Evaluation of eco-efficiency in China from 1978 to 2016: Based on a modified ecological footprint model

Eco-efficiency has become an important indicator for measuring sustainable development that emphasizes multiple dividends including basic needs, economic growth, resource conservation, and environmental protection. In this paper, we firstly modify the traditional ecological footprint (EF) model through amending the equivalence factors and enriching the account types to estimate the ecological pressure in China. Then, we evaluate the annual eco-efficiency of China based on the modified EF model from the perspectives of biological needs, resource consumption, and environmental pollution from the reform and opening-up until recently. Finally, the decoupling status between resource consumption, pollution emissions and economic growth is explored. The results indicated that: (1) The per capita EF of China increased from 1.83hectares (ha) in 1978 to 6.98ha in 2016, in which EF of energy experienced a significant increase and accounted for the largest proportion of total per capita EF in 2016, followed by air pollution and freshwater; (2) the total eco-efficiency in China increased from 210yuan/ha in 1978 to 1235yuan/ha in 2016, in which biological efficiency performed the best starting from 264yuan/ha in 1978 with an annual growth rate of 7.9% to 2016, resource efficiency roughly presented an upward tendency with a decline during 2002-2005, and environmental efficiency pictured a U-shaped curve; (3) "weak decoupling" between resource consumption, pollution emissions and economic growth is the main characteristic at present after undergoing through large fluctuation. Furthermore, implications towards an eco-friendly society are provided.