In the 11-FYP, the central government set up provincial SO2 emission reduction targets based on the total emission control policy. Firstly, in the time dimension, official performance evaluation is based on whether SO2 emission reduction is up to standard. It is enough to make local governments abandon simply chasing the “GDP tournaments” and instead devote certain resources to SO2 emission reduction. As a result, SO2 emissions may differ significantly before and after the implementation of the