverty, and combines the Oprobit model and CMP estimation to explore the effects of non-agricultural employment and family separation on non-agricultural employment while controlling for endogeneity. Design/methodology/approach: This study analyzes the impact of non-agricultural employment and family separation on rural household energy poverty by utilizing data from the Chinese Family Panel Study (CFPS) and employing the Oprobit Model and Conditional Mixed Process Estimation. Findings: (1) Non-agricultural employment significantly alleviates rural energy poverty; (2) Spatial and intergenerational family separation weakens the mitigating effect of non-agricultural employment on energy poverty; (3) Income plays an intermediary role in the impact of non-agricultural employment on energy poverty, but family spatial separation also weakens the intermediary role of income. Originality/value: Firstly, this study reveals that the household separation and left-behind problems caused by non-agricultural employment in China has resulted in a loss of efficiency in improving energy welfare through non-agricultural employment. Secondly, in terms of research methodology, by using the conditional mixed process (CMP) estimation method, we controlled for endogeneity between non-agricultural employment and energy poverty, to obtain more accurate conclusions.

The number of countries participating in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been increasing since its official launch in 2013. Although the number of BRI participating countries has reached 145, only some are directly connected with China through land, sea, and other trade routes developed under the BRI project. Because of their direct links with China, these countries have significantly increased their trade with China. In addition to increased trade, these countries have also been undergoing financial development (FD). Since trade and financial development are closely related to the production of goods and services, therefore; both of these are expected to have environmental impact. The current study examines the effect of trade and FD on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in selected BRI countries for the period 2001–2019. This study follows a proper estimation strategy based on preliminary tests, cointegration analysis, and coefficient estimation. The results suggest that trade between China and selected BRI countries has no significant effect on CO₂ emissions, whereas, financial development has significantly increased CO₂ emissions in these countries. Moreover, BRI countries’ imports from China significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, whereas their exports to China significantly increase CO₂ emission in the BRI countries. The policy recommendations suggest that these BRI countries should leverage their direct connections with China for technology transfer. By utilizing environmentally friendly technology, these countries could also reduce the pollution associated with their exports to China and the rest of the world. Furthermore, their financial sectors should divert funds to industries advancing trade in environmental rather than pollution-intensive goods.