Abstract:Heavy polluting industries are the important sources of industrial pollutant. Understanding the spatial agglomeration characteristics, influencing factors, agglomeration mechanism and environmental effects of China’s heavy polluting industries can help identify potential pollution risk areas to cope with increasingly severe environmental pollution problems. Based on the industrial economic data from 1999 to 2021, the spatial distribution and agglomeration characteristics of heavy polluting industries are characterized. It is found that: (1) Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong are the regions with high output value of the development of heavy polluting industries in the past 20 years, while Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Sichuan are the potential areas for the agglomeration of heavy polluting industries in the future. (2) Production cost (factor endowment), environmental regulation, economic development level, market share, and industrial structure are the key factors affecting the development of heavy polluting industries, and there is an obvious “inverted U” relationship between labor cost and heavy polluting industries development. (3) There is regional heterogeneity in the development of heavy pollution industries. The eastern region has a significant effect of pollution shelter, while the central and western regions have a more obvious orientation to seek low labor costs and resource enrichment. (4) The agglomeration of heavy polluting industries significantly increases the emission of industrial pollutants, and there is an obvious inverted U relationship with environmental pollution, but environmental regulations have not played a role in reducing pollution and emission. On this basis, the countermeasures and policy suggestions are further put forward to deal with the agglomeration of heavy polluting industries and reduce the potential pollution risk, providing reference to achieve the goal of Beautiful China.