Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279
DOI 10.1007/s11625-009-0078-0
CASE REPORT
Comparative analysis of socio-economic and environmental
performances for Chinese EIPs: case studies in Baotou,
Suzhou, and Shanghai
Haiyan Zhang Æ Keishiro Hara Æ Helmut Yabar Æ
Yohei Yamaguchi Æ Michinori Uwasu Æ Tohru Morioka
Received: 27 April 2009 / Accepted: 20 July 2009 / Published online: 1 September 2009
Ó Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science, United Nations University, and Springer 2009
Abstract To decouple economic growth from environ-
mental degradation, the Chinese government proposed the
circular economy (CE) strategy as part of its 11th 5-Year
Plan. This strategy expands the application of CE from
individual enterprises to eco-industrial parks (EIPs) and to
the cities, provinces, and regions. We carried out field
studies in three EIPs in Baotou, Suzhou, and Shanghai. In
this paper, we discuss the current state of CE and the
sustainable development of EIPs in China. We first provide
detailed information on the three EIPs’ infrastructures,
preferential policies, CE frameworks, and eco-chains. We
then examine the status of sustainable development in the
three EIPs from the perspectives of socio-economic,
resource and material efficiency, and environmental per-
formance. The results indicate that the overall performance
of the three EIPs is reasonably good with respect to socio-
economics, resources and materials, and efficiency and
environmental protection, whereas green management is
rather weak and thus requires further improvement. We
found that the CE frameworks along with eco-chains
within the EIPs are effectively improving resource and
material efficiency. Moreover, we demonstrate that there
are positive associations among socio-economic, resource
and material, and environmental indicators. Given the large
presence of EIPs in the local economies, these results
H. Zhang (&)
K. Hara
H. Yabar
M. Uwasu
T. Morioka
Research Institute for Sustainability Science,
Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita,
Osaka 565-0871, Japan
e-mail: zhang@riss.osaka-u.ac.jp
Y. Yamaguchi
Graduate School of Engineering,
Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
suggest that EIPs play a key role in promoting sustainable
development in China.
Keywords Eco-industrial park
Circular economy

Sustainable development
Cleaner production

Eco-industrial chains
Green management
Introduction
In 1989, Robert A. Frosch and Nicholas E. Gallopoulos
popularized the concept of industrial ecosystems in a
Scientific American article, which defined an industrial
ecosystem as an integrated model that optimizes the con-
sumption of energy and materials, and minimizes waste
generation, in which the effluents of one process ‘‘serve as
the raw material for another process.’’
The Danish city of Kalundborg perhaps has the best
known example of an industrial symbiosis1 containing 18
physical linkages. The complex web of waste and energy
exchanges at Kalundborg was established through a vol-
untary partnership between industries and the municipality.
The site focuses on the reuse and recycling of resources to
provide environmental and economic benefits. Ehrenfeld
and Chertow (2002) found that, since its inception, the
interchange of materials between park industries had saved
1.2 million cubic meters of water and 30,000 tons of fossil
fuel. Moreover, they found that park operations reused
70,000 tons of fly ash (waste avoidance) and reduced total
CO2 emissions by 130,000 tons.
1
Chertow (2000) argues that, ‘‘Industrial symbiosis engages tradi-
tionally separated industries in a collective approach to competitive
advantage involving physical exchange of materials, energy, water,
and/or by-products. The keys to industrial symbiosis are collaboration
and the synergistic possibilities offered by geographic proximity.’’
123
264
The economic and environmental benefits of industrial
symbiosis have promoted and spread its development, and this
proliferation is expected to have a positive impact on the
implementation of the circular economy (CE) concept. In this
sense CE could be considered a path to sustainable develop-
ment where industrial symbiosis in eco-industrial parks (EIPs)
constitutes an important segment of this strategy.
In China, rapid industrialization has led to shortages of
resources and environmental pollution. To address these
challenges, the Chinese government has been actively
encouraging the implementation of CE at the level of enter-
prises, EIPs, cities, provinces, and regions (Fig. 1), which was
explained in its 11th 5-Year Plan (FYP) between 2006 and
2010 (NDRC 2006).
In particular, the government is making extensive efforts
to promote EIP development as a key component of the CE.
Academic research on EIPs is also an important driving
force in promoting the sound and sustainable development
of EIPs.
Previous studies have attempted to analyze and evaluate
the environmental and economic performance of EIPs in
China. For example, Fang et al. (2007) argued that closing
production gaps by creating industrial symbiotic webs
provides the technological key to successful industrial
ecology initiatives. Surveys of Lubei Parks in Guigang in
China supported their analyses. Moreover, they discussed
that the incentives provided by policies, laws, regulations,
and financing must be developed for the EIP. There also
have been some research studies on management in EIP.
Geng et al. (2007), for instance, determined that improved
management and industrial process chains are required to
implement CE at the EIP level. Based on their analysis of
the Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA), they
demonstrated that an integrated solid waste management
framework within an industrial park would bring added
values to both the industrial communities and indus-
trial park managers. This new approach could provide
Scale
Region
Large circulation
(Eco-City and Province)
City
Medium circulation
EIP (Eco-Industrial Park)
Small circulation
Industry (Enterprise:
Cleaner Production)
Resource Environmental Eco Harmonious
Conservation Protection Efficiency Society
Fig. 1 Circular economy concept framework in China
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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279
comprehensive economic, environmental, and societal
benefits. Matsumoto et al. (2007) found that, in the absence
of a comprehensive recycling policy for individual prod-
ucts and appropriate technology development, it is extre-
mely difficult to improve recycling levels for end of life
products. These findings were based on a survey of the
Qingdao New World EIP.
To the best of our knowledge, no research has dealt with
the progress of CE with respect to sustainable development
of EIPs. This paper aims to argue the perspectives of sus-
tainable development of EIPs. First, we review the relevant
literature to summarize the actual condition of CE and EIPs
in China. Second, we analyze the situation of CE imple-
mentation at the EIP level and clarify the associated dif-
ficulties and issues. This paper introduces three EIPs as
study sites in Baotou, Suzhou, and Shanghai, each of which
has different characteristics in economic conditions, loca-
tion, preferential policy, and infrastructure. Based on the
investigation and the interviews at the field sites, we dis-
cuss the current state of CE and its development in the
three EIPs, including infrastructure, preferential policies,
CE frameworks, and eco-chains. We then analyze the
sustainable development of the three EIPs from the view-
point of socio-economic and environmental performances
and gain insights and perspective on EIPs’ sustainable
development by using the analysis results.
Overview of CE and EIPs in China
Chinese CE process
Circular economy is a mode of economic development
based on the circulation of resources. CE requires com-
pliance with ecological laws and sound utilization of nat-
ural resources to achieve economic development, i.e., it is
essentially an ecological economy that follows the princi-
ples of ’’reducing resource use, reusing, and recycling’’
(Feng and Yan 2007).
Historically, there have been studies and arguments in
China that served as the foundation to incorporate the CE
concept. For example, the social–economic–natural com-
plex ecosystem was first proposed by Shijun Ma (Ma and
Wang 1984). Wang and Yan (1998) proposed and devel-
oped an integration of hardware, software and mind ware
for sustainable ecosystems.
Environmental activities, such as the recycling of news-
papers, scrap metal, and other materials, began to spread
throughout China in the 1990s. These activities could be
considered as the initial stages of a CE. Based on the German
Concept experience, the CE concept was first introduced by the
Shanghai municipal government in 1998 and then stipulated
in 11th FYP.
Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279
At the policy level, the government introduced some laws
related to the CE concept. The Law of the People’s Republic
of China on the Promotion of Cleaner Production was
enacted in June 2002. The Law of the People’s Republic of
China on the Prevention and Control of Environmental
Pollution by Solid Waste was enacted in December 2004,
and The Renewable Energy Law of the People’s Republic of
China was proclaimed in February 2005. The Energy Con-
servation Law of China was also proclaimed in November
1997 and revised in October 2007. In addition, the Circular
Economy Promotion Law of the People’s Republic of China
was adopted on 29 August 2008 (SCNPC 2008).
The Chinese government presented a comprehensive CE
strategy in 2005. As explained earlier, the 11th FYP states
that the implementation of the CE concept involves a three-
level framework, i.e., small, medium, and large circula-
tions, which relate to individual enterprises, EIPs, and
cities, provinces, and regions, respectively (Fig. 1) (Zhang
et al. 2008).
The small circulation approach is based on promoting
cleaner production (CP) at the individual enterprise level.
Currently, more than 8,000 enterprises in China are regis-
tered under ISO 14000 standards (Yabar et al. 2007).
The medium circulation approach is based on promoting
CE implementation through the EIPs. Between 2001 and
2007, State Environmental Protection Administration2
(SEPA) approved 26 EIPs in China (SEPA 2007)
(Table 1).
The large circulation approach promotes CE imple-
mentation at the city and provincial levels. From Novem-
ber 2002 to January 2007, SEPA identified Hainan, Jilin,
Heilongjiang, Fujian, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan,
and Hebei as pilot eco-provinces, and 320 cities/counties as
pilot eco-cities/counties. By December 2004, Liaoning
Province, Guiyang City, Panjin City, Rizhao City, and
Yima City had passed the SEPA approval examination.
In addition, the cities of Zhangjiagang, Changshu, and
Kunshan in Jiangsu Province received the distinction of
eco-city, whereas the Shanghai Minhang district received
the distinction of eco-district, and Anji County in Zhejiang
Province received the distinction of eco-county in 2006
(SEPA 2006a).
In addition, in October 2005, the first list of entities pro-
moting CE was released by NDRC, SEPA, MOST, MOF,
MOFCOM, and STATS.3 The list contains ecologically
2
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA): in March
2008, it was changed to the Ministry of Environmental Protection of
the People’s Republic of China.
3
NDRC: National Development and Reform Commission; MOST:
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of
China; MOF: Ministry of Finance People’s Republic of China;
MOFCOM: Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of
China; STATS: National Bureau of Statistics of China.
265
important industries (42 enterprises) and sectors (17 enter-
prises, counties, and cities, including the collection of recy-
cled resources, reutilization of waste metal, recycling of
electrical products, and remanufacturing), 13 industrial parks
(including TEDA and the Shanghai Chemical Industrial
Park) (Table 2), and 10 provinces or cities (including
Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu) (NDRC SEPA, MOST, MOF,
MOFCOM, and STATS 2005).
EIPs in China
The following two definitions of EIP were considered by
the participants in the United States President’s Council on
Sustainable Development (USPCSD 1996), ‘‘a community
of businesses that cooperates with each other and the local
community to efficiently share resources (information,
materials, water, energy, infrastructure, and natural habi-
tat), leading to economic gains, environmental quality
improvement, and equitable enhancement of human
resources for the business and local community’’ and ‘‘an
industrial system of planned materials and energy
exchanges that seeks to minimize energy and raw material
use, minimize waste, and build sustainable economic,
ecological, and social relationships’’.
In China, the industrial system can be classified into
Economic and Development Areas (EDA), High-tech
Development Zones (HTDZ), and National Ecological
Industrial Demonstration Parks (NEIDP). The EDA was
established by the State Council of the People’s Republic
of China (SCPRC 2007) in 1984, and primarily contains
labor-intensive enterprises with low technological inputs
that often cause serious environmental pollution. Fifty-four
state-level EDAs have been established since the first
Dalian Development Area in September 1984. HTDZs
consist of high-tech enterprises that, thanks to their modern
installations, yield minimum environmental pollution.
They are also ratified by the SCPRC, and the qualified
enterprises benefit from a 15% tax reduction incentive. The
first Beijing Z-park was established in 1988. At present,
there are 53 state-level HTDZs (SCPRC 2007).
The EIP concept was introduced in China in the late
1990s. In fact, EIPs play an important role in implementing
CE in China. EIPs are classified based on their physical
structures and industry types. The main two types of
physical structure are (1) EIPs with an existing physical
structure (including EDA, HTDZ, and NEIDP) and (2)
EIPs with new physical structure (Cheng and Zuo 2006).
EIPs with existing structures are those that have been
upgraded with new technologies along with the improve-
ment in the waste and energy transformation systems.
EIPs with new structures are based on the CE concept and
have a well-designed structure, which focuses on forming a
series of eco-chains. They not only carry out CP, but also
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Table 1 The 26 National EIPs approved by SEPA (May 2007)

Name Location Managing EIP type (major industries) Evaluated
body in scoresa
charge

1. Guigang NEDIP Guigang, Guangxi Guitang Sector-specific (sugar) 42

Zhuang group
Autonomous
Region
2. Nanhai NEDIP Nanhai, Municipality Sector-integrated (high-tech environmentally friendly /
Guangdong industry)
Province
3. Baotou (aluminum) NEDIP Baotou, Inner Baotou Sector-specific (aluminum–electricity industry) 63
Mongolia aluminum
Autonomous industry
Region group
4. Huangxing NEDIP Changsha, Hunan Municipality Sector-integrated (provincial high-tech park, information, /
Province new material, biological pharmacy industry)
5. Lubei NEDIP Wudi County, Lubei group Sector-specific (sea water utilization and chemical 74
Shandong industry)
Province
6. Tianjin economic Tianjin Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park, electronics and 90
development area telecommunications, medical and pharmaceutical
products, machinery manufacturing, food processing)
7. Fushun NEDIP Fushun, Liaoning Fushun Sector-specific (mining)
Province mining
industry
group
8. Dalian Economic Dalian, Liaoning Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park) 57
Technological Development Province
Area
9. Suzhou National New and Suzhou, Jiangsu Municipality Sector-integrated (national high-tech park) 90
High-Tech Industrial Province
Development Zone
10. Suzhou Industrial Park Suzhou, Jiangsu Municipality Sector-integrated (national high-tech park) 90
Province
11. Guiyang–Kaiyang Guiyang, Guizhou Municipality Sector-specific (coal, chemical industry) 47
Province
12. Yantai Economy Technology Yantai, Shandong Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park) 95
Development Zone Province
13. Weifang Weifang, Municipality Sector-specific (national high-tech park, marine chemical 42
Shandong industry)
Province
14. Zhengzhou Shangjie Zhengzhou,Henan Municipality Sector-specific (aluminum) 62
Province
15. Baotou Steel Baotou, Inner Baotou iron Sector-specific (steel) 53
Mongolia and steel
Autonomous group
Region
16. Shanxi Antai Shanxi, Shanxi Shanxi Antai Sector-specific (coke, pig iron, cement) 58
Province Group
17. Qingdao New World Qingdao, Qingdao Venous EIP (regional hazardous waste disposal center) 45
Shandong New World
Province Company
18. Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zhangjiagang, Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park, chemical) 81
Zone and Jiangsu Yangtze Jiangsu Province
River Chemical Park
19. Kunshan Economic and Kunshan, Jiangsu Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park, rubber, 57
Technical Development Province chemical fiber)
Zone

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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279 267

Table 1 continued
Name Location Managing EIP type (major industries) Evaluated
body in scoresa
charge

20. Fuzhou Economic and Fuzhou, Fujian Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park, electronic
Technical Development Province information)
Zone
21. Wuxi New District Wuxi, Jinagsu Municipality Sector-integrated (national high-tech park, electronic 48
Province information, precision machinery, electrical and
mechanical integration)
22. Shaoxing Paojiang Industrial Shaoxing, Zhejiang Municipality Sector-integrated (provincial park, textile, machinery, 24
Zone Province food, medicine, electronics, new materials)
23. Rizhao Economic Rizhao, Shandong Municipality Sector-integrated (provincial park, energy, pulp and paper, 43
Development Zone Province grain and oil processing, machinery, manufacturing)
24. Shanghai Xinzhuang Shanghai Municipality Sector-integrated (provincial park) 86
Industrial Park
25. Qingdao North New High- Qingdao, Municipality Sector-integrated (national high-tech park, electronic _
Tech Development Zones Shandong information)
Province
26. Yangzhou Economic Yangzhou, Jinagsu Municipality Sector-integrated (provincial park) _
Development Zone Province
Source: SEPA
a
Chinese NEIDP Progress Report (2006)
/, No data; –, Not ratified as EIP as of 2006
The evaluated scores range from 0 to 100. EIPs with scores that range from 0–50 are considered low level, from 51–80 middle level, and from
81–100 high level

promote the exchange of materials, energy, and informa-
tion within the park.
EIPs are also divided into sector-specific, sector-inte-
grated, and venous EIPs according to the industry type in the
Chinese NEIDP Progress Report (SEPA 2006b). Between
2001 and 2007, SEPA approved the construction of 26 EIPs
(Table 1). Among these, 9 are sector-specific EIPs, 16 are
sector-integrated EIPs, and 1 is a venous EIP. The EIPs are
geographically dispersed throughout China, with 4 EIPs in
the western region, 3 EIPs in the central region, and 19 EIPs
in the eastern region. The Chinese NEIDP Progress Report
evaluated the performance of these EIPs, of which the top
four evaluated were Yantai Economic and Technological
Development Zone, the Suzhou Industrial Park, the Suzhou
High-Tech Park, and the TEDA.
In addition to the EIPs mentioned above, in October
2005, 13 industrial parks (Table 2) were ratified as CE pilot
industrial parks in the first list of entities promoting CE
(NDRC 2005).
Outline of three EIP study sites
Overview of three EIP study sites
The Chinese NEIDP Progress Report provides useful
information on the types of industries (sector-specific,
sector-integrated, and venous EIPs) and industrial systems.
Based on the above information, together with the geo-
graphical location (coastal region and inland region), the
physical structures (EIPs with existing physical structure
and EIPs with new physical structure), and investment
sources for EIPs, we selected the Baotou National Eco-
logical Industrial (aluminum industry) Demonstration Park
(BNEIDP), the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), and the
Shanghai Chemical Industry Park (SCIP), each of which
has different characteristics, as the case studies in this
research (Fig. 2).
BNEIDP is located in Inner Mongolia in the western part
of China. Inner Mongolia is an underdeveloped area but has
abundant natural resources, such as natural gas. We selected
BNEIDP as a representative of the Western region. In gen-
eral, EIPs located in this area have low energy efficiency.
BNEIDP is a sector-specific EIP built on an existing physical
structure, which was constructed in 1958, and then rebuilt as
an EIP in 2002. It obtained a middle-level rating (Table 1) in
the Chinese NEDIP Progress Report, and its investments
come primarily from domestic investors.
SIP in Suzhon was selected as the first of ‘‘China’s 20
Most Attractive Comprehensive Developments for Foreign
Investors’’ by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
(CASS 2006). Many industrial parks across the country
have adopted its management model. SIP is an EDA
belonging to the EIPs with existing physical structure. It

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Table 2 The 13 CE pilot industrial parks (October 2005)

Name Location Managing EIP type (major industries)
body in
charge

1. Tianjin Economic Development Tianjin Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park, electronic and
Area telecommunications, medical and pharmaceutical products,
machinery manufacturing, food processing)
2. Suzhou National New and High- Suzhou, Jiangsu Municipality Sector-integrated (national high-tech park)
Tech Industrial Development Province
Zone
3. Dalian Economic Technological Dalian, Liaoning Municipality Sector-integrated (national economic park)
Development Area Province
4. Yantai Economy Technology Yantai, Shandong Municipality Sector-specific (provincial park)
Development Zone Province
5. Caofeidian Caofeidian, Hebei Municipality Sector-integrated (iron and steel, petrochemicals, equipment
Province manufacturing)
6. Mengxi High-Tech Industrial Ordos, Inner Municipality Sector-integrated (advanced materials, building materials, electric
Development Zone Mongolia power, metallurgy, chemical industry)
Autonomous
Region
7. Mudanjiang Economic and Mudanjiang, Municipality Sector-specific (provincial park, food, furniture)
Technological Development Heilongjiang
Zone Province
8. Shanghai Chemical Industry Shanghai Municipality Sector-specific (chemical industry)
Park
9. Jiangsu Yangtze International Zhangjiagang, Municipality Sector-specific
Metallurgical Industrial Park Jiangsu Province
10. Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Wuhan, Hubei Municipality Sector-integrated (advanced materials, building materials, electric
Development Zone Province power, metallurgy, chemical industry)
11. Sichuan West Chemical City Luzhou, Sichuan Municipality Sector-specific (chemical industry)
Province
12. Qaidam Qaidam, Qinghai Municipality Sector-integrated (coal chemical, salt chemical, steel)
Province
13. Yangling Yangling, Shanxi Municipality Sector-integrated (agriculture)
Province
Source: The first list of entities promoting CE released by NDRC, SEPA, MOST, MOF, MOFCOM, and STATS (2005)

was established in 1994 by the Chinese and Singapore

governments. It is a sector-integrated EIP (including
industrial production, commercial, and residential sectors).
SIP obtained a high rating (Table 1) in the Chinese NEIDP
Progress Report. Foreign and domestic investments in SIP
make up approximately equal shares.
SCIP was established by the Shanghai Municipal Eco-
nomic Commission in 2002. It is an EIP with new physical
structure, and one of the few parks that base their design on
the 3R approach (reduce, reuse, and recycle). It has
implemented CE not only through eco-chains within the
park, but also through resource and material exchange with
the surrounding regions.

Characteristics of the three EIP study sites

Tables 3 and 4 provide an overview of the three EIP study

Fig. 2 Location of the three EIP study sites in China (May 2007) sites. The three EIPs represent different stages of EIP

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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279 269

development in China. The study sites reflect the different

Natural

Natural
energy
source
Employees Residents Main

gas

gas
Coal
economic development levels across geographic regions
and show the effects of differences in high-tech technolo-
gies, resources, and energy consumption levels.

27.60
In the following section, we describe the three EIPs in
0.13

0.05
terms of (1) geographical location, access conditions, and
(104 people)

foreign investment, (2) preferential financial and tax poli-

cies, (3) infrastructures, (4) CE frameworks, and (5) eco-
0.83

0.60
18.75
industrial chains.

State-level circular economy pilot industrial park projects ratified by NDRC, SEPA, MOST, MOF, MOFCOM, and STATS on 27 October 2005 in China
investment

Geographical location, access conditions, and foreign

rate (%)
Foreign

investment
5,229 12.5

11,400 68,000 42.3

68 33,400 81.6

BNEIDP is located in Baotou City, Donghe District, near

yuan)
Total
GDP
(106

the Daqing Mountains and the Yellow River, and is

approximately 10 km away from the airport and the rail-
number

33
Total

firms

way station. The total planned area covers 23.6 km2.

of

Currently, it is managed by the local municipality. Its core

23.6
Current Plan

enterprise is the Baotou Aluminum Industrial Group, and

288

60
Experimental Area (km2)

the main industrial activities are aluminum-electric joint

Table 3 Overview of the three EIP study sites: location, area, population, firm number, and foreign investment, etc.

construction, aluminum processing, deep processing, and

6.3

29.4

construction material production. As Table 3 shows, its

70

foreign investment rate is only 12.5% and its main energy

resource is coal (BNEIDP 2006).
SIP lies along Jinji Lake east of Suzhou, 80 km away
EIPb
EIPa

EIPa
operation type

from the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport (domestic services)

and 130 km away from the Shanghai Pudong Airport
State-level eco-industrial development projects ratified by SEPA up to early 2007 in China

(international services). SIP covers a total of 288 km2, of

(year)

2003

2004

2005
Establishment Start

which 70 km2 are within the China–Singapore cooperation

area (Table 3). The foreign investment rate has reached
42.3%. SIP is a large community that includes production,
commercial, and residential sectors. It has completed its
2001

Electronics, IT, software, 1994

Petrochemical-dominated 2002

master plan and its detailed implementation plans, which

year

include more than 300 specific plans. The main industries

are electronic information, precision machinery electron-
construction material

ics, IT, software, chemical, pharmaceutical, and health care

Aluminum-electric,

(Tables 3, 4). There are 2,400 foreign-funded enterprises,

governments pharmaceutical,
or characteristics
Major industries

Source: BNEIDP (2006), SIP (2006a), and SCIP (2006)

66 of which are among the world’s top 500 enterprises, and

healthcare
chemical,

they have established 102 branches in the park. The main

industry

energy resource is natural gas (SIP 2006).

SCIP lies along the north coast of Hangzhou Bay, south
of Shanghai, and is 60 km away from the downtown area. A
Management

BNEIDP Baotou, Inner Municipality

Municipality
organization

special railway line in the park is connected to the 113 km

Singapore
China and

long Pudong Railway (Fengxian-Pudong Airport Zhang-

miao). The Yang Shan Deep Water Port, which is under
construction, is 55 km away from SCIP, and the Pudong
International Airport and Hongqiao Domestic Airport are
Mongolia
province

province

50 km away. The total planning area is 29.4 km2. The

Shanghai
Jiangsu
Location

Suzhou,

foreign investment rate has reached 81.6%. Currently,

numerous multinational corporations, including BP, BASF,
Bayer, Degussa, Huntsman, SUEZ, Vopak, AIR LIQUIDE,
and Praxair, operate facilities in SCIP (Tables 3, 4). The
SCIP
SIP

main energy resource is natural gas. SCIP is the EIP with

b
a

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270 Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279

Table 4 Overview of the three EIP study sites: facilities and support system
Transportation Tax Support system Infrastructure and public facilities Water plant Power Sewage
network capacity plant system
(t/d) capacity capacity
(mw) (t/d)

BNEIDP Expressway, National Special financial organizations Seven types of utilities (road, –a 600 –b
railway 15% (private and public) electricity, water, gas and
stream supply, wastewater
treatment, telecommunication,
site preparation) and land-filling
SIP Expressway, National Governmental support (whole- Nine types of utilities (road, 600,000 3,600 500,000
railway, 15%, process, full-day and all-round electricity, water, gas and steam
inner river local quality services), highly supply, wastewater treatment,
and airlines 3% efficient, transparent and fair telecommunication, site
preparation, customs, accident
prevention unit) and land-filling
SCIP Expressway, National ‘‘One stop’’authority coordinated Ten types of utilities (road, Industrial: 600 100,000
railway, 15%, services (inspection, quarantine, electricity, water, gas and steam 200,000
inner river local security supervision, risk supply, wastewater treatment, domestic:
and sea 3% protection, environmental telecommunication, site 7,000
monitoring, e-commerce, preparation customs, accident
exhibition, and logistic services) prevention unit, incinerator) and
land-filling
Source: BNEIDP (2006), SIP (2006a), and SCIP (2006)
a
No water plant
b
No data

new physical structure, which is based on the concept of CE
and has a well-designed structure (Jiang 2005).
Preferential financial and tax policies
The state of Inner Mongolia has created many financial and
tax policies in favor of promoting corporation activities,
and these provide benefits to BNEIDP. The enterprise
sector in Inner Mongolia benefits from a low corporation
income tax rate of 15%, and receives cheap electricity and
gas supplies. In addition, environmentally beneficial
enterprises can obtain tax exemptions, while high-tech
enterprises benefit from license-free imports of the raw
materials and spare parts necessary for the production of
export products. Furthermore, enterprises can benefit from
a tax deduction if they invest 3–5% of their sales revenue in
technology development.
SIP is the largest joint project between the Chinese and
Singapore governments, and receives special tax privi-
leges, such as 15 to 30% reductions on payable corporate
income tax for 10 years for foreign-based enterprises in
agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry. This project
also has the benefits of efficient project approval and
flexible administration of foreign entities. For example, the
process of corporate incorporation can be completed in
only 3 days, which is much faster than in any other region
in China. SIP is also the only regional Provident Fund
scheme in China.
SCIP is the first industrial zone to specialize in the
development of the petrochemical and fine chemistry
industries, and is one of the four industrial production bases
in Shanghai (Table 3). The park also provides incentives to
enable companies to obtain economically more productive
land.
Infrastructures and services
BNEIDP contains seven types of utilities, landfill facilities,
and other services (Table 4). Certain service facilities, such
as schools, hospitals, hotels, and trade and financial orga-
nizations, are also located here. Moreover, BNEIDP plans
to construct high-grade villas and apartment houses inside
the Qiondao Lake tourist zone of the park, thus providing a
beautiful working and living environment for the residents.
SIP has nine types of utilities, landfill facilities, and
other services (Table 4). The park sewage and waste water
treatment systems have sufficient capacity to deal with
wastewater from the local city as well as the park. It forms
a complete and modern logistics system, which is an
independent customs system and Bonded Logistics Center,
and the first such to be approved in China. The Export
Processing Zones were approved by the State Council.
Using the virtual airport mode of the Air–Land Trans-
shipment Model, customs clearance and freight transpor-
tation time from port-to-door has been reduced to 5 h. SIP
has a specialized, well-equipped accident prevention unit

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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279 271

to cope with industrial accidents, such as those that may and chip production industries, are among the top three in
result from chemical and electronic operations. China. SIP has been implementing CE since 2002. The
SCIP has ten types of utilities and landfills, and a com- exchange of materials (solid waste, waste water), energy
bined import/export service that includes customs and (steam, heat), and information has been promoted in the
inspection facilities, as shown in Table 4. In addition, SCIP production, residential, and commercial sectors located
has an excellent and simple master plan that includes a power within the park (Fig. 5).
plant on the upstream side, and wastewater treatment and SCIP has three levels of CE interactions that guide the
incinerator facilities on the downstream side (Fig. 3). overall planning in the park. CP is promoted at the enter-
prise level. Eco-industrial chains (eco-chains) within the
CE frameworks park are promoted at the park level. They have established
an integrated material circulating system, which flows from
Since 2004, BNEIDP has used natural gas as a source of upstream products, such as naphtha and ethylene, to mid-
energy to promote CP, and also provided the first alterna- stream products, such as isocyanate and polycarbonate, and
tive energy sources in Baotou city. In addition, the high then to downstream products, such as synthetic materials.
pressure steam generated by the power plant is used in the
production of building materials, while the surplus heat
from the steam is used for the central heating of enterprises Water Coal
and nearby residences. The main solid waste in the park is Central
heating for steam
fly ash generated by the power plant. Two building mate- neighboring
rial enterprises within the park use the fly ash as a raw town, Dongxing Power Plant
material in the manufacturing of bricks (Fig. 4). fly ash,
electricity dross steam
SIP has attained a certain competitive ability in the
international high-tech industry clusters, which consist of
the semiconductor industry, the optoelectronics industry, Aluminum product Building materials
and electrical mechanics production. As a result, SIP has
become China’s largest export base of LCD panels. In Fig. 4 Conceptual CE framework at BNEIDP. Source: based on
addition, the chip packaging and testing base, the large bus BNEIDP (2006)

Fig. 3 Overview of SCIP site. Source: based on BNEIDP (2006)

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272 Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279

SIP has 2,400 foreign-funded enterprises within the

industrial clusters of the electronic information, optoelec-
Residence Commerce Industry
tronic, and electrical mechanic industries, and account for
65% of total foreign investment. The main production
Waste Condensed industries within SIP are semiconductors, LCD monitors,
water Water water
Steam laptops, mobile phones, and other related products. These
Heat industries have formed the primary chains (Fig. 8), not
Power and
Wastewater only as the production chains from IC design to computers,
Stream
treatment
provided cell phones, and televisions, but also as a system of
resource recycling, including e-waste recycling, water
Water Recycled reuse, waste heat utilization, and sludge incineration. To
Sludge Sludge
manu- water
Drying combustion fully implement the CE strategy and improve the eco-
facturers utilization
chains within the park, SIP is also planning to further
Recycled water dry sludge introduce high-tech industries, especially IT software and
Sewage Treatment Plant Sky Power Plant
new materials industries, and bio-technology industries.
Fig. 5 Conceptual CE framework at SIP. Source: based on SIP (2006b) At SCIP, the main production system includes upstream
products, such as naphtha and ethylene, mid-stream prod-
ucts, such as isocyanate and polycarbonate, and down-
Upstream Midstream stream synthetic products. In addition, there are three
Ethylene Soda phenol sub-systems of ethylene, polycarbonate, and poly-isocyanate
Cracker acetone production. These three sub-systems include gas, steam,
Refinery MMA and electricity generation, and provide the framework of
naphtha caustic soda
ethylene chlorine the industrial system. Relatively complete eco-chains have
propylene phenol
acrylonitrile acetone been established within the park, and they provide material,
energy, and information exchange systems through the
common integration projects that produce ethylene, poly-
Downstream isocyanate, and polycarbonate. Consequently, resources
Automotive
Poly-
can be optimized through the combined and effective uti-
Coatings Poly-
isocyanate isocyanate lization of waste products. In total, ten enterprises, or 37%
battery of the total enterprises and 76.5% of the total investment,
materials
MDI use resources effectively through the park eco-chains
semiconductor TDI
materials Poly-
HDI
(Fig. 9) (Jiang 2005).
isocyanate
LCD materials We found that the three sites own environmentally
conscious infrastructure design and public facilities
Fig. 6 Conceptual CE framework at SCIP. Source: based on Jiang (2005) (Table 4) and benefit from preferential financing and tax
policies. They are all actively implementing CE, whereas
SIP and SCIP have formed some specific eco-chains within
The eco-chains have been formed not only within the park, the parks.
but also with the surrounding regions (Fig. 6). In general Chinese EIP’s focus is on the 3R approach,
but currently only a few of them actually promote the
Eco-industrial chains circulation of end-of-life products into their processes. In
our case studies SCIP promotes the circulation and
We define an eco-industrial chain as the sharing of exchange of materials and energy, as can be seen in Fig. 9.
resources and exchange of by-products and wastes among SIP and BNEIDP originally did n0t accept recycling
two or more enterprises within an EIP. materials until improvements in the manufacturing process
BNEIDP has formed two main eco-chains, which are were made (see Figs. 7, 8).
shown in Fig. 7. In the 11th FYP period, BNEIDP seeks to In case of BNEIDPs infrastructure, transport access is
improve the eco-chains by attracting some of the world’s poor, resulting in smaller foreign investment. To imple-
top 500 multinational corporations and the top 100 ment CE effectively, the park designed the CE plan for the
domestic enterprises. High-tech enterprises are also being period 2006–2010, which includes preferential policies on
strongly supported. By 2010, BNEIDP expects to achieve tax and land use.
high efficiency, low consumption, zero emissions, and SIP is an EIP supported by the Chinese and Singapore
100% CP in the park. governments. It not only has high-tech enterprises, but also

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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279
Fig. 7 Eco-industrial chains in
BNEIDP. Source: based on
BNEIDP (2006) Central heating
for neighboring
town, Dongxing
Electricity
Heating supply
for production
Electricity, Al
Aluminum wheel hub
Steam
has an excellent management style at the park level, and it
has formed the eco-chains (including product and recycling
chains) in the park.
SCIP is the EIP that has a new physical structure type. It
implements the CE strictly in the park and has formed
efficient eco-chains not only within the park, but also
within the surrounding regions.
Indicator system and evaluation for the three EIP study
sites
To carry out analysis of the sustainability status of the three
EIP study sites, we first referred to the following assess-
ment schemes: the current governmental index [including
the Evaluation Index System of CE (industrial park)
(NDRC, SEPA, and STATS 2007)], the Chinese national
standards for EIPs [on trial (Standard for Sector-specific
EIPs HJ/T273-2006) (SEPA 2006c), Standard for Sector-
integrated EIPs (HJ/T274-2006) (SEPA 2006d), and the
venous EIPs (HJ/T275-2006) (SEPA 2006e)], the index of
the investigated EIPs (including the SIP indicator system)
(SIP 2006b) and the SCIP indicator system (SCIP 2006),
and a group of index developed by other researchers (Wang
et al.4 2006). Taking into account the essences of these
evaluation schemes, we created our analysis framework,
which is principally based upon the CE concept as well
as the 3R approach. We first selected four main categories:
(1) socio-economy, (2) resource and material efficiency,
(3) environmental protection, and (4) green management.
4
Wang et al.’s (2006) research: they discussed the eco-melioration of
Shanghai Xinzhuang Industrial Park by using an index system.
273
Water Coal
Steam
Power plant
Fly ash, slag
Building materials
Steam Steam
Electricity Steam
Electrolyte aluminum melt
Electricity, Al Electricity, Al
Alloy Alloy casting Alloy Etched foil
High-tech industry
Heat facilities Factories
It should be noted that this selection is based on the
discussions among the experts with different backgrounds
in framing the evaluation system and selecting relevant
categories as well as indicators.
Since rapid economic growth still constitutes one of the
main tasks of the government, we selected the socio-
economy as a component. In this category, we examine
how the EIP contributes to the local city socio-economy,
how effectively its work generates revenue, and how the
land use of EIPs has impacted on the EIP’s economy. We
also proposed economic indicators that are indirectly
related to social aspects such as EIP proportion of the total
local city.
Regarding resource and material efficiency, we exam-
ined the 3R approach, which will contribute to reducing
material use and improving energy efficiency. We inves-
tigated the ratio of the high-tech enterprises and the
introductory status of international machinery, as a proxy
for resource use efficiency (Feng and Yan 2007). More-
over, we examined actual resource use efficiency, such as
coal and water intensities. At the same time, EIPs should
also reduce waste generation and, in the end, improve the
eco-chains by reusing and recycling waste. This analysis
aims to verify whether the EIP minimizes energy, raw
material usage, and waste generation, and builds sustain-
able economic, ecological, and social relationships.
Environmental protection is an important component
and characteristic of EIPs. We selected indicators, such as
reuse of wastewater, solid waste, and waste gas, to clarify
EIPs’ contribution to environmental protection. Also, it
is crucial to pay attention to improvement in green
area coverage, which will provide better working or living
conditions.
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274 Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279

Copper foil
Photoresistant
IC design Electronic chemicals
rubber, developer,
etc. Electronic recycling
Cefactor (CCL)
chemicals
Silicon
crystal Polychlorinated
biphenyl (PCB)
Lamp Thin-film
transistor liquid
crystal display Integration
Assembly Backlight (TFT-LCD)
Modular Flexible
and testing module PCB
manufacturing

Inferior goods Optical Computer, cell

Dismantling model phone, TV PCB waste recycling
and reloading extract

Product chain
Factories Recycling chain

Fig. 8 Eco-industrial chains in SIP. Source: based on SIP (2006b)

Ethylene Naphtha Mix-butane

Steam
Power and Power Ethylene
steam Waste heat

Sulfurous Acrylonitrile
Ethylene
acid
Natural Gas
gas Methyl
Polyethylene/ Sewage
acrylate treatment
acrylonitrile Chlorine gas Polyethylene Plant
Chlorine gas
Industrial Water
Caustic soda
water Carbon
Isocyanate
black
Material Waste
Phenol & incinerator
Polyisocy Polycarbo
Public acetone
anate nate
Traffic Mid-product
infrastructure

Down-stream products (painting semiconductor

materials battery materials tires)

Send product chain material, and energy chain

Can be extended to complement the product chain link
Product chain system into material
and energy chain
Utility facilities Virtual production processes, material
chain

Fig. 9 Eco-industrial chains in SCIP. Source: based on Jiang (2005)

Finally, the EIP’s green management is another critical
pillar that should be incorporated to focus the enterprises’
attention towards the environmental aspect, strengthening
environmental protection, and eventually contributing to
the sustainable development of EIPs. This will not only
accelerate the implementation of the CP at the enterprise
level, but also promote the implementation of CE at the
park level. It is also critical to meet environmental
management standards, such as ISO14000 certification.
These aspects are examined under the category of green
management (Table 5).
We selected 21 indicators from the above-mentioned four
categories. The targets for the respective indicators were
summarized as references for comparative evaluation, based
on governmental standards and Wang et al.’s research when
governmental targets were not available (Table 6).

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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279 275

Table 5 Chinese national standard for sector-integrated EIPs (HJ/T274-2006, started 2006)
Category Indicators Unit Target

Economic growth
Dematerialization and recycling
Pollution control
Industrial park management
Source: SEPA (2006d)
a
These two indicators belong to residential area inside EIP
Per capita industrial value added 104 Yuan/person C15.0
Annual growth ratio (industrial value added) % C25.0
Total energy consumption intensity Ton of SCE/104 Yuan B0.5
Fresh water consumption intensity Ton/104 Yuan B9.0
Industrial wastewater discharge intensity Ton/104 Yuan B8.0
Industrial solid waste generation intensity Ton/104 Yuan B0.1
Ratio industrial wastewater utilization % C75.0
Ratio of industrial solid waste re-use % C85.0
Ratio of treated effluent % C40.0
4
COD generation intensity Kg/10 Yuan B1.0
SO2 emission intensity Kg/104 Yuan B1.0
Treatment and disposal ratio of hazardous wastes % 100.0
Centralized treatment ratio of domestic sewagea % C70
Sanitary disposal ratio of domestic solid wastesa % 100.0
Waste collection system Established
Centralized waste treatment and disposal system Established
Environmental protection system Well functional
Development degree of the environmental information platform % 100.0
Publication of the environment report of industrial park 1 issue per year
Public satisfaction degree of the local environment % C90.0
Public acceptance degree of eco-industrial development % C90.0

Results failed in some categories. BNEIDP had the lowest resource

We obtained data on individual indicators from the reports
available on the three EIPs and personal interviews. We
analyzed socio-economic and environmental performance
by examining the categories, particularly in relation to the
targets summarized (Table 6).
The socio-economic performance of the three EIPs is
generally good. Although two of the three EIPs do not meet
the target condition of employee productivity, their levels
are much higher than those of the local economies. For
example, concerning the employee productivity of SIP, the
lowest of the three is 23 times larger than national gross
domestic product per capita (16,042 Yuan in 2006,
according to Suzhou Statistical Yearbook 2007). Also, the
economic output of the three EIPs is better than that of
Shanghai City [163.5 Yuan/m2 in 2006, the highest in
China, according to SMSB (2007)]. One of the possible
reasons for good socio-economic performance is that EIPs
consist of a complex of high-technology industries with
international standard equipment and systems. In fact,
Table 6 shows the high ratios of high-tech industries and
international standards in the three EIPs.
Considering resource and material efficiency, SIP and
SCIP meet most of the target conditions, whereas BNEIDP
use efficiency, including by far the worst coal use intensity.
Even taking into account that aluminum, BNEIDP’s main
industry, is an energy intensive industry, its lowest rates of
foreign investment and high-tech industries may explain its
poor ecological performance. Of the three EIPs, SCIP
performed best on resource and material efficiency (an
exception to this is fresh water use intensity, because
chemical industries, SCIP’s main industry, need large
quantities of water for their production). On the other hand
BNEIDP and SCIP’s highest ratios of foreign investment,
high-tech industries, and international machinery used
probably explain its high resource and material efficiency.
SIP’s indicators meet most of the targets on resource and
material efficiency. SIP has a low rate of waste steam
reuse, probably because of its large-scale complex.
Regarding environmental protection, BNEIDP had the
poorest performance among the three EIPs with major
drawbacks in the fields of urban sewage treatment and
green area coverage. However, BNEIDP performance on
wastewater utilization (83.70%) is higher than SIP (65%)
and SCIP (80.60%). BNEIDP is located in the northern part
of China where water scarcity creates an incentive to
promote the reutilization of wastewater. SIP has the lowest
rate of wastewater utilization because it is located in the

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Table 6 Indicators and targets for analysis of the three EIPs

Category Indicators Unit Target BNEDIP SIP SCIP

Socio-economy EIP proportion of total local city GDP % – 5.20 14.10 3.30
Ratio of foreign investment % – 12.50 42.30 81.60
Employee productivity 104 Yuan/person C70.0a 62.30 36.28 583.00
2 a
Economic generation per area Yuan/m C150.0 221.57 236.11 556.67
Resource and material Ratio of high-tech industries % C40.0a 20.00 60.30 88.00
efficiency Ratio of international machinery % C70.0a 6.50 60.00 80.00
Coal use intensity Ton of SCEb/104 Yuan B0.5c 3.26 0.34 0.30
Fresh water use intensity Ton/104 Yuan B9.0c 13.56 5.80 11.05
Number of complete industrial chains Number C2.0d 2.00 2.00 2.00
e
Ratio of waste steam reuse % 100.0 100.00 85.00 100.00
Industrial wastewater discharge intensity Ton/104 Yuan B8.0c 28.50 7.10 5.20
Industrial solid waste generation intensity Ton/104 Yuan B0.1c 0.04 0.07 0.00
Waste gas emission intensity 104 m3 ton/104 Yuan B3.5a 0.04 0.47 0.46
Environmental protection Ratio of industrial wastewater utilization % C75.0c 83.70 65.00 80.60
Centralized treatment ratio of domestic sewage* % C70.0c 80.00 100.00 100.00
Ratio of industrial solid waste reuse % C85.0c 85.30 94.00 100.00
Ratio of green area coverage % C35.0f 23.00 42.00 25.00
Green management Management system certification (ISO14000, – – Received Received Received
ISO9000)
Ratio of enterprises with ISO14000 certification % C20.0a 3.03 1.60 1.50
Ratio of enterprises with cleaner production % C50.0a 3.05 0.44 7.00
Ratio of environmental investment % C3.0d 1.04 3.00 3.00
Source: BNEIDP (2006), SIP (2006a), and SCIP (2006)
a
Quotation from Wang et al. (2006)
b
SCE Standard coal equivalent
c
Chinese national standard for sector-integrated EIPs (HJ/T274-2006)
d
SIP indicator system
e
SCIP indicator system
f
Chinese national standard for venous EIPs (HJ/T275-2006)
– No target found

southeast region, where the industrial water price is lower
than in other regions, according to the hearings we con-
ducted. This observation is consistent with Hayami and
Ruttan (1991), who confirmed scarce-resource-saving
production patterns in the agricultural sector.
It seems that management organization of an EIP also
influences its resource and material efficiency performance.
For example, SIP adopted the environmental protection
directions as followed in Singapore, and this led to an
overall enhancement in performance in terms of environ-
mental protection. SIP also contains commercial and resi-
dential areas, and thus has the highest green area coverage
among the three EIPs. Importantly, we found that in China
there is no official target, either in sector-specific EIPs or in
sector-integrated EIPs. Therefore, an EIP has no incentive
to increase its green area coverage. Hence, SIP indicates
the importance of management organization for resource
and material efficiency performance.
In green management, all three EIPs have obtained ISO
14000 certification at the park level. This includes all
industries as well as the park infrastructure and manage-
ment. BNEIDP (2006), SIP (2006b), and Jiang (2005)
provide details of the reporting systems.
At the enterprise level, their adoption rates are much
lower than the target level. BNEIDP achieved a high
adoption rate, probably because its total number of enter-
prises is only 33, against the low adoption rate of SIP of
11,400 firm, only 170 enterprises have adopted the ISO
14000 standards. With respect to CP, all three EIPs’ adop-
tion rates are far below the target level. The reason for this
may be the strict standards, and few economic incentives
and information to implement those (Wang et al. 2006). In
addition, the fact that SCIP started recently (2005) may also
explain why it has met few ISO 14000 standards.
In environmental investment, SIP and SCIP meet the
target conditions, but BNEIDP does not (1.04%). This may

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Sustain Sci (2009) 4:263–279
affect EIPs future performance in terms of ecological
efficiency and environmental protection. The analysis
below shows that the ratio of foreign direct investment
affects environmental investment.
Based on the previous analysis, we emphasize that all
the EIPs need to strengthen their green management.
The following section explains the main characteristics
of each EIP.
1. BNEIDP has the lowest performance in foreign
investment and economic generation, and is weak in
resource and material efficiency. Moreover, it has low
performance in terms of high-tech and international
machinery, and environmental investment.
2. To some extent, SIP achieved a good performance
overall. However, it has low employee productivity,
low stream use, and industrial wastewater utilization.
3. SCIP has the best performance of the three EIPs.
However, it remains weak in green management,
especially in its ratio of ISO1400 certification.
Finally, we observed the correlation coefficients and
constructed scatter diagrams between the indicators. It
should be noted that we have only three observations,
which make these results not statistically significant.
Nevertheless, it is yet informative to present their impli-
cations. They generally support the arguments that we have
made so far.
1. Strong positive associations among the socio-eco-
nomic indicators were observed. First, the higher the
proportion of foreign investments, the higher the rate
of high-tech industry and the rate of international
machinery introduction are. These high rates also lead
to high productivity of labor and high production sales
per area. These results are consistent with our intuition
that international corporations are likely to be from the
high-tech industry with high profits, and they introduce
into the local economy equipment that meets their own
standards.
2. These socio-economic indicators are also associated
with eco-industry indicators. In general, these results
suggest that socio-economic performance has a
positive correlation with resource and material effi-
ciency. Specifically, high-tech industry capitalized by
foreign investment tends to show lower coal/water
intensity use, and low wastewater and solid-waste
emission intensity with the other factors being equal.
Although the cause and effect remain unknown, it may
be that being efficient in terms of resource use and
waste emission has positive effects on economic
performance.
3. Likewise, socio-economic indicators also have positive
effects on environmental protection. In particular, the
277
results show that high-tech industry tends to attain
better performance in sewage treatment and solid
waste reuse.
4. The results show that environmental investment plays
a key role in resource and material efficiency and
environmental protection, i.e., an EIP with high rates
of environmental investment tends to show high
performance in these two areas.
Discussion
The overall results suggest that EIPs play an important role
in promoting sustainable development for the local econ-
omy. We have observed that EIPs introduce advanced
technologies that yield high productivity and efficient
resource and material outcomes. As a result, all three EIPs
attained higher labor productivity and sales per production
area. Also, the economic scales of EIPs are large in China
and have a huge impact on the local economy. For exam-
ple, although SIP in Suzhou constitutes only 4% of the city
population and the city area, its production accounts for
14.1% of the city’s GDP (SSB 2007).
In addition, the advanced environmental technologies
and systems introduced in the EIPs may also be diffused
outside the parks, thereby increasing resource and material
efficiency and decreasing environmental pressures in the
local society. We have seen an example in SIP in which the
park sewage and wastewater treatment systems have suf-
ficient capacity to deal with the wastewater from the local
city. The literature in economics has provided evidence
that foreign direct investment increases the local econ-
omy’s productivity through technological diffusion (Urata
1996), and this supports our argument.
Given the fact that each EIP has different characteristics,
such as industrial structure, we also considered it important
to check the validity and significance of the quantitative
target for each indicator, which we used as a reference in
our analysis. Therefore, assessment systems with rather
flexible targets will be necessary, in line with the specific
features of EIPs. This aspect too will be examined in the
next stage of the study, along with further investigation
into the social features of the EIPs.
Conclusion
Circular economy is a new model of economic develop-
ment in China. Although the strategy has only recently
been implemented, it has developed rapidly and has
achieved significant results. Certain laws connected with
CE, such as the Law of the People’s Republic of China on
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278
the Promotion of CP and the Law on Circular Economy,
have been published. In practice, CE has been successfully
applied to enterprises, EIPs, and cities, provinces, and
regions. At the EIP level, in particular, from 2001 to 2007,
SEPA approved the construction of 26 EIPs. In addition, in
October 2005, 13 industrial parks were ratified as CE pilot
industrial parks in the first list of entities promoting CE.
In this paper, we examined the prospectus for sound and
sustainable development in the three EIPs in Baotou,
Suzhou, and Shanghai as case studies. The three EIPs own
excellent infrastructures, and also receive a large degree of
financial and tax support from the local governments.
These enterprises are effectively implementing the CP, and
the CE framework and eco-chains are well established in
the EIPs.
We then showed that the overall performance of the
three EIPs is good. In socio-economic terms, the EIPs
generally yield high productivity in terms of workers and
land use, and obtain high economic benefit thanks to the
high rates of foreign direct investment and international
standard machinery. These socio-economic indicators are
also associated with eco-industry indicators and effect on
environment protection. The EIPs also achieved high effi-
ciency in energy use and minimized waste generation.
Improvements in green management remain essential, but
the three EIPs have also demonstrated good environmental
protection and positive associations between socio-eco-
nomic, resource and material efficiency, and environmental
indicators. Given the large economic presence of these
EIPs in the local economy, and their advanced technologies
and systems, EIPs in China have the potential to promote
not only a CE within the EIP, but also sustainable devel-
opment for the local economy.
Acknowledgments This work was supported by MEXT through
Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology
as a part of the Flagship Research Project for the Development of an
Asian Closed-loop Society undertaken by Osaka University.
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