Eco-efficiency of circular economy development of Guangdong Province

On the base of the essentials of circular economy and connotations of eco-efficiency, an eco-efficiency index system for assessing the circular economy of Guangdong Province was established with reference to local and international research. By using the established index system, variations in the economy and eco-efficiency for the period from l990 to 2007 were analyzed. The results indicate that Guangdong provincial GDP achieves a high and rapid growth during the last 18 years. Concurrent eco-efficiency indicators and labor productivity display increasing trends for especially the eco-efficiency of total water consumption and construct land. Average annual growth rate of the two indicators respectively reach 21.29% and 17.28%, both are lower than that for GDP. Prediction results from transformed human-environment equation (IPAT) reveal that under present economic growth, strategic objectives for the augmentation of Guangdong provincial economy could be realized by 2015. However, increase in energy consumption and environment load may induce high pressure on the eco-environment.