Measurement and spatiotemporal differences of green development level of textile industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YEB) contributes more than half of China's textile GDP. As a typically livelihood-related industry and a key sector for environmental protection, the textile industry's pursuit of green development holds significant practical importance. We constructed a green development evaluation system for the textile industry, including three dimensions: industrial development, innovation drive, and environmental governance. Based on this, the principal component analysis-TOPSIS method was adopted to quantify the green development level of the textile industry in the YEB and its provinces (municipalities) from 2012 to 2021. We also utilized the Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition method to measure spatial differences, analyze their sources, and identify spatial and temporal distribution characteristics. The results showed that from the view of chronological change, the textile industry's average level of green development in the YEB exhibited a three-stage change characteristic of "rise-stability-rise". The Green Textile Industry Index increased from 0.425 to 0.681. From the view of regional differences, the green development level of the textile industry in the YEB differed significantly, and the overall difference between provinces (municipalities) first fluctuated and then decreased during the measurement period. Hubei had the best comprehensive performance, while Yunnan and Guizhou lagged behind the rest of the area. The level of green development in the Yangtze River Delta region and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River was higher than that in the pan-Chengdu-Chongqing region. The inter-regional difference was the main source of overall difference, and its impact on overall difference tended to intensify. The difference in the innovation drive level was higher than those of other dimensions, which was the main constraint to the balanced green development of the textile industry in the YEB.