Green development level, resource utilization, and ecological protection across China from 2006 to 2017: Based on the national standard indicator system

Scientific assessment of green development is of great indicative significance for guiding national and provincial green transformation and deepening the process of ecological civilization in China. However, very few studies measure the degree of green development, including dimensions of resource utilization and ecological protection, using the national standard indicator system. Therefore, this paper has conducted a systematic study on evolving characteristics of green development level in China's provinces from 2006 to 2017, standing on the authoritative method of national green development index with a little debugging. The outcome indicates green development level in China's provinces are on the rise; on the whole, the difference of green development among the eastern, central, and western region still exist, but the green development level difference between the top ten developed provinces and bottom ten developing provinces has been reduced noticeably. In most provinces, resource utilization and the ecological protection level also show an increasing trend. Therefore, China should improve the entire level of the country's green development in a well-rounded way by promoting the provincial green development level in coordination.