Identifying the interactions between the Beautiful China Goals: An analytical localization of the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

China has proposed the Beautiful China Goals (BCGs), outlining a long-term, comprehensive environmental strategy and a localized pathway for achieving environmentally sustainable development. The present study establishes a research framework integrating an evaluation indicator system, interaction identification methods, and a city-level case study for the BCGs, providing the evaluation of BCG progress, the identification of interactions between BCGs, and an in-depth examination of the dynamics between BCG progress and interaction. The results indicate a positive yet significantly north-south differentiated progress in developing a Beautiful China. BCG interaction identification based on document interpretation, correlation analysis, and city-level information mining reveals the differentiation among BCGs at global and local levels. The decoupling-recoupling process observed between the BCGs throughout the overall development of Beautiful China deepens our understanding of China's path toward environmentally sustainable development, which may inform policymaking for comprehensively and synergistically developing a Beautiful China.