Despite ongoing economic development around the world, poverty is becoming an increasingly important problem. Although absolute poverty still appears in some countries, relative poverty (the gap between the rich and the poor) has become the focus of attention. To learn what factors affect regional economic development, and therefore affect relative poverty, we selected 295 Chinese cities and analyzed their economic development problems using spatial econometric models (ordinary least-squares, spatial lag, and spatial error models), and city classification criteria (region and size). We found that optimization of the trade structure, improvement of medical resources, and development of fiscal decentralization and a market economy promoted regional economic development, but that the gap in disposable income between urban and rural areas combined with environmental pollution to limit regional economic development. Therefore, regional governments must continuously optimize their region’s economic structure, use tax revenues rationally to solve their region’s most serious problems, continuously promote trade, and narrow the gap in disposable income between urban and rural areas to solve the problem of relative poverty. Our results provide suggestions for China’s regional economic development, but also provide a reference for other developing countries to mitigate poverty and achieve more sustainable regional economic development.

regional poverty; sustainable development; market economics; urban–rural gap; social justice

Agasisti, T., & Bertoletti, A. (2022). Higher education and economic growth: A longitudinal study of European regions 2000–2017. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 81, 100940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2020.100940

Anselin, L. (1995). Local Indicators of Spatial Association—LISA. Geographical Analysis, 27(2), 93–115. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1538–4632.1995.tb00338.x

Bai, J., Wang, Y., & Sun, W. (2022). Exploring the role of agricultural subsidy policies for sustainable agriculture Based on Chinese agricultural big data. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 53, 102473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2022.102473

Cao, S., Ma, H., Yuan, W., et al. (2014). Interaction of ecological and social factors affects vegetation recovery in China. Biological Conservation, 180, 270–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.10.009

Capuno, J. J. (2022). Growth with redistribution, finally: Regional poverty and inequality in the Philippines, 2000–2018. Asia and the Global Economy, 2(2), 100039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aglobe.2022.100039

Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China. (2018). Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Strengthening Ecological Environmental Protection and Resolutely Winning the Battle of Pollution Prevention and Control. Xinhua News Agency.

Chen, J., Yang, C., Shieh, J., et al. (2020). Consumption aspirations in dirty and clean goods and economic growth. Economic Modelling, 87, 254–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2019.08.001

Chen, Z., & Haynes, K. E. (2017). Impact of high-speed rail on regional economic disparity in China. Journal of Transport Geography, 65, 80–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2017.08.003

Di Maria, C., Smulders, S., & van der Werf, E. (2012). Absolute abundance and relative scarcity: Environmental policy with implementation lags. Ecological Economics, 74, 104–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2011.12.003

Dong, K., Dou, Y., & Jiang, Q. (2022). Income inequality, energy poverty, and energy efficiency: Who cause who and how? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 179, 121622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121622

Elgin, C. (2013). Internet usage and the shadow economy: Evidence from panel data. Economic Systems, 37(1), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2012.08.005

Guo, L., Li, H., Cao, X., et al. (2021). Effect of agricultural subsidies on the use of chemical fertilizer. Journal of Environmental Management, 299, 113621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113621

Guo, Q. E., Sun, B. D. (2016). Spatial distribution and influencing factors of high-tech industry innovation in China: Based on spatial economietric analysis of panel data. Progress in Geography, 35(10), 1218–1277. https://doi.org/10.18306/dlkxjz.2016.10.005

Hao, R., Liao, G., Ding, W., et al. (2022). The informativeness of regional GDP announcements: Evidence from China. Journal of Empirical Finance, 67, 78–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jempfin.2022.03.001

He, S. H., Du, D. B., Jiao, M. Q., et al. (2017). Spatial-Temporal Characteristics of Urban Innovation Capability and Impact Factors Analysis in China. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 37(7), 1014–1022.

Jenderedjian, A., & Bellows, A. C. (2021). Rural poverty, violence, and power: Rejecting and endorsing gender mainstreaming by food security NGOs in Armenia and Georgia. World Development, 140, 105270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105270

Kim, H. J., Kim, C.-J., Ahn, J.-A., et al. (2022). Prevalence and correlates of depression among South Korean older adults living in relative poverty. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 38, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2022.01.002

Li, C., Sampene, A. K., Agyeman, F. O., et al. (2022). The role of green finance and energy innovation in neutralizing environmental pollution: Empirical evidence from the MINT economies. Journal of Environmental Management, 317, 115500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115500

Li, W., Cai, Z., & Cao, S. (2021). What has caused regional income inequality in China? Effects of 10 socioeconomic factors on per capita income. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(9), 13403–13417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-020-01218-7

Liu, G., & Zhang, F. (2022). China’s carbon inequality of households: Perspectives of the aging society and urban-rural gaps. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 185, 106449. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106449

Liu, N., & Gao, F. (2022). The world uncertainty index and GDP growth rate. Finance Research Letters, 49, 103137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2022.103137

Liu, X., Guo, P., Yue, X., et al. (2021). Urban transition in China: Examining the coordination between urbanization and the eco-environment using a multi-model evaluation method. Ecological Indicators, 130, 108056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108056

Lu, J., Zhou, S., Liu, L., et al. (2021). You are where you go: Inferring residents’ income level through daily activity and geographic exposure. Cities, 111, 102984. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2020.102984

Meng, B., Gao, Y., Ye, J., et al. (2022). Trade in factor income and the US-China trade balance. China Economic Review, 73, 101792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101792

National Bureau of Statistics of China (1979–2022). China Statistical Yearbook. National Bureau of Statistics of China.

Niculescu-Aron, I., & Mihăescu, C. (2012). Determinants of Household Savings in EU: What Policies for Increasing Savings? Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 58, 483–492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.1025

Ofori, P. E., Ofori, I. K., & Asongu, S. A. (2022). Towards efforts to enhance tax revenue mobilisation in Africa: Exploring the interaction between industrialisation and digital infrastructure. Telematics and Informatics, 72, 101857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2022.101857

Pantano, E., Viassone, M., Boardman, R., et al. (2022). Inclusive or exclusive? Investigating how retail technology can reduce old consumers’ barriers to shopping. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 68, 103074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2022.103074

Ren, Y., Zhou, Z., Cao, D., et al. (2022). Did the Integrated Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance Improve Benefit Equity in China? Value in Health, 25(9), 1548–1558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2022.03.007

Saboor, A., Sadiq, S., Khan, A. U., et al. (2016). Dynamic Reflections of Crimes, Quasi Democracy and Misery Index in Pakistan. Social Indicators Research, 133(1), 31–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1348-8

Siburian, M. E. (2022). The link between fiscal decentralization and poverty – Evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Asian Economics, 81, 101493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2022.101493

Song, Y. (2013). Rising Chinese regional income inequality: The role of fiscal decentralization. China Economic Review, 27, 294–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2013.02.001

Tadesse Wazza, M., & Belay Bedeke, S. (2022). What lessons Ethiopia could draw from China’s township and village enterprises led rural industrialization? A thematic synthesis. Research in Globalization, 5, 100088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resglo.2022.100088

Tirado, D. A., Díez-Minguela, A., & Martinez-Galarraga, J. (2016). Regional inequality and economic development in Spain, 1860–2010. Journal of Historical Geography, 54, 87–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhg.2016.09.005

Tong, X., Wang, P., Wu, S., et al. (2022). Urbanization effects on high-frequency temperature variability over South China. Urban Climate, 42, 101092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101092

Wan, G., Hu, X., & Liu, W. (2021). China’s poverty reduction miracle and relative poverty: Focusing on the roles of growth and inequality. China Economic Review, 68, 101643. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101643

World Bank (2021). Per capita GDP (current US dollars). Available online: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?view=chart (accessed on 12 December 2023).

Zhang, L., Mu, R., Hu, S., et al. (2022). Industrial coagglomeration, technological innovation, and environmental pollution in China: Life-cycle perspective of coagglomeration. Journal of Cleaner Production, 362, 132280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.132280

Zhang, M., Wang, L., Ma, P., et al. (2022). Urban-rural income gap and air pollution: A stumbling block or stepping stone. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 94, 106758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2022.106758

Zhou, Q., Shi, W., Guo Q.H. (2021). The influential mechanism of urban Environmental and Green Infrastructure Investments on Urban High Quality Economic Growth. Acta Ecologica Sinica, 41(22). https://doi.org/10.5846/stxb202101190208

Zhou, X., Bai, L., Bai, J., et al. (2022). Scenario prediction and critical factors of CO2 emissions in the Pearl River Delta: A regional imbalanced development perspective. Urban Climate, 44, 101226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101226