SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION OF PM_2.5 CONCENTRATION IN CHINA FROM 1998 TO 2016 AND ITS RESPONSE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract. China's economy has experienced rapid development in the past few decades, and economic development has also brought serious pollution problems, which has attracted wide attention of scholars at home and abroad. Based on the data of global PM_2.5 remote sensing products and China's economic development from 1998 to 2016, the temporal and spatial variations of PM_2.5 concentration in China from 1998 to 2016 were analyzed, and the response of PM_2.5 concentration in China to economic development was studied. The results showed that the average annual PM_2.5 concentration in 1998–2016 showed the spatial distribution characteristics of high in the East and low in the west; during 1998–2016, PM_2.5 increased significantly in most regions, but decreased significantly in Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu, while PM_2.5 did not change significantly in some parts of the central region; during 1998–2007, PM_2.5 concentration in most regions of China experienced rapid economic development. The concentration of PM_2.5 in a few areas such as Inner Mongolia decreased significantly, while that in Yunnan, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia did not change significantly. During the 10 years of economic slowdown in China (2008–2016), the downward trend of PM_2.5 concentration in China was expanding. The concentration of PM_2.5 in the central and southern regions decreased or did not change significantly, except in the northwest and a few northeast regions. The change of PM_2.5 concentration responds obviously to economic development, but the response of different regional economic development to the change of PM_2.5 concentration is different.