Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans

Facing escalating climate challenges, the Chinese government has highlighted the importance of targeted industrial policy for driving low-carbon transformation within its Five-Year Plans, whose effectiveness warrants evaluation. This paper employs a fixed-effects model across provinces, industries,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li Song, Jiali Yuan, Ting Li, Jianzhong Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Environmental Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1564489/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849712475826552832
author Li Song
Jiali Yuan
Ting Li
Jianzhong Zhang
author_facet Li Song
Jiali Yuan
Ting Li
Jianzhong Zhang
author_sort Li Song
collection DOAJ
description Facing escalating climate challenges, the Chinese government has highlighted the importance of targeted industrial policy for driving low-carbon transformation within its Five-Year Plans, whose effectiveness warrants evaluation. This paper employs a fixed-effects model across provinces, industries, and years, adopting data from 36 sectors across 30 Chinese provinces from 1997 to 2019, to assess the impact of the targeted industrial policy on low-carbon transformation. We reveal that industries receiving targeted support exhibit a 9.2% higher low-carbon transformation index than those without. The effects of industrial policy on low-carbon transformation are more pronounced in the context of local government policy, recent Five-Year Plans, sectors with moderate to low technological complexity, and high-emission sectors. Mechanism analysis shows that industrial policy facilitates low-carbon transformation by structural effects and technological effects. These insights offer a foundation for refining industrial policy design and execution to achieve carbon neutrality goals and foster sustainable growth.
format Article
id doaj-art-b1002a7fbfa34b04abbc7eacda06bad8
institution DOAJ
issn 2296-665X
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Environmental Science
spelling doaj-art-b1002a7fbfa34b04abbc7eacda06bad82025-08-20T03:14:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Environmental Science2296-665X2025-04-011310.3389/fenvs.2025.15644891564489Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year PlansLi SongJiali YuanTing LiJianzhong ZhangFacing escalating climate challenges, the Chinese government has highlighted the importance of targeted industrial policy for driving low-carbon transformation within its Five-Year Plans, whose effectiveness warrants evaluation. This paper employs a fixed-effects model across provinces, industries, and years, adopting data from 36 sectors across 30 Chinese provinces from 1997 to 2019, to assess the impact of the targeted industrial policy on low-carbon transformation. We reveal that industries receiving targeted support exhibit a 9.2% higher low-carbon transformation index than those without. The effects of industrial policy on low-carbon transformation are more pronounced in the context of local government policy, recent Five-Year Plans, sectors with moderate to low technological complexity, and high-emission sectors. Mechanism analysis shows that industrial policy facilitates low-carbon transformation by structural effects and technological effects. These insights offer a foundation for refining industrial policy design and execution to achieve carbon neutrality goals and foster sustainable growth.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1564489/fulltargeted industrial policyfive-year planmanufacturinglow-carbon transformationSBM-GML JEL classification codes: O13; O25; Q01; Q56
spellingShingle Li Song
Jiali Yuan
Ting Li
Jianzhong Zhang
Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans
Frontiers in Environmental Science
targeted industrial policy
five-year plan
manufacturing
low-carbon transformation
SBM-GML JEL classification codes: O13; O25; Q01; Q56
title Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans
title_full Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans
title_fullStr Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans
title_full_unstemmed Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans
title_short Can targeted industrial policy drive low-carbon transformation? evidence from China’s Five-Year Plans
title_sort can targeted industrial policy drive low carbon transformation evidence from china s five year plans
topic targeted industrial policy
five-year plan
manufacturing
low-carbon transformation
SBM-GML JEL classification codes: O13; O25; Q01; Q56
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2025.1564489/full
work_keys_str_mv AT lisong cantargetedindustrialpolicydrivelowcarbontransformationevidencefromchinasfiveyearplans
AT jialiyuan cantargetedindustrialpolicydrivelowcarbontransformationevidencefromchinasfiveyearplans
AT tingli cantargetedindustrialpolicydrivelowcarbontransformationevidencefromchinasfiveyearplans
AT jianzhongzhang cantargetedindustrialpolicydrivelowcarbontransformationevidencefromchinasfiveyearplans