Faced with global resource constraints and environmental challenges, enhancing natural resources utilization efficiency (NRUE) has become a crucial global strategy. The swift advancement of digital economy (DE) offers a new opportunity to tackle these resource and environmental issues. Based on panel data from 47 countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from 2013 to 2021, this paper explores the impact of DE on NRUE and its underlying mechanism. The results show that DE has a significant U-shaped nonlinear impact on NRUE, and this finding remains valid after various robustness tests. Additionally, mechanism analysis reveals that DE can exert a nonlinear impact on NRUE by fostering technological innovation and optimizing energy structure. Furthermore, this nonlinear impact effect exhibits distinct heterogeneous characteristics. Compared to digital technology, the sub-dimensions of DE-digital infrastructure, digital market, and digital governance-exert a more pronounced impact effect. Geographically, the nonlinear effects are particularly strong in Southeast Asia, West Asia/North Africa, and Central and Eastern Europe. Finally, extensive analysis indicates that DE has an inverted U-shaped spillover effect on NRUE of neighboring countries. Therefore, BRI countries should expedite the integration of DE with resource-based sectors to meet sustainable development objectives.

Eradicating poverty is a fundamental goal in achieving sustainable development. As a new form of economic activity, digital economy has become integrated into all aspects of human life. Can digital economy development contribute to reducing poverty? Using the panel data from 66 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between 2009 and 2021, this paper applies the two-way fixed effects model, dynamic panel model, instrumental variable model, and mediation effect model to examine the poverty reduction effect of digital economy and its underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that: (1) Both digital economy index and poverty incidence in BRI countries have significantly improved, though they display distinct spatial differentiation characteristics; (2) Digital economy has a strong effect on reducing poverty, helping BRI countries meet their poverty alleviation goals. Specifically, a one standard deviation increase in the digital economy index corresponds to a 6.241

As an important vehicle for implementing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), inbound tourism not only promotes economic growth among participating countries but also plays a significant role in optimizing the flow of production factors and enhancing green low-carbon cooperation. Based on the panel data encompassing 66 countries along the BRI from 2009 to 2019, we use the two-way fixed effects model, dynamic panel model, panel threshold model, instrumental variable model, moderating effects model, spatial econometric model, and double machine learning model to investigate the nonlinear impact, mediating mechanism, and spatial spillover effect of inbound tourism on carbon emissions. Results indicate that the development of inbound tourism has an inverse U-shaped nonlinear influence on carbon emissions, and this influence remains credible after robustness testing and endogenous control. Moreover, this effect varies significantly across countries with different geographical conditions and economic development levels. Mechanism analysis indicates that inbound tourism can reduce carbon emissions by upgrading industrial structure, enhancing environmental regulatory, and fostering technological innovation. The application of spatial durbin model reveals the spatial spillover effect of inbound tourism on carbon emissions of neighboring countries. Based on the above conclusions, this paper argues that it is necessary to consider the differences in economic development stages and location characteristics among countries, formulate targeted tourism development policy systems, and establish a cross-border collaborative governance framework for tourism-related carbon emissions. This will promote the synergistic advancement of high-quality tourism economic development and low-carbon emission reduction in the BRI countries.

Rural post-poverty alleviation areas are not on a solid developmental footing and therefore remain at risk of returning to poverty in the midst of rapid urbanization. Vulnerability assessment of socio-ecological systems is critical for identifying risks and enhancing resilience in rural areas transitioning out of poverty. Based on research data from 2012, 2017, and 2022 in the post-poverty alleviation areas of Hunan Province, this research establishes a Vulnerability-Scoping-Diagram (VSD) assessment framework for rural development vulnerability and Spatially-Explicit-Resilience-Vulnerability (SERV) analysis model from a socio-ecological system perspective. It comprehensively analyzes the spatial and temporal variations of the Rural Development Vulnerability Index (RDVI) in the study area. Geodetector is used to explore the main factors influencing the spatial and temporal variability of RDVI, and vulnerability type zones are classified by combining the dominant elements method. The findings indicate that: (1) The rural development vulnerability index of post-poverty alleviation areas in Hunan Province has obvious characteristics of spatial and temporal differentiation. The RDVI in western Hunan and southern Hunan is always high, while the RDVI in ChangZhuTan and Dongting Lake regions decreases year by year. (2) The RDVI of post-poverty alleviation areas in Hunan Province is determined by the three dimensions of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptability, exhibiting significant spatial and temporal variations. (3) Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that areas with similar rural socio-ecological vulnerability in post-poverty alleviation areas of Hunan Province were significantly clustered spatially. (4) The core influencing factors of RDVI in Hunan’s post-poverty alleviation areas have shifted from natural disaster risk to multiple risk dimensions encompassing social resource load and ecological environment risk superimposition, resulting in more complex and diversified influencing factors. (5) By combining results from the RDVI assessment with the dominant elements method, the regions can be classified into multiple vulnerability type districts dominated by multiple elements or single-element dominance, leading to corresponding development suggestions. The study aims to examine the process of changes in vulnerability within rural development in post-poverty alleviation areas and its causal factors from a socio-ecological system perspective. This will provide a foundation for policy formulation to consolidate the results of post-poverty alleviation and promote the sustainable development of rural areas.

The impact of logistics development on the economy covers many aspects, such as production, cost, employment, international trade, etc. It is an indispensable part of the modern economy, which helps to improve overall economic efficiency and social prosperity. This study studies the spatiotemporal dynamic evolution characteristics of China’s logistics development from 2008 to 2018 and explores its impact on economic growth in multiple dimensions of time and space. The research findings indicate the following: (1) From 2008 to 2018, China’s logistics development level (LDL) exhibited a clear upward trend. The differences between the eastern, central, and western regions showed fluctuating downward patterns, ultimately converging towards a high-level concentration. Concerning spatial distribution, China’s logistics development demonstrated a trend towards the west and south. However, the spatial pattern of "strong in the east and weak in the west " has existed for a long time. Moreover, the "T-shaped" pattern between coastal provinces and those along the Yangtze River Basin deepened, and the LDL in the central and western regions significantly improved. (2) The advancement of China’s LDL effectively promotes its economic growth, confirming that the Belt and Road Initiative enhances the role of logistics development in driving economic growth. Regarding regional differences, logistics development positively influences economic growth in the eastern and western regions, with a less significant impact on the central region. Regarding the strength of influence, logistics development has a more substantial effect on promoting high-ranking provinces in the entire country, the eastern region, and the central region, as well as boosting economic growth in low-ranking provinces in the western region.

Openness is the core concept of the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), which plays a significant role in promoting the sustainable economic development of countries along the BRI. This study uses the entropy method to measure openness based on six dimensions: trade, investment, finance, tourism, technology, and information. Simultaneously, a super-SBM model with undesired output is proposed to measure green economy efficiency (GEE). Using the panel data of 66 countries along the BRI from 2008 to 2019, we empirically examine the impact of openness on GEE. The results are as follows: (1) The openness level of countries along the BRI is generally increasing, but the relative differences between countries tend to widen. (2) Openness has a significant U-shaped nonlinear effect on GEE, and the conclusion is still valid after considering the robustness test; (3) The spatial econometric model shows that openness not only affects the GEE of the local country, but also has a spillover effect on neighboring countries. Therefore, we believe that BRI countries should strengthen policy communication, break down border barriers, actively promote the orderly flow and diffusion of openness elements, and pay attention to the quantity and quality of openness development, which is key to the high-quality construction of the BRI.

Digital transformation is a trend in the information service industry that is gaining traction. Enterprises can benefit from the development of innovative business models as well as improved service quality and efficiency, thereby promoting sustainable development of the information services industry. A rapid advancement in technology has led to the introduction of new digital technologies such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, etc. Several fields of the information service industry are slowly becoming impacted by these technologies, creating new opportunities and challenges for its sustainable growth. Information services can be optimized through digital transformation and work efficiency can be improved. Digital technologies facilitate the transmission of information and facilitate the processing of information, which helps enterprises respond to market changes quickly and enhance their competitiveness. Furthermore, businesses can use digital technology to better understand and meet the needs of their customers. Using big data, companies can gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior and preferences, enabling them to adjust their service strategies accordingly. Despite the benefits of the digital transformation, it has brought some problems and challenges, such as privacy and security concerns, as well as an increased demand for employees with specialized skills. As a result, enterprises should pay attention to solutions to these issues during the digital transformation process, such as strengthening data security measures, providing employee training and skill upgrades.

ABSTRACT Promoting the coordinated symbiosis of green water-use efficiency (GWUE) and new urbanization (NU) performs a vital function in facilitating high-quality development in China. Based on the panel data of 28 cities in the Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt (HREEB) from 2011 to 2020, this study first evaluates GWUE and NU, and then uncovers their spatio-temporal evolutionary characteristics. On this basis, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model, ordinary panel model, and spatial econometric model are used to analyze evolution pattern and driving factors of CCD between GWUE and NU. The results show that: (1) GWUE exhibits a modest downward trend, with the lower reaches being much higher than the middle and upper reaches. (2) NU has increased overall by 43.65%, showing a northeastern high and a southwesterly low spatial distribution. (3) CCD is rising, with the high-value areas mainly distribute in the Yangzhou–Taizhou region and the Southern Shandong region, while the low-value areas concentrate in the middle and upper reaches. (4) The spatial econometric model analysis shows that industrial structure, technological level, and water resource management contribute significantly directly to the CCD, but the spillover effects are markedly different.

Strengthening agricultural carbon emissions (ACE) reduction is an inherent requirement to promote the integrated development of ecological greenery in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and it has a significant driving effect and benchmarking significance for China to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.Based on panel data of 41 cities in the YRD from 2001 to 2019, this study reveals the spatial and temporal evolution pattern of ACE and identifies the influencing factors through methods such as CV, SDE, ESDA and SDM.The results are summarized as follows: (1) the ACE in the YRD show a fluctuating downward trend, and the gap between cities tends to widen; (2) the YRD shows emission characteristics dominated by agricultural material input, with a proportion of over 50% over the years, followed by rice cultivation and livestock breeding with the lowest proportion.In addition, Jiangsu and Anhui have higher proportions, followed by Zhejiang, and Shanghai; (3) these cities with high ACE are mainly located in the northwest regions of the YRD, and those with low ACE are mainly located in the southeast regions of the YRD.Furthermore, cities in the YRD have a positive global spatial autocorrelation, and the local spatial agglomeration pattern has strong characteristics of stability and spatial dependence; (4) the agricultural economic development level has an inverted U-shaped effect on ACE in the YRD.Meanwhile, the total rural population, total power of agricultural machinery, and urbanization level have a significant positive impact, while the agricultural planting structure and trade openness level are not significantly affected, but the rural non-farm employment level have a significantly negative impact on ACE.SDM further supports the influence of various factors, and it can be found that the agricultural economic development level and trade openness level exhibit significant negative spillover effects.

A growing body of literature probes the impact of geopolitical risk (GPR) on CO2 emissions. However, no study compares the findings in the case of developed and developing countries. Hence, this study aims to probe the impact of GPR on CO2 emissions for selected developed and developing countries while controlling for energy consumption, foreign direct investment, and economic growth. For this purpose, we make use of a panel dataset covering the period 1990–2020. In the long-run, we report that the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis exists for developing countries. Next, the pollution haven hypothesis is validated for the developed countries in the long-run. Also, GPR escalates emissions for developed and developing countries in the long-run. In the short-run, the Environmental Kuznets Curve and pollution haven hypothesis are found invalid. Moreover, in the short-run, GPR impedes emissions in both developed and developing countries. Further, energy consumption upsurges emissions across all samples (i.e., either developed or developing countries) in either its short- or long-run. The heterogeneous findings across the long- and short-run, for developed and developing countries, propose to formulate unalike policies for countries with different levels of income.

Poverty reduction is an important driving force for the global realization of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the building of a global community with a shared future for mankind. This paper takes the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on the panel data of 134 countries in the world from 2000 to 2018, this paper uses the difference-in-difference (DID) model to examine the impact of the BRI on poverty reduction in countries along the route and to study its internal mechanism from the dual perspectives of trade openness and investment openness. The results show that (1) the BRI can significantly reduce the incidence of poverty with the impact coefficient stable at −0.26, and the empirical conclusion has passed the parallel test, placebo test, and instrumental variable test; (2) the mediating effect test model shows that the BRI can achieve poverty reduction through the dual openness of trade and investment, and the intermediary effect of trade openness is greater than investment openness; and (3) from the perspective of heterogeneity analysis, geographically, the BRI has a slightly higher role in promoting poverty reduction in landlocked countries than in coastal countries. In terms of economic location, the effect of poverty reduction has a certain “pro-poverty” characteristic, that is, the BRI promotes poverty reduction in low- and middle-income countries far more than other types of income countries. Therefore, we believe that the continuous deepening of the BRI high-quality construction and the strengthening of cooperation among countries along the route will play a key role in promoting the international cycle of trade, investment, and other factors, as well as the cause of poverty reduction in the region and the world.

Transport infrastructure and logistics are gradually becoming important factors affecting global trade. At the same time, with the international logistics corridor along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) going deep into construction, China is emerging as a unique case to study how logistics affects international trade. Therefore, based on the evaluation index system of logistics development level of China’s provinces by using the entropy method, this paper systematically analyzed the impact of logistics development level on bilateral trade from 31 China’s provinces to 65 countries along the BRI by using the improved gravity model with data for the period 2008–2018. Empirical results show: (1) Logistics development level had significantly promoted international trade development. (2) Compared with partner countries, China’s provincial logistics development level presented a greater impact on bilateral trade. (3) Influence of logistics development level was manifested in different periods, different international and regions, especially, logistics development level coefficient of the western region was negative, while that in eastern region was positive. In view of the above research results, we argue that strengthening domestic and international logistics construction is not only conductive to the sustainable development of China’s future trade, but also help to realize the coordinated development between China’s eastern, central and western regions.

"一带一路"开启了中国对外开放新格局,并对沿线国家及全世界的共同发展和繁荣会产生重大影响.基于2000—2015年"一带一路"沿线66个国家的面板数据,构建开放度综合评价指标体系,采用核密度估计、标准差椭圆、探索性空间数据分析及动态空间杜宾模型,分析了"一带一路"沿线国家开放度时空格局及其影响因素.结果发现:(1)2000—2015年"一带一路"沿线开放度水平总体呈上升趋势,且差异逐渐缩小.(2)开放度的重心在移动方位上分为两个阶段:2000—2008年重心向西北方向移动,而2008年之后重心逐渐向偏东方向移动.(3)开放度存在明显的空间差异,西北部开放度较高,而中部和南部开放度相对较低.(4)开放度在全局上存在显著的空间自相关性.热点区集中于新加坡和塞浦路斯2国,冷点区主要集中在中国、中亚和南亚.(5)动态空间杜宾模型(DSDM)分析表明,经济发展水平、人力资本、陆路交通和港口对开放度均存在长短期效应以及直接、间接效应.

The Central-Asia economic belt forms the core of the One-Belt-One-Road Initiative. This economic belt on the rim of central Asia is pivotal to the One-Belt-One-Road. The Eurasian economic belt is an extension of the One-Belt-One-Road. It features a set of transformations in national security policy from a passive to an active foreign relations policy, from unilateral border security to multidimensional cooperation, and from separation of domestic affairs and diplomacy to integration of both domestic and foreign affairs. The One-Belt-One-Road Initiative involves contemporary trade and economic cooperation. It is an advanced edition of the ancient Silk Road that has strategic significance. By nature, it is based on history but designed for the future, and it transcends time and space by integrating political, economic, internal, and external affairs. By content, it is a comprehensive policy that combines westward opening and western development. By genesis, several generations of leaders have developed it to project national security and economic strategies. Constructed in the joint effort to open up a continental strategic passage to promote westward opening, the One-Belt-One-Road Initiative involves a comprehensive strategic project. Based on the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), it requires multiple mechanisms to advance simultaneously. It also requires a progressive application of each of its components-from the simple to the more complex. In strategy, trade and economy dominate the One-Belt-One-Road Initiative. It, therefore, needs to move ahead in multiple dimensions. Through security and stability, trade and economic development, and public diplomacy, communication between China and Central-Asian countries constantly moves ahead regarding policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds, and it ensures grand friendly regional cooperation.