Sustainable Development of Economic Growth, Energy-Intensive Industries and Energy Consumption: Empirical Evidence from China’s Provinces

Abstract

At present, there is much literature on economic growth and energy consumption, but there is little literature combined with the industry perspective. This paper aims to clarify whether the development of energy-intensive industries is an indirect way for economic growth to affect energy consumption, which can provide a reference for the coordination of economic growth goals, industry development and reducing energy consumption. Based on China’s provincial panel data from 2000 to 2019, this paper measures the scale of provincial energy-intensive industries by entropy method and uses the panel regression model to test its transmission effect on energy consumption. The results show that 23.96% of the effects of economic growth on energy consumption are indirectly generated through the transmission of energy-intensive industries. Moreover, the transmission effects are only established in the eastern and western regions but are not significant in the central region. Therefore, controlling the rapid development of energy-intensive industries is an effective way to curb the expansion of China’s energy consumption scale. Green technology innovation, new-type urbanization construction and other supportive measures should be taken in accordance with local conditions. This research contributes to the coordinated and sustainable development of the economy, industry, and energy.