This study aims to measure how well China’s green, low-carbon, and circulardevelopment economic system (the GLCCD Economic System) is being developed. By establishing the indicator system and indicators, the spatiotemporal range entropy weight method, Gini coefficient, Theil index, σ convergence model, and national and provincial data from 2012 to 2017 are employed. The construction level of almost all GLCCD Economic Systems at national and provincial levels has shown improvement during the study period. Among them, a significant boost is only observed in the development power indicator; improvement in the production system indicator and development benefit indicator is mild, and the life system indicator sees a decline year by year. The construction level of the GLCCD Economic System throughout China is generally balanced but tends to expand in scale. However, the inter-regional development benefit indicator shows a convergence trend. Based on the analysis of the similarities and differences between green and low-carbon circular development, the development power and development benefit, production system, and life system are incorporated into a unified logical framework. The construction level of the GLCCD Economic System is measured as a whole in a holistic manner. This study finds out the scientific connotation of the GLCCD Economic System. The changing trends and regional differences in the construction level of the GLCCD Economic System are revealed. These findings provide a clear and reliable decision-making basis for the construction of the GLCCD Economic System.

The Dual Carbon strategy, which is aimed at achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, is one of China’s major strategies in the coming period. Agriculture is both an important source of greenhouse gas and a huge carbon sink system. To promote the Dual Carbon strategy, it is crucial for China to lay emphasis on green and low-carbon agricultural development. To achieve carbon peaking, agricultural carbon reduction and sequestration are significant means and have great potential. This paper firstly reviews the current situation of green and lowcarbon agricultural development. At present, the total agricultural carbon emissions in China are approaching the peak smoothly, and the proportion of carbon emissions generated by the use of such modern agricultural inputs as fertilizer and on-farm energy increases. Meanwhile, the operation of agricultural ecosystems in China demonstrates the strong capacity to absorb carbon. Then, the paper analyzes the main problems existing in green and low-carbon agricultural development, including excessive agricultural inputs and excessive consumption of fossil energy, the low utilization rate of agricultural resources, insufficient technical reserves for green and low-carbon agricultural development, and a weak supporting system. In the next part, the paper elaborates on the basic path and measures to realize green and low-carbon agricultural development, such as strengthening the conservation of agricultural resources and improving the efficiency of resource utilization; enhancing the comprehensive treatment of agricultural non-point source pollution, realizing the reduction and efficiency of fertilizer and pesticide, resource utilization of agricultural wastes, and effective control of white agricultural pollution; cultivating, expanding and strengthening green and low-carbon agricultural industries, and greening the whole industrial chain of agricultural products from production, processing to circulation; increasing scientific and technological innovation and building a scientific and technological support systems for green and low-carbon agricultural development. Finally, an institutional system to promote green and low-carbon agricultural development is constructed from the aspects of fiscal and taxation system, financial system, land management system, value realization mechanism of ecological products, and constraint and incentive mechanism, etc. This study provides a scientific basis for the further formulation of green and lowcarbon agricultural development policies and measures and relevant research.

An important proposition needed in-depth research is how digital technology empowers the green transformation of the manufacturing industry. This paper empirically finds that digital empowerment can boost the green transformation of enterprises, the conclusion of which stands valid under all kinds of robustness tests. Moreover, such boosting is heterogeneous and exists in industries with different energy consumption intensities. In addition, digital empowerment has a positive spillover effect on the green transformation of upstream and downstream enterprises along industrial chains. From the specific mechanism of action, digital empowerment mainly drives the green transformation of manufacturing enterprises through scale and technology effects. The green transformation is significantly positively affected by digital empowerment. Compared with digital empowerment driven by domestic digital sources, the one built on foreign digital sources has a more profound influence on the green transformation of the manufacturing industry, although the green transformation is significantly positively affected by digital empowerment. The differences above may stem from the gap in the development of digital technology at home and abroad. This judgment has been further confirmed in the heterogeneity analysis on regions with different levels of economic development and factor-intensive manufacturing industries. This means that in the new round of technological competition, China should be alert to the potential impact brought by the development gap of domestic and global digital technologies. This paper helps to expand and deepen the understanding of the factors affecting the green transformation of manufacturing enterprises. It also brings important policy implications to the following aspects: the method of seizing strategic opportunities brought by digital technology, the first-mover advantage built on open integration and innovation, the narrowing of the gap with foreign digital development levels, and the stabilization of digital empowerment basis for the green transformation of the manufacturing industry.

Based on the carbon emission data of China’s manufacturing industry from 1998 to 2015, this paper examines the impact of carbon emission inclination of the central and local governments’ industrial planning on regional carbon emissions. The findings of this study suggest that central industrial planning focuses on the long-term goal of economic development and favors low carbon emission industries, while local governments are more inclined to short-term economic growth and focus more on high-carbon emission industries with high output. The support of local industrial planning for high-carbon emission industries can reduce the intensity of regional carbon emissions, while the influence of central industrial planning is not evident. The mechanism analysis shows that government support for some industries can improve the industrial added value and reduce the carbon emission intensity. As the output value and carbon emission level of high-carbon emission industries are higher, the decline of carbon emissions caused by local government support for high-carbon emission industries will eventually lead to the reduction of carbon emission intensity in the whole region. The research explains the different paths that the central and local governments choose to develop a low-carbon economy and analyses their influences.

Against the backdrop of the carbon neutrality strategy, the key issue remains how green finance can boost enterprise green innovation and social transformation. The paper introduces the policy of Pilot Zones for Green Finance Reform and Innovations (“the PZGFRI Policy”) announced in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment and probes into whether green finance has a significant impact on enterprise green innovation as well as its mechanism based on the green patent data of China’s A-share listed companies in the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2012 to 2019. The paper reaches the conclusion that the PZGFRI Policy has significantly promoted the green innovation of enterprises. In terms of heterogeneity of enterprise characteristics, it generates greater impacts on non-polluting firms, large-scale enterprises, and state-owned companies. For the heterogeneity of the financial environment, the PZGFRI Policy provides more benefits for those in regions with less competitive banks. As for the mechanism, green finance advances enterprise green innovation by increasing the proportion of long-term loans of enterprises and improving their debt structure. However, evidence related to financing cost channels has not yet been found. Continued improvement of the green financial system is preferred. Further, green finance should be encouraged to play an important role in the green transformation of society, the realization of carbon neutrality goals, and long-term ecological conservation.