Study on temporal and spatial changes of environmental regulation intensity in China

Environmental regulation is an inevitable requirement to improve environmental quality and an important means to enhance the coordination between environmental protection and economic development. The calculation of the intensity of environmental regulation is the basis for subsequent related research. Nine environmental regulation intensity measurement indicators were selected to construct the environmental regulation index system. The environmental regulation intensity was calculated by the factor analysis method. The analysis was carried out from two aspects of time trend and spatial pattern. In terms of time dimension, the intensity of environmental regulation at the national level from 2011 to 2019 was measured, and three public factors were extracted, including regulation effect, formal environmental regulation and environmental awareness. There were cross changes between formal environmental regulation factors and regulation effect factors. The change of environmental awareness factors needed a large time span, and China's environmental regulation was stable and slightly fluctuated as a whole. In terms of spatial dimension, the environmental regulation intensity of 30 provinces (autonomous regions and cities) in China was measured, and the level of environmental regulation intensity was obtained by cluster analysis. The environmental regulation intensity in China showed a spatial pattern of high in the east and low in the west, but the regional difference was narrowing. Finally, the lag between formal environmental regulation and environmental regulation effect, such as emission-reduction investment and control, the imbalance between eastern and western regions, and the importance of informal environmental regulation were analyzed. Some suggestions were proposed, including increasing investment and implementation of environmental governance, optimizing industrial structure and paying attention to the cultivation of public environmental awareness, to improve the intensity of environmental regulation and promote balanced regional development.