Abstract: Taking Shanxi province as the evaluation unit, the evolution process and trend of the ecological environment were analyzed in Shanxi province from 2005 to 2016 on the basis of the main socio-economic data,the index system of driving factors of the ecological environment evolution was constructed based on the structural changes and pollution and treatment. By means of principal component analysis, the driving factors of ecological environment evolution in Shanxi province were discussed. The results showed that during 2005 and 2016, the ecological environment in Shanxi province experienced the process of deterioration first and then improved, and showed the trend of gradual improvement. The first principal component was the main driving factor, which reflected that the economic system played the most important driving role in the evolution of ecological environment in Shanxi province. Industrial structure and environmental governance were the internal and external driving forces of the evolution of regional ecological environment, respectively. Pollutant emission and agricultural production were the secondary driving factors, the concept of socio-economic development and regional eco-environmental quality influenced each other to promote regional sustainable development.

Key words: ecological environment evolution, driving factors, principal component analysis, Shanxi province