Examination of Chinese environmental Kuznets Curve using provincial panel data of industrial waste gas

Considering the new normal of the economy and urbanization, the Environmental Kuznets Curve in China was analyzed and reconsidered, based on the provincial industrial waste gas and economic data from 1986 to 2016. The results show that a long-term cointegrated relationship exists between the industrial exhaust gases and the income variables. The turning point of Environmental Kuznets Curve has not begun, or is still prerequisite to get income levels comparable to those at which the point of some developed countries occurred to reach the growth level in this inverted U-shaped EKC. Currently, the environmental situation in China requires further improvement, and environmental input is far from sufficient to achieve the intended effect on the atmosphere environment. China is facing a significant environmental pressure and an ecological economic transformation is urgent.