Economic growth and industrial pollution: Evidence from the urban panel data in China

Based on the urban panel data in China from 2003 to 2008, this paper explores the relationship between economic growth and industrial pollution including industrial wastewater, industrial SO2 emission and industrial soot emission. The results confirm an inverted-U or environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship between economic growth and industrial pollution in China. For most cities, industrial wastewater and SO2 emission will keep increasing as per capita GDP grows, while industrial soot emission has been on the decrease with the economic development. Meanwhile, industrial structure, technological progress and FDI have some effects on the relationship between economic development and industrial pollution.