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<p>Since the 21st century, China has actively responded to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, growing regional disparities and imbalances across goals call for a systematic assessment of their evolution and underlying mechanisms. Using panel data for 31 provincial-level regions from 2000 to 2021, this study constructs a comprehensive indicator system covering all 17 SDGs and develops an integrated economic-social-ecological analytical framework combined with a coupling coordination model to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics and systemic interactions of sustainable development in China. The results show that: (1) China’s overall SDG performance has steadily improved, with the national average score increasing from 0.39 to 0.50, though it remains far from a high-level convergence stage; (2) significant spatial disparities persist, characterized by an “east – west gradient,” with interregional differences constituting the primary source of overall inequality; (3) substantial imbalance exists across goal dimensions, as economic and social goals have progressed more rapidly, while ecological goals lag behind and exhibit higher volatility, emerging as the key constraint on system-wide coordination; and (4) the economic-social-ecological system exhibits a “high-coupling, low-coordination” pattern, with improvements in coupling coordination driven mainly by gains in coordination rather than coupling strength, indicating that the principal challenge lies in imbalanced subsystem development rather than weak inter-system linkages. Based on these findings, this study suggests shifting from uniform policy approaches to region-specific and tiered governance strategies, strengthening constraint-oriented ecological governance, and promoting balanced, multi-dimensional development through institutional integration and regional coordination. The results provide empirical evidence for optimizing China’s sustainable development pathway and offer broader implications for developing countries seeking to achieve coordinated progress across multiple development goals.</p>

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The evolution, regional heterogeneity, goal imbalance, and socio-economic-ecological coupling coordination of sustainable development in China: 2000–2021

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月4日

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  • Xiaomeng Liang,
  • KuoRay Mao,
  • Qiong Wu,
  • Jiaxu Ling,
  • Yongji Xue

摘要

Since the 21st century, China has actively responded to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, growing regional disparities and imbalances across goals call for a systematic assessment of their evolution and underlying mechanisms. Using panel data for 31 provincial-level regions from 2000 to 2021, this study constructs a comprehensive indicator system covering all 17 SDGs and develops an integrated economic-social-ecological analytical framework combined with a coupling coordination model to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics and systemic interactions of sustainable development in China. The results show that: (1) China’s overall SDG performance has steadily improved, with the national average score increasing from 0.39 to 0.50, though it remains far from a high-level convergence stage; (2) significant spatial disparities persist, characterized by an “east – west gradient,” with interregional differences constituting the primary source of overall inequality; (3) substantial imbalance exists across goal dimensions, as economic and social goals have progressed more rapidly, while ecological goals lag behind and exhibit higher volatility, emerging as the key constraint on system-wide coordination; and (4) the economic-social-ecological system exhibits a “high-coupling, low-coordination” pattern, with improvements in coupling coordination driven mainly by gains in coordination rather than coupling strength, indicating that the principal challenge lies in imbalanced subsystem development rather than weak inter-system linkages. Based on these findings, this study suggests shifting from uniform policy approaches to region-specific and tiered governance strategies, strengthening constraint-oriented ecological governance, and promoting balanced, multi-dimensional development through institutional integration and regional coordination. The results provide empirical evidence for optimizing China’s sustainable development pathway and offer broader implications for developing countries seeking to achieve coordinated progress across multiple development goals.