Have China's regulations on imported waste paper improved its quality

Since 2013, the Chinese government has implemented a series of waste paper import regulations with the aim of improving the quality of imported waste paper. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of these new regulations on the quality of imported waste paper. The study analyzed the asymmetric effects and dynamics between China's domestic and imported waste paper prices and between import price and the quality of imported waste paper based on the asymmetric ARDL model. The results revealed that the Chinese and international waste paper markets were integrated and that both long-run and short-run asymmetries were presented in the relationship between these two markets. Furthermore, the results indicated that the quality of imported waste paper reacted differently to the positive and negative changes in import price, and a decrease in import price will lead to an increase in the quality of imported waste paper. China's waste paper import regulations weakened the integration relationship between the Chinese and international waste paper markets and caused the import price to drop. Therefore, it implies that China's new waste paper import regulations promoted the quality of imported waste paper, which is beneficial to the mitigation of environmental contamination.