The impact of natural capital utilization on high quality development in Henan Province of China

The evaluation index system for high quality development (HQD) in Henan Province of China was constructed and measured based on new development principles. Three-dimensional ecological footprint model was used to evaluate natural capital utilization, and the correlation between natural capital utilization and HQD was deeply explored through correlation analysis and threshold regression model during 20052020. The main results were: heterogeneity of HQD and each dimension score in each city was strong, and the northwest Henan was higher than in the southeast. 18 cities had the highest score in coordination dimension (0.09~0.17) and the lowest in innovation dimension (0.00~0.04). The maximum EFsizewas 1.30106~6.09106hm2in Zhoukou, and the lowest was 1.34105~2.33105hm2in Jiyuan. Cultivated and construction land contributed highly to EFsize. The first lag term of HQD had a positive effect on current HQD, and threshold values for the EFsizeand EFdepthwere 1.487106hm2, and 9.090 respectively. EFsizeand EFdepthhad a positive effect on the improvement HQD, indicating a nonlinear trend of strong to weak change. The findings provided theoretical and technical support for policies related to optimizing land use patterns, upgrading industrial structures, and ecological compensation among cities in China.