IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i8p3120-d1372523.html

The Green Engine of Growth: Assessing the Influence of Renewable Energy Consumption and Environmental Policy on China’s Economic Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Lin Wang

    (Department of Business, Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, Ningbo 315175, China)

  • Yugang He

    (Department of Chinese Trade and Commerce, Sejong University, Seoul 05006, Republic of Korea)

  • Renhong Wu

    (School of Management, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

Utilizing Fourier autoregressive distributed lag and Fourier Toda–Yamamoto causality methodologies, this research assesses the effects that renewable energy consumption and environmental policy had on the economic sustainability of China from 1991 to 2022. Our findings highlight the positive impacts of renewable energy use and stringent environmental policies on China’s economic growth, while also pinpointing the supportive roles played by foreign direct investment, trade openness, and financial sector evolution in fostering a sustainable economic environment. Conversely, a reliance on fossil fuels emerges as a significant barrier to sustainability. Causality tests confirm the essential roles of renewable energy and environmental policies in advancing China’s economic sustainability. This study underscores the critical need for integrating sustainable energy and environmental strategies within China’s economic development framework, advocating for a holistic policy approach that balances economic growth with environmental conservation. This research underscores the imperative for a sustainability-centered strategy for China’s economic advancement.

Suggested Citation

  • Lin Wang & Yugang He & Renhong Wu, 2024. "The Green Engine of Growth: Assessing the Influence of Renewable Energy Consumption and Environmental Policy on China’s Economic Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-25, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3120-:d:1372523
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3120/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/8/3120/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mohsen Bahmani‐Oskooee & Tsangyao Chang & Farhang Niroomand & Omid Ranjbar, 2020. "Fourier nonlinear quantile unit root test and PPP in Africa," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 451-481, October.
    2. Solarin, Sakiru Adebola & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2019. "Sustainable economic development in China: Modelling the role of hydroelectricity consumption in a multivariate framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 516-531.
    3. Qianyi Li & Md Qamruzzaman, 2023. "Innovation-Led Environmental Sustainability in Vietnam—Towards a Green Future," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-34, August.
    4. Yin, Qingwei, 2023. "Nexus among financial development and equity market on green economic finance: Fresh insights from European Union," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    5. Han Yan & Md. Qamruzzaman & Sylvia Kor, 2023. "Nexus between Green Investment, Fiscal Policy, Environmental Tax, Energy Price, Natural Resources, and Clean Energy—A Step towards Sustainable Development by Fostering Clean Energy Inclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-25, September.
    6. Du, Juntao & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & Vardanyan, Michael, 2023. "The role of green financing in facilitating renewable energy transition in China: Perspectives from energy governance, environmental regulation, and market reforms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    7. Rafiq Asghar & Mohd H Sulaiman & Zuriani Mustaffa & Nasim Ullah & Waqas Hassan, 2023. "The important contribution of renewable energy technologies in overcoming Pakistan's energy crisis: Present challenges and potential opportunities," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(8), pages 3450-3494, December.
    8. UÄŸur UrsavaÅŸ & Veli Yilanci, 2023. "Convergence analysis of ecological footprint at different time scales: Evidence from Southern Common Market countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(2), pages 429-442, March.
    9. Muhammad Umar & Xiangfeng Ji & Dervis Kirikkaleli & Muhammad Shahbaz & Xuemei Zhou, 2020. "Environmental cost of natural resources utilization and economic growth: Can China shift some burden through globalization for sustainable development?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1678-1688, November.
    10. Ibrahim, Ridwan Lanre & Al-mulali, Usama & Ozturk, Ilhan & Bello, Ajide Kazeem & Raimi, Lukman, 2022. "On the criticality of renewable energy to sustainable development: Do green financial development, technological innovation, and economic complexity matter for China?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 262-277.
    11. Chien-Heng Chou & Sa Ly Ngo & Phung Phi Tran, 2023. "Renewable Energy Integration for Sustainable Economic Growth: Insights and Challenges via Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-26, October.
    12. Wen, Jun & Okolo, Chukwuemeka Valentine & Ugwuoke, Ifeanyi Celestine & Kolani, Kibir, 2022. "Research on influencing factors of renewable energy, energy efficiency, on technological innovation. Does trade, investment and human capital development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Abbas, Jawad & Wang, Lisu & Ben Belgacem, Samira & Pawar, Puja Sunil & Najam, Hina & Abbas, Jaffar, 2023. "Investment in renewable energy and electricity output: Role of green finance, environmental tax, and geopolitical risk: Empirical evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    14. Yan, Juan & Haroon, Muhammad, 2023. "Financing efficiency in natural resource markets mobilizing private and public capital for a green recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    15. Przychodzen, Wojciech & Przychodzen, Justyna, 2020. "Determinants of renewable energy production in transition economies: A panel data approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    16. Fang, Zhen, 2023. "Assessing the impact of renewable energy investment, green technology innovation, and industrialization on sustainable development: A case study of China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 772-782.
    17. Hua, Cheng & Wang, Ke, 2023. "Multi-factor productivity growth with natural capital and undesirable output: A measurement for OECD and G20 countries," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 2(2).
    18. Yu Zhang & Jie Wang & Jiakai Chen & Weizhong Liu, 2023. "Does environmental regulation policy help improve business performance of manufacturing enterprises? evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(5), pages 4335-4364, May.
    19. Galeotti, Marzio & Salini, Silvia & Verdolini, Elena, 2020. "Measuring environmental policy stringency: Approaches, validity, and impact on environmental innovation and energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    20. Anton, Sorin Gabriel & Afloarei Nucu, Anca Elena, 2020. "The effect of financial development on renewable energy consumption. A panel data approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 330-338.
    21. Song, Wenfei & Han, Xianfeng, 2022. "The bilateral effects of foreign direct investment on green innovation efficiency: Evidence from 30 Chinese provinces," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    22. Buhari Doğan & Oana M. Driha & Daniel Balsalobre Lorente & Umer Shahzad, 2021. "The mitigating effects of economic complexity and renewable energy on carbon emissions in developed countries," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 1-12, January.
    23. Yifei Cai & Tolga Omay, 2022. "Using Double Frequency in Fourier Dickey–Fuller Unit Root Test," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 445-470, February.
    24. Genovese, P.V. & Zoure, A.N., 2023. "Architecture trends and challenges in sub-Saharan Africa's construction industry: A theoretical guideline of a bioclimatic architecture evolution based on the multi-scale approach and circular economy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    25. Deyun Xiao & Luyao Gao & Lijia Xu & Zongjun Wang & Wu Wei, 2023. "Revisiting the Green Growth Effect of Foreign Direct Investment from the Perspective of Environmental Regulation: Evidence from China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-20, February.
    26. Zhang Zhen & Sami Ullah & Zhan Shaowen & Muhammad Irfan, 2023. "How do renewable energy consumption, financial development, and technical efficiency change cause ecological sustainability in European Union countries?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(7), pages 2478-2496, November.
    27. Chen, Chaoyi & Pinar, Mehmet & Stengos, Thanasis, 2020. "Renewable energy consumption and economic growth nexus: Evidence from a threshold model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    28. Bai, Xiao & Wang, Kuan-Ting & Tran, Trung Kien & Sadiq, Muhammad & Trung, Lam Minh & Khudoykulov, Khurshid, 2022. "Measuring China’s green economic recovery and energy environment sustainability: Econometric analysis of sustainable development goals," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 768-779.
    29. Wang, Zhuo & Yen-Ku, Kuo & Li, Zeyun & An, Nguyen Binh & Abdul-Samad, Zulkiflee, 2022. "The transition of renewable energy and ecological sustainability through environmental policy stringency: Estimations from advance panel estimators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 70-80.
    30. Yang, Zheng & Zhan, Jinyan, 2024. "Examining the multiple impacts of renewable energy development on redefined energy security in China: A panel quantile regression approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    31. Greg Muttitt & Sivan Kartha, 2020. "Equity, climate justice and fossil fuel extraction: principles for a managed phase out," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(8), pages 1024-1042, September.
    32. Emma Aisbett & Magdalene Silberberger, 2021. "Tariff liberalization and product standards: Regulatory chill and race to the bottom?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), pages 987-1006, July.
    33. Abbasi, Kashif Raza & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Zhang, Jinjun & Irfan, Muhammad & Alvarado, Rafael, 2022. "Analyze the environmental sustainability factors of China: The role of fossil fuel energy and renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 390-402.
    34. Zhao, Xin & Mahendru, Mandeep & Ma, Xiaowei & Rao, Amar & Shang, Yuping, 2022. "Impacts of environmental regulations on green economic growth in China: New guidelines regarding renewable energy and energy efficiency," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 728-742.
    35. Pierre Perron & Serena Ng, 1996. "Useful Modifications to some Unit Root Tests with Dependent Errors and their Local Asymptotic Properties," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(3), pages 435-463.
    36. Shahid, Rabia & Shahid, Humera & Shijie, Li & Jian, Gao, 2024. "Developing nexus between economic opening-up, environmental regulations, rent of natural resources, green innovation, and environmental upgrading of China - empirical analysis using ARDL bound-testing approach," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 3(1).
    37. Chen, Fu & Tiwari, Sunil & Mohammed, Kamel Si & Huo, Weidong & Jamróz, Paweł, 2023. "Minerals resource rent responses to economic performance, greener energy, and environmental policy in China: Combination of ML and ANN outputs," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    38. Neal D Woods, 2021. "An Environmental Race to the Bottom? “No More Stringent” Laws in the American States," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, CSF Associates Inc., vol. 51(2), pages 238-261.
    39. Khan, Imran & Muhammad, Ihsan & Sharif, Arshian & Khan, Inayat & Ji, Xiangbo, 2024. "Unlocking the potential of renewable energy and natural resources for sustainable economic growth and carbon neutrality: A novel panel quantile regression approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    40. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    41. Zhao, Qian & Su, Chi-Wei & Qin, Meng & Umar, Muhammad, 2023. "Is global renewable energy development a curse or blessing for economic growth? Evidence from China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    42. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Zhong, Qiming & Wen, Huwei & Song, Qinghua, 2023. "Blessing or curse: How does sustainable development policy affect total factor productivity of energy-intensive enterprises?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    43. Fang, Wei & Liu, Zhen & Surya Putra, Ahmad Romadhoni, 2022. "Role of research and development in green economic growth through renewable energy development: Empirical evidence from South Asia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 1142-1152.
    44. Afshan, Sahar & Ozturk, Ilhan & Yaqoob, Tanzeela, 2022. "Facilitating renewable energy transition, ecological innovations and stringent environmental policies to improve ecological sustainability: Evidence from MM-QR method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 151-160.
    45. Fan, Weiyang & Hao, Yu, 2020. "An empirical research on the relationship amongst renewable energy consumption, economic growth and foreign direct investment in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 598-609.
    46. Neslihan Turguttopbaş & Tolga Omay, 2023. "Testing the Efficiency of Emerging Markets: Evidence from Nonlinear Panel Unit Tests," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 70(2), pages 261-278.
    47. Zhang Dong & Sana Ullah, 2023. "Towards a Green Economy in China? Examining the Impact of the Internet of Things and Environmental Regulation on Green Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-15, August.
    48. Guasti, Alessandro & Koenig-Archibugi, Mathias, 2022. "Has global trade competition really led to a race to the bottom in labor standards?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113752, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gokavarapu, Kamal Nikhil & Gore, Nidhish Abhijit & Ohri, Chirag & Carbonara, Joaquin & Ahmed, Saquib, 2025. "Machine learning analysis of New York clean energy trends," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xu, Guangyue & Yang, Mengge & Li, Shuang & Jiang, Mingqi & Rehman, Hafizur, 2024. "Evaluating the effect of renewable energy investment on renewable energy development in China with panel threshold model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    2. Shao, Hanhua & Wang, Yaning & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wen, Huwei, 2024. "How does political stability affect renewable energy finance? International evidence," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    3. Tan, Yan & Uprasen, Utai, 2022. "The effect of foreign direct investment on renewable energy consumption subject to the moderating effect of environmental regulation: Evidence from the BRICS countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(P2), pages 135-149.
    4. Liu, Fang & Zhou, Dequn & Ding, Hao & Wang, Qunwei, 2025. "Inhibit or promote: Nonlinear spatial impacts of renewable energy on economic growth in China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    5. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Ho, Shan-Ju, 2022. "Impacts of export diversification on energy intensity, renewable energy, and waste energy in 121 countries: Do environmental regulations matter?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1510-1522.
    6. Akusta, Emre & Cergibozan, Raif, 2026. "The role of renewable energy sources on the path to sustainable development for OECD countries: Considering the three pillars of sustainability," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PD).
    7. Ullah, Sami & Luo, Rundong & Nadeem, Muhammad & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier, 2023. "Advancing sustainable growth and energy transition in the United States through the lens of green energy innovations, natural resources and environmental policy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    8. Nguyen, Thi Hao & Deng, Hongbing & Abbas, Zainab Zahra & Lam, Thi Thoa & Abbas, Hussain Raza, 2024. "The effect of natural capital, regional development, FDI, and natural resource rent on environmental performance: The Mediating role of green innovation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Ly, Alpha, 2025. "Scaling up renewables without phasing down fossil fuels? Rethinking the role of financial globalization," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    10. Akan, Taner & Gündüz, Halil İbrahim & Emirmahmutoğlu, Furkan & Işık, Ali Haydar, 2023. "Disaggregating renewable energy-growth nexus: W-ARDL and W-Toda-Yamamoto approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    11. Ibrahiem, Dalia M. & Hanafy, Shaimaa A., 2021. "Do energy security and environmental quality contribute to renewable energy? The role of trade openness and energy use in North African countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 667-678.
    12. Lin, Boqiang & Xu, Chongchong, 2024. "Reaping green dividend: The effect of China's urban new energy transition strategy on green economic performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    13. Nudrat Fatima & Mahjabeen Usman & Nasir Khan & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2024. "Catalysts for sustainable energy transitions: the interplay between financial development, green technological innovations, and environmental taxes in European nations," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 13069-13096, May.
    14. Chunhong Liu & Shisong Jiang & Hanfei Zhang & Ziyi Lu & Umberto Desideri, 2024. "China and Italy’s Energy Development Trajectories: Current Landscapes and Future Cooperation Potential," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Manu, Emmanuel Kwaku & Chen, George S. & Asante, Dennis, 2022. "Regional heterogeneities in the absorptive capacity of renewable energy deployment in Africa," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 554-564.
    16. Ai, Hongshan & Tan, Xiaoqing & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Emrouznejad, Ali & Liu, Fan & Song, Malin, 2025. "Renewable energy transition and sustainable development: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    17. Li, Hongmei & Xu, Ruizhe, 2023. "Impact of fiscal policies and natural resources on ecological sustainability of BRICS region: Moderating role of green innovation and ecological governance," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    18. Huang, Yongming & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Haseeb, Mohammad, 2024. "Energy transition at the crossroads of energy depletion and environmental policy stringency: Energy policy framework for energy giants in the indo-pacific belt," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    19. Ma, Qiang & Li, Sa & Aslam, Misbah & Ali, Naveed & Alamri, Ahmad Mohammed, 2023. "Extraction of natural resources and sustainable renewable energy: COP26 target in the context of financial inclusion," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    20. Ma, Yu & Wang, Yutian & Zhou, Xiangjun, 2024. "The impact of green finance on the development of the non-hydro renewable energy industry: An empirical study based on data from 30 provinces in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:8:p:3120-:d:1372523. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.