Demystifying China’s economic growth decline: reform of official promotion aimed at sustainable development

The reasons for China’s economic slowdown over the past decade have rarely been explored. With the introduction of promotion reforms for officials, the Chinese government’s attention has gradually shifted toward the latter in the “economy–environment” balance. Based on this interesting phenomenon of China’s development, this article attempts to solve the mystery of China’s economic growth decline. We find that the reform lowers emissions, possibly at the cost of economic growth. Heterogeneity analysis shows it significantly affects western and resource-based cities, while the impact differs in other cities. The economic growth rate effect of the policy shows a fluctuating downward trend over time, while the suppression effect of carbon emissions is the opposite. Corporate environmental governance actions are micro-channels for policy effectiveness. The findings of the study emphasize the policy implication that rational transformation of the economic structure requires continuous reform of the promotion and appraisal mechanism of officials in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development.