Analyzing the decoupling relationship between marine economic growth and marine pollution in China

This study analyzes the “quantity” and “speed” decoupling relationship between marine pollution and economic growth in China from 2002 to 2013. The results show that, when the red-tide disaster areas by coastal region is used as marine pollution indicator, an inverted N-shaped relationship is observed between pollution and growth. However, this curve fluctuates slightly, and its shape is more similar to monotonic decreasing. There are three states of “speed” decoupling between each marine pollution and economic growth indicator. The decoupling state between pollution and the economy changes rapidly, the deterioration of marine pollution being rather frequent. In some years, the pressure on the marine environment aggravated dramatically. Having combined both analyses, the study determines that marine economic growth and pollution in China have not been entirely decoupled in recent years, and that environmental pressure on marine economic growth remains obvious.