Abstract:This paper analyzes the sustainable development level of the National Sustainable Development Experimental Zone (NSDPZs) and the factors that cause regional differences from the comprehensive perspectives of economy, society and environment. An evaluation index system with 27 indicators at three levels including economic development, social livelihood and resources and environment was constructed, and 161 experimental areas with valid data were taken as the research objects. This paper calculates the comprehensive score of its sustainable development from 2014 to 2018, identifies the difference indicators affecting the sustainable development of the NSDPZs, and calculates its total factor productivity and the decomposition indicators of total factor productivity, and identifies the driving factors that affect the difference in economic development in the NSDPZs.The results show that: (1) the per capita local fiscal revenue, the number of newly registered enterprises, and the per capita retail sales of social consumer goods are the main indicators that affect the differences in the NSDPZs; (2) the fundamental factors leading to the differences in economic development in the NSDPZs are pure technical efficiency and technical efficiency, that is, institutional and structural development factors; (3) the increase in total factor productivity in the NSDPZs is mainly due to technological progress; (4) the overall coordination of economic development in the NSDPZs is improving. Among them, the NSDPZs in Zhejiang Province have a relatively strong level of coordinated development, providing a reference for the NSDPZs of other areas.