Abstract: As a major measure to accelerate the construction of a higher-level open economic system in the new era, the free trade zone(FTZ) will inevitably become an important carrier for promoting our country's high-level opening up and sustainable economic development. At present, academic research on high-level opening is mainly qualitative, while empirical research on the economic performance of high-level opening is not much, and there is less research on the environmental effects and mechanism of high-level Glasnost such as free trade pilot zones. What impact does the high-level Glasnost represented by the pilot free trade zone have on environmental quality? Based on the establishment of the FTZ as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper uses the DID method to identify the environmental effects of high-level open policies, and uses the mediation effect model and the Bootstrap method to test its transmission mechanism. This study selects sample data from 31 provinces in China from 2000 to 2017, and empirically studies the effect of free trade pilot zone policies on environmental quality improvement. The data come from the National Statistical Yearbook, China Environmental Statistical Yearbook, and China Urban Statistical Yearbook over the years. In order to further verify the above benchmark regression conclusions, robustness tests are conducted through methods such as parallel trend hypothesis test, sample randomness hypothesis test, exclusion of interference from other policies test, and placebo test.
The study finds the following conclusions. The FTZ has a significant emission reduction effect on the comprehensive index of environmental pollution, sulfur dioxide emissions, solid waste emissions, and total wastewater emissions, and this result still holds after the counterfactual test and multiple robustness tests. There is a spatial difference in the improvement effect of the free trade experimental zone on environmental quality, which is “strong in the east, weak in the west, and not obvious in the middle”, as well as a temporal heterogeneity that increases with the growth cycle. The pilot free trade zone has improved the environmental quality through five Mesomeric effect, including institutional innovation, high-level trade, factor structure optimization, industrial structure upgrading and financial innovation development. Therefore, this study proposes the following countermeasures and suggestions. Firstly, the pilot scope and reasonable layout of free trade pilot zones should be accelerated. The second is to promote the transformation and upgrading of trade Glasnost. The third is to promote the transformation from policy-oriented openness to institutional openness. The fourth is to formulate Glasnost to promote the optimization of factor structure and industrial upgrading. This study provides a scientific basis for the transformation of China's traditional Glasnost and the formulation of high-level Glasnost.

Key words: Free Trade Zone, high-level opening, environmental quality, DID, intermediary effect

摘要： 自贸试验区作为新时代建设更高水平开放型经济新体制的重大举措,自贸试验区必然成为推动我国高水平开放和经济可持续发展的重要载体。本文以自贸试验区设立作为准自然实验,使用DID方法识别了高水平开放政策的环境效应,并运用中介效应模型和Bootstrap法检验了其作用机制。研究表明:自贸试验区对环境质量有显著的正向效应,并且这一结果经过多项稳健性检验后仍成立;自贸试验区对环境质量改善效应存在着“东强西弱中部不明显”的空间差异性以及随成长周期递增的时间异质性;自贸试验区通过制度创新、高水平贸易、要素结构优化、产业结构高度化和金融创新发展等方面中介效应改善了环境质量。本研究为我国传统开放政策转型和高水平开放政策制定提供科学依据。

关键词: 自贸试验区, 高水平开放, 环境质量, 双重差分, 中介效应