Cui, X.P. and Xu, Y.K., 2020. Trade-offs between water environmental protection and development - Empirical evidence from China's ecological function zone system. In: Guido Aldana, P.A. and Kantamaneni, K. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Coastal Management, and Marine Science Technology. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 104, pp. 42–47. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

This paper takes the ecological function zone system arrangement as a starting point, discussed the ecological environment effect of the ecological function zone system and its impact on economic development and public services, and further judged the effectiveness of the ecological function zone system. We find that the ecological function zone system does not well compensate the costs incurred by local governments to abandon development for improving the environment. The more economically underdeveloped areas, the more urgent the local government's trade-off between “environmental protection” and “benefit.” Failure to obtain effective compensation will not only force these areas to constrainedly develop industries, and will also lead to a deterioration in the quality of the ecological environment.