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  • Jul. 16, 2025

Arid Land Geography ›› 2025, Vol. 48 ›› Issue (5): 930-940.doi: 10.12118/j.issn.1000-6060.2024.525

• Regional Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Impact of territorial spatial ecological protection and restoration on the economic development of China poverty-alleviated regions:Empiricalanalysis based on PSM-DID method

ZHANG Shuaihang(), YUAN Ye(), MIAO Yingfeng, CAO Chenyu, ZHAO Jiayu, WANG Shuang, LI Qian   

  1. School of Public Administration, Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan 030006, Shanxi, China
  • Received:2024-09-03 Revised:2024-11-25 Online:2025-05-25 Published:2025-05-13
  • Contact: YUAN Ye E-mail:shuaihang0603@163.com;yuanye2452@163.com

Abstract:

Exploring the impact of territorial spatial ecological protection and restoration on the economic development of China’s poverty-alleviated regions provides valuable insights for promoting sustainable economic development and rural revitalization in these areas during the post-poverty era. Using the double-difference propensity score matching (PSM-DID) model, this study analyzed economic panel data from 58 national-level poverty-alleviated regions involved in the first and second batches of national integrated protection and restoration projects for mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts (the “Shanshui Project”) during China’s 13th and 14th Five-Year Plans. These were compared with data from 182 non-participating poverty-alleviated regions that had similar natural, social, and economic conditions from 2010 to 2020. This study assesses the impact of ecological protection and restoration on the economic development of these regions. The results indicate the following: (1) Under otherwise unchanged conditions, the economic development rate of poverty-alleviated regions implementing territorial spatial ecological protection and restoration increased significantly by 0.0329 compared to regions that did not implement such measures. This conclusion remains robust after balance tests, parallel trend tests, and placebo tests. (2) In the implementation of spatial ecological protection and restoration, both short-term and long-term economic development effects should be considered. Realizing the value of ecological products is a key driver of sustainable economic development in poverty-alleviated regions. To achieve this, increased policy support is recommended for this region, with a focus on improving systems for realizing the value of ecological products. This approach would enable these areas to successfully transform “green waters and mountains” into “golden mountains and silver mountains”.

Key words: national spatial ecological protection and restoration, poverty-alleviated regions, economic development, PSM-DID