IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i11p5201-d1672381.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Research on Coupling Coordination Level Between New-Quality Productivity and Industrial Structure Upgrading in the Yangtze River Economic Belt Urban Area

Author

Listed:
  • Min Jin

    (School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

  • Xuezhong Jiang

    (School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China)

Abstract

New-quality productivity and industrial structure upgrading has become a primary area of concern with respect to regional economic transformation and sustainable development. Based on static panel data of 108 prefecture-level-and-above cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2013 to 2022, the projection pursuit model, coupling coordination degree model, and obstacle degree model were used to study the spatiotemporal patterns and key obstacle factors in the coupling of new-quality productivity and levels of industrial upgrading. Results show the following: (1) The average coupling coordination degree increased from 0.42 in 2013 to 0.53 in 2022, exhibiting a three-stage trend of “initial advancement, rapid growth, and high-level fluctuation”. (2) Regionally, a gradient pattern of “downstream leading, midstream following, and upstream catching up” persists, but regional gaps have narrowed significantly. (3) Spatially, the coupling coordination level shows a pattern of “high in the east, low in the west, led by the core, and breakthrough in the local area”, with significant positive aggregation characteristics. (4) The main obstacle factors across the entire area include digital patents (7.03%), green patents (7.03%), and the number of high-tech enterprises (6.96%), but the weights of the obstacle factors vary greatly across different areas. These findings provide scientific support for green transformation, regional integration, and sustainability-oriented industrial policy design in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Suggested Citation

  • Min Jin & Xuezhong Jiang, 2025. "Research on Coupling Coordination Level Between New-Quality Productivity and Industrial Structure Upgrading in the Yangtze River Economic Belt Urban Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:11:p:5201-:d:1672381
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/11/5201/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/11/5201/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhu, Bangzhu & Zhang, Mengfan & Zhou, Yanhua & Wang, Ping & Sheng, Jichuan & He, Kaijian & Wei, Yi-Ming & Xie, Rui, 2019. "Exploring the effect of industrial structure adjustment on interprovincial green development efficiency in China: A novel integrated approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    2. Nelson Amowine & Tomas Balezentis & Zhixiang Zhou & Dalia Streimikiene, 2024. "Transitions towards green productivity in Africa: Do sovereign debt vulnerability, eco‐entrepreneurship, and institutional quality matter?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 3405-3422, August.
    3. Shengli Dai & Yingying Wang & Weimin Zhang, 2022. "The Impact Relationships between Scientific and Technological Innovation, Industrial Structure Advancement and Carbon Footprints in China Based on the PVAR Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-21, August.
    4. Qiaoxin Xie & Yu Zhang & Lei Chen, 2022. "Does green credit policy promote innovation: A case of China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2704-2714, October.
    5. Changhua Shao & Han Dong & Yuan Gao, 2024. "New Quality Productivity and Industrial Structure in China: The Moderating Effect of Environmental Regulation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-27, August.
    6. Zeduo Zou & Xiaodie Yuan & Zhuo Zhang & Xingyan Li & Chunshan Zhou, 2024. "Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Coupling and Coordination between the Ecosystem Service Value and Economy in the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration of China," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-27, October.
    7. Huizhen Cui & Linlin Cheng & Yang Zheng & Junqi Wang & Mengyao Zhu & Pengxiang Zhang, 2025. "Analysis of the Dynamic Changes and Driving Mechanism of Land Green Utilization Efficiency in the Context of Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Synergistic Development," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-25, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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, Ru-Yu & Wang, Ke-Liang & Miao, Zhuang, 2024. "The impact of digital technology innovation on green total-factor energy efficiency in China: Does economic development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Ke Liu & Yurong Qiao & Qian Zhou, 2021. "Analysis of China’s Industrial Green Development Efficiency and Driving Factors: Research Based on MGWR," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-22, April.
    3. Senhua Huang & Lingming Chen, 2023. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on the Urban Total-Factor Energy Efficiency: Evidence from 275 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    4. Lin, Boqiang & Zhou, Yicheng, 2021. "How does vertical fiscal imbalance affect the upgrading of industrial structure? Empirical evidence from China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    5. Wang, Mei Ling, 2023. "Effects of the green finance policy on the green innovation efficiency of the manufacturing industry: A difference-in-difference model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    6. Yuliang Yang & Chaoqun Cui, 2022. "Which Provincial Regions in China Should Give Priority to the Redevelopment of Abandoned Coal Mines? A Redevelopment Potential Evaluation Based Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, November.
    7. Ren, Siyu & Hao, Yu & Wu, Haitao, 2022. "The role of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on green total factor energy efficiency: Does institutional quality matters? Evidence from China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Wang, Bo & Wang, Jianda, 2025. "China’s green digital era: How does digital economy enable green economic growth?," Innovation and Green Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(1).
    9. You Zheng & Jianzhong Xiao & Jinhua Cheng, 2020. "Industrial Structure Adjustment and Regional Green Development from the Perspective of Mineral Resource Security," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-18, September.
    10. Shengli Dai & Weimin Zhang & Jiamin Zong & Yingying Wang & Ge Wang, 2021. "How Effective Is the Green Development Policy of China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt? A Quantitative Evaluation Based on the PMC-Index Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-17, July.
    11. Zhang, Hui & Zhou, Peng & Sun, Xiumei & Ni, Guanqun, 2024. "Disparities in energy efficiency and its determinants in Chinese cities: From the perspective of heterogeneity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    12. Pei Zhao & Junhua Guo & Yang Wang, 2023. "How Does the Digital Economy Affect Green Development?—Evidence from 284 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, July.
    13. Nan Feng & Mingyue Yan & Mingtao Yan, 2024. "Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of New-Quality Productivity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-20, December.
    14. Rui Zhang & Yong Ma & Jie Ren, 2022. "Green Development Performance Evaluation Based on Dual Perspectives of Level and Efficiency: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-24, July.
    15. Yu, Xiang, 2023. "An assessment of the green development efficiency of industrial parks in China: Based on non-desired output and non-radial DEA model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 81-88.
    16. Lixin Zhou & Caiping Qu & Li Zhi, 2024. "Research on the Impact of Digital Infrastructure on Urban Breakthrough Green Innovation: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    17. Tang, Can & Wang, Bing & Zheng, Wenping, 2025. "Can structural loan policy promote low-carbon transition of manufacturing enterprises? New evidence from China," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    18. Wang, Qian & Ren, Shuming, 2022. "Evaluation of green technology innovation efficiency in a regional context: A dynamic network slacks-based measuring approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    19. Lingyan Xu & Dandan Wang & Jianguo Du, 2022. "Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Urban Green and Smart Development Level in China: Evidence from 232 Prefecture-Level Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-19, March.
    20. Xu Dong & Yang Chen & Qinqin Zhuang & Yali Yang & Xiaomeng Zhao, 2022. "Agglomeration of Productive Services, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Analysis Based on 68 Prefectural-Level-and-Above Cities in the Yellow River Basin," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-19, September.

    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:17:y:2025:i:11:p:5201-:d:1672381. 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 (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.