Search

Rapid economic development has led to urban sprawl and threatens river systems. In this paper, we used geographic information system (GIS) techniques to examine the effects of urbanisation on the water resources of the Yanggong River watershed in Lijiang City, and analysed the temporal changes in river systems and their impacts on watershed ecosystem functions. The total length of the river systems in the Yanggong River watershed decreased from 786.9 km in 1995 to 674.2 km in 2009 and is predicted to continue to decrease by 35.5 km in the next 11 years according to various data sources. The decrease in river system density started in the Old Town of Lijiang and gradually spread to the surrounding areas. Our analysis shows that urbanisation is failing to take into account the impacts on river systems and their functions, which could cause a reduction in the size of the river systems and degradation of watershed ecosystem functions in the Yanggong River watershed of Lijiang City. It is suggested that protecting the natural river network and making full use of the advantages of the distinctive terrain in the Yanggong River watershed could contribute to the sustainability of urban development in Lijiang City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World cultural and natural heritage sites are an important part of the wealth of humankind, but their protection is threatened by rapid urbanisation. In this paper, we assessed urbanisation-related pressures on the Old Town of Lijiang, using an integrated method based on the analytic network process (ANP). In addition to the data from the governmental census, we also employed satellite images, ecosystem services and sewage treatment data. The results of quantitative assessment of 16 indicators demonstrated that the pressure on the Old Town of Lijiang from 1978 to 2009 has increased with urbanisation and economic development, with the highest pressure occurring in 2009 and the lowest in 1978. The pressure more than doubled between 2000 and 2009, and there was an exponential relationship between urbanisation rate and pressure, suggesting that a small increase in urbanisation rate can trigger a large increase in urbanisation-related pressure. It was found that increases in population and tourism are the most crucial of the pressure indicators. The findings have significant implications for promoting the protection of the Old Town of Lijiang and other world heritage sites under similar pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper employs the structural vector autoregressions framework and the generalized impulse response function to study the long-term dynamic relation between China''s energy consumption and sustainable economic growth. In addition to the conventional economic indicators (GDP growth rates), genuine savings rates are particularly examined to indicate sustainable economic development. Results show that the high elasticity of energy consumption dramatically undermines the capacity of China''s sustainability in terms of reducing genuine savings rates. We also use variance decomposition to calculate relative variance contribution rates, in order to identify the most important factor affecting GDP growth as well as genuine savings rates. The analysis finds that clean and renewable energy increase the country''s genuine savings significantly. That is, renewable energy consumption promotes sustainable development for both natural and economic societies. However, increase in traditional solid energy consumption is more likely to benefit only the growth of GDP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The complicated nature of regional development requires a more integrated approach to reflect its systematic picture. Multi-scale integrated analysis of societal metabolism (MSIASM) is such an approach as it integrates economic, social and ecological dimension. In this paper, we employ such an approach to evaluate regional societal and ecosystem metabolism in China. We set up a series of indicators to present different development perspectives and employ a complete decomposition model to further identify key factors for regional sustainable development. Our research outcomes indicate that both west and north China rely on natural resource for their development while east and south China have more balanced sector structure. We also found that urban areas, especially those large cities, have already reached the level of those developed countries. Thus, how to reduce the gap between urban and rural contexts will be the next challenge of the Chinese government. From temporal point of view, although in recent years China gained great achievement for economic development, there is a lack of attention on improving people’s life quality and social service. This requires a more balanced development strategy so that different regions can better utilize their resources and support each other and a more balanced sector structure so that economic development will not be always the main focus of regional government and more attention on improving social welfare will be paid. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: The paper discusses a number of key conceptual issues related to the role of energy in development and its potential synergies and tradeoffs with climate change. The relationship between economic development and energy over time is discussed and illustrated by data from China, India and South Africa, and some other countries. It concludes that energy plays an important role as a productivity enhancing factor in economic development and in human well being. Several policy goals related to sustainable development, energy, and climate can be integrated. However, meeting all these policy goals requires a special effort and has significant cost implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increasing population and rapid development of the economy and society of the Yellow River Basin region, the Yellow River is at crisis point. The discrepancy between supply and demand of water resources is a key issue. In 2000-2006, the mean annual discharge of the Yellow River entering the delta was 13.2 billion m3, a reduction of 18.6 billion m3 compared with the 1980s, and 9 billion m3 less than in the 1990s. The water requirements of various sectors are increasing. Large amounts of water essential to maintain the health of the delta ecosystem have been diverted for other users. The lower river channel is shrinking and the threat of flooding is becoming severe. Moreover, water pollution is increasing to a serious level; the river mouth ecosystem is subject to degradation. Due to overall decreased flow into the delta, and almost no flow into the delta for much of the year except in wet periods, biodiversity is threatened and there has been degradation of the ecological environment. In view of the water scarcity and variation in water supply, particularly in the context of climate change, measures need to be taken to realise sustainable water use in the Yellow River Delta region. In view of the lack of a complete index system for sustainable utilisation of regional water resources in China, this paper examines the major countermeasures for sustainable water use in the region. A rational adjustment mechanism for water prices is needed. Adjustment of agricultural infrastructure and water saving need to be directed by water prices, and thus the reasonable exploitation of groundwater must also be directed by water prices. Participation of the public is to be encouraged, with the development of a water user association that will become involved in formulating water rights, water allocation and water prices. Decision-making, management and supervision of this association will be done in a democratic way to promote the social management of water saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With the rapid growth of vehicle population in China and subsequent environmental problems, remanufacturing has become the development direction of the vehicle industry for its huge environmental benefit. However, the current vehicle remanufacturing industry is still in its infancy, which makes the introduction of extended producer responsibility inevitable. This paper describes the development of China’s remanufacturing policies based on EPR and discusses the recycling system in line with the country’s actual conditions. This then can provide some ideas on EPR application to other developing countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sustainable development is a priority area of research in many countries and regions nowadays. This paper illustrates how a multi-stakeholders engagement process can be applied to identify and prioritize the local community's concerns and issues regarding sustainable development in Hong Kong. Ten priority areas covering a wide range of community's concerns in relation to the economic growth, societal development and environmental protection have been identified. An index is then constructed based on these priority areas to track the public's views on the progress of Hong Kong towards a more sustainable city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The financial crisis indicates the underlying bankruptcy of the last of a series of attempts to restore sustained growth in advanced countries since the end of the post-war Golden Age: Italian flexible specialization, Japanese and Rhine-style lean production, the new economy and Anglo-American financialization. Over the same period a number of emerging economies and in particular China have sustained high rates of growth. In the years to come, developed country growth is likely to remain slow because no alternative high-growth model is on the horizon. A country such as China conversely has the potential to continue to grow relatively fast provided it can profoundly alter its model of development in ways that address global and national imbalances. If it and other large emerging economies do achieve further sustained growth, this will in effect reverse the gap created by industrial revolution, colonialism and imperialism. The aim of this paper is to explain the reasons for and the possibilities of such global convergence, paying particular attention to the reasons for and implications of the financial crisis and the extent to which China’s fiscal stimulus contributes to a new model of Chinese development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has suffered frequent source water contamination accidents in the past decade, which has resulted in severe consequences to the water supply of millions of residents. The origins of typical cases of contamination are discussed in this paper as well as the emergency response to these accidents. In general, excessive pursuit of rapid industrialization and the unreasonable location of factories are responsible for the increasing frequency of accidental pollution events. Moreover, insufficient attention to environmental protection and rudimentary emergency response capability has exacerbated the consequences of such accidents. These environmental accidents triggered or accelerated the promulgation of stricter environmental protection policy and the shift from economic development mode to a more sustainable direction, which should be regarded as the turning point of environmental protection in China. To guarantee water security, China is trying to establish a rapid and effective emergency response framework, build up the capability of early accident detection, and develop efficient technologies to remove contaminants from water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China''s total installed electrical power capacity reached 700GW by the end of 2007 and is predicted to surpass 900GW in 2010. The rapid increase in energy demand and increasing global warming have both pushed China to change its current electrical power structure where coal power accounts for nearly 75% of the total electric power generation. China has already become the world''s largest solar water heater producer and user. However, there is still much to be done in the solar thermal power field before its commercialization. Solar thermal power technologies including solar power towers, solar parabolic trough concentrators, solar dish/stirling systems, linear Fresnel reflectors, and solar chimneys have been studied in China since the 1980s. A 10kW dish/stirling project was funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) during 2000–2005 with a 1MW solar power tower and research of trough concentrator metal–glass evacuated tubes supported during 2006–2010. This paper describes a continued solar thermal power development roadmap in China in 5-year intervals between 2006 and 2025. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Because of the needs of sustainable development of the mankind society and natural environment building a renewable energy system is one of the most critical issues that today''s society must address. In the new energy system there is a requirement for a renewable fuel to replace current energy carrier. Hydrogen is an ideal secondary energy. Using solar energy to produce hydrogen in large scale can solve the problems of sustainability, environmental emissions, and energy security and become the focus of the international society in the area of energy science and technology. It has also been set as an important research direction by many international hydrogen programs. The Ministry of Science and Technology of China supported and launched a project of National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) – the Basic Research of Mass Hydrogen Production using Solar Energy in 2003 for R&D in the areas of solar hydrogen production. The current status of solar hydrogen production research is reviewed and some significant results achieved in the project are reported in this paper. The trends of development and the future research directions in the field of solar hydrogen production in China are also briefly discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The development of a combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system in China is presented in this paper. The key scientific problems of a distributed energy system and the integration principles of a CCHP system are also pointed out. Moreover, two corresponding CCHP systems: one with the complementarities of fossil fuels energy and renewable energy, and the other integrated with desalination technology, are investigated. With special attention to thermal energy utilization, the integrating characteristics of these systems are likewise revealed, and the important role that the principle of cascade utilization of physical energy plays in system integration is identified. We have found that the energy-saving ratio of the integrated CCHP systems can be as high as 30%, and as such, the innovative CCHP systems suitable for China''s sustainable development are also recommended. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of the initiatives launched in energy supply and consumption and the challenges encountered in sustainable road transportation development in China. It analyzes the main energy challenges related to road transportation development arising in the context of economic development, rapid urbanization, and improvement in living standards. It also discusses technological- and policy initiatives needed to deal with these challenges, drawing comparisons with foreign experience: promoting the development and dissemination of alternative fuels and clean vehicles such as: LPG, CNG, EV, HEV, FCV, ethanol, methanol, DME, bio-diesel, and CTL, strengthening regulations relating to vehicle fuel economy and emission, improving traffic efficiency and facilitating public transport development, and strengthening management of the soaring motor vehicle population. If the current pattern continues, by the year 2030, the vehicle population in China will be 400million and fuel demand will be 350milliontons. The potential energy saving capacity being 60%, the actual oil demand by 2030 from on-road vehicles might technically be kept at the current level by improving fuel economy, propagating use of HEV and diesel vehicles, improving supply of alternative fuels, and developing public transport. Several uncertainties are identified that could greatly influence the effect of the technical proposals: traffic efficiency, central government''s resolve, and consumers'' choice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we divide the communities in Central China into four groups, namely ecological high-poverty communities, non-ecological high-poverty communities, sustainable communities and non-ecological low-poverty communities. We use 2000 and 2006 data for 498 counties to conduct analysis and comparison between sustainable and unsustainable communities in order to define determinants of the development pathways to sustainable communities. The comparison of the variable means between the groups of ecological high-poverty communities and non-ecological high-poverty communities in 2006 indicates that there is no significant difference in the dimensions related to economy, society and environment, with the exception of average output value per industrial enterprise. The non-ecological low-poverty communities are more likely to have a higher proportion of secondary industry, higher total industrial output value, higher average output value per industrial enterprise and higher intensity of infrastructure construction, compared to the sustainable communities. The factors that determine whether the communities will choose the pathway to sustainable communities are found to be landscape, social conditions of secondary industry and agriculture and economic development level. Hence, the policies that aim at promoting sustainability for the unsustainable communities will have to focus on different strategies and actions for non-ecological high-poverty and non-ecological low-poverty communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper develops a function of energy consumption, population growth, economic growth and urbanization process, and provides fresh empirical evidences for urbanization and energy consumption for China over the period 1978–2008 through the use of ARDL testing approach and factor decomposition model. The results of the bounds test show that there is a stable long run relationship amongst total energy consumption, population, GDP (Gross domestic product) and urbanization level when total energy consumption is the dependent variable in China. The results of the causality test with ECM (error correction model) specification, the short run and long run dynamics of the interested variables are tested, indicating that there exists only a unidirectional Granger causality running from urbanization to total energy consumption both in the long run and in the short run. At present, the contribution share which urbanization drags the energy consumption is smaller than that in the past, and the intensity holds a downward trend. Therefore, together with enhancing energy efficiency, accelerating the urbanization process that can cut reliance on resource and energy dependent industries is a fundamental strategy to solve the sustainable development dilemma between energy consumption and urbanization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: More than 1300 GW new generating capacity will be added in China''s power sector over the period 2005–2030 under the BAU scenario in , even higher than the total installed capacity in the United States to date. China’s industrial and service sectors are expected to maintain rapid development rate over the next decades, driving up the demand for electric power and heat. However, China’s power and industrial process heat generation are heavily relying upon coal-fired thermal power plants resulting in tremendous rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Clean technology such as concentrating solar thermal (CST) needs to play a more important role in power and heat generation in China to accelerate the decarbonisation in the power sector and commercial and industrial process heat generation cost-effectively. This paper attempts to explore the opportunity and challenge of development and deployment of CST in China from both technical and socioeconomic analysis perspectives. It is argued that rapid deployment of CST in China will contribute to enabling sustainable energy supply and environmental securities, as well as improved economic performance in new technology innovation in Asia Pacific area over the next decades. Supportive policy framework should be set up to encourage scaling up CST industry. The success of deployment of CST technology will also allow Chinese power and heat generators to strengthen their competitiveness in the context of intensified global constraint of carbon emissions. Institutional innovation and policy instruments for scaling up this technology and the enabling conditions of successful implementation are also investigated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Rapid economic growth and social development in China have led to serious water pollution problems and water resource shortages, limiting the sustainable and coordinated development that could support both the socio-economy and water environment (WE). However, the spatial heterogeneity and evolutionary characteristics of the coordination between economic development (ED) and WE have not been adequately explored in China's provinces. In this study, we use the spatial global (local) autocorrelation and geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to explore the relationship between ED and WE subsystems and its influencing factors in China's provinces from 2010 to 2019. The main results are as follows, (a) The coupling coordination degree (CCD) between the two subsystems in southern China is higher than that of northern China. Transitional development areas have gradually spread to the middle of China, and there has been an increase trend in the number of moderate and high coordination provinces. (b) The ED-led (WE lags behind ED) type is mainly concentrated in central and eastern China, and the WE-led (ED lags behind WE) type is concentrated in the northeastern and western regions. The areas with synchronous development are relatively small in number and are mainly concentrated in east coastal China. (c) There is an obvious spatial dependence of the coordination between ED and WE from the perspective of global correlation, but this dependence is weakened with increasing geographical distance. The local mode of agglomeration shows a trend towards the evolution of high-high clustering in the eastern region. (d) The GWR analysis indicates that the factors of population density, energy consumption, fixed investment, and research and development (R&D) expenditure significantly influence the coordination between ED and WE. Fixed investment and R&D expenditure are mainly positive driving factors, while the impacts of population density and energy consumption vary among different regions as time evolves. Changes in driving force in a region can extend spatial effects to adjacent regions through the spatial transmission mechanism. Finally, we close the paper by recommending the different policy implications according to the GWR results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the island of Hainan, China, the provincial government has recently committed itself to sustainable development, which requires the integration of social, environmental, and economic factors in decision making. However, while Hainan’s recent Eco-province designation establishes environmental and economic factors as the basis of policy development, it overlooks the equally important social component of sustainability, in which social needs and values are key considerations. This paper presents the results of a study on Hainan in 2002, with government officials, forestry workers, and the Li, an indigenous minority group, and places the province’s situation within the context of both the larger changes underway in China, and the theory and practice of sustainable forestry. The research results show that the government of Hainan has not yet been able to manage both social welfare and environmental and economic issues, demonstrating the difficulty of implementing sustainable forestry and of balancing short- with long-term goals. The inclusion of Li communities in forestry-related decision making could reduce tensions between local communities and forestry management and also improve the sustainability of the government’s forestry practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Three Gorges Reservoir area contains high mountains and deep valleys. The fragile mountainous ecosystems are facing problems such as overpopulation, less available farmland, ecological degradation and poverty. The construction of the Three Gorges Project and a series of ecological restoration activities and social-economic changes have influenced the present and future viability of this area. The measures which have been taken indicate that restoring and renewing the degraded ecosystems and improving the economy is a prerequisite and is possible. Yunyang, a typical county, both in terms of poverty and ecological degradation in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of Chongqing Municipality, was chosen for the case study. This paper discusses the impacts of the Grain-for-Green project, ecological agriculture, urban and infrastructure building and ecological immigrants on the regional sustainable development through detailed field investigation and a questionnaire survey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic growth has produced great benefits for China, but it has also given rise to mounting environmental problems that threaten the country's sustainable development. Managing groundwater resources effectively is crucial because of the integral role of water in daily life, the economy, and the environment. The situation of water scarcity in China is severe, especially in the northern part, where unchecked exploitation of groundwater has resulted in problems such as dropping water tables, declining infiltration, expanding areas of land subsidence, intrusion of seawater, and salinization of the soil. The amount of water available per capita is only one-quarter the world average and is predicted to drop to severe stress conditions by mid-century. In the late 1990s, there were 3.6 million wells in the northern municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin and the provinces of Henan and Shandong, with most of the water used for crop irrigation. In 1997, however, 99,900 wells were abandoned because they had run dry, and 221,900 new ones were drilled. Deep wells drilled around Beijing now have to go as far down as 1,000 meters to reach fresh water, which is dramatically increasing the cost of water supply. Added to this is the occurrence of widespread land subsidence and concerns about water quality. Among the efforts made to respond to the problem, the Tianjin municipal government was able to increase the industrial waterrecycling rate from 40 percent in the 1980s to 74 percent in the 1990s by implementing water conservation measures, and water withdrawals per yuan of industrial production went down by one-third as a result. And in order to protect groundwater resources and control ground subsidence, besides setting quotas, the government set the price of groundwater in 2002 at 1.90 yuan per cubic meter (m³) and 1.30 yuan per m³ in areas with no tap water service, compared to the previous 0.5 yuan per m³. This paper explores some issues of sustainable groundwater management on the basis of a case study of Tianjin. It provides an overview of the severe imbalance between water supply and demand, and then analyzes policies and socioeconomic backgrounds related to groundwater management, such as institutional framework, management policies, population growth and urbanization, as well as the pricing of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In addition to the boost from economic reform. China's rapid economic growth in the past two decades resulted mainly from the disposition of its surplus agricultural labor and the massive inflow of foreign direct investment, both of which led to its rapid export expansion and high overall growth. This paper argues that the extensive use of foreign capital and the supply of cheap labor in China's economy are the main driving forces for rapid economic growth in the post-reform period. Yet, sustainable development requires not just the existing supply of cheap labor, but also the necessary capital investment, which may not be forthcoming forever. It is argued that while the agricultural surplus labor is endogenous, the flow of foreign investment is exogenous because there is no guarantee that foreign direct investment will continue. Moreover, trade which serve as an engine of growth in the past, may become a stumbling block in the future. As China reaches the bottleneck of development, the nation will have to decide how to restructure its sociopolitical system to accommodate its sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yu, S. and Yuizono, T., 2019. Improving innovation capability of marine industries: A perspective of consumption structure change. In: Gong, D.; Zhu, H., and Liu, R. (eds.), Selected Topics in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 94, pp. 846–850. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The development of the marine industry plays a decisive role in future economic development. At present, the marine industry still has problems, such as the over-dominance of the primary industry and the slow development of the secondary industry in China. The purpose of this research uses the extended linear expenditure system to analyze the consumption structure and the relationship with marine industries, then find a path for improving innovation capability to promote the development of marine industries. This paper takes Liaoning Province in China as research object. The results show that this consumption structure has entered a stage of development consumption. In this context, the industrial structure coefficient and the industrial influence coefficient are used to explore the impact of the consumption structure changes on the marine industry and conduct industrial structure testing. The study found that the consumption structure has a greater impact on the marine industrial structure, especially in the secondary industry. Based on this analysis, this research builds a double helix innovative development path driven by technology and market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming has emerged as a serious threat to humans and sustainable development. China is under increasing pressure to curb its carbon emissions as the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide. By combining the Tapio decoupling model and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, this paper explores the relationship between China's carbon emissions and economic growth. Based on panel data of 29 provinces from 2007 to 2016, this paper quantitatively estimates the nexus of carbon emissions and economic development for the whole nation and the decoupling status of individual provinces. There is empirical evidence for the conventional EKC hypothesis, showing that the relationship between carbon emissions and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is an inverted U shape and that the inflection point will not be attained soon. Moreover, following the estimation results of the Tapio decoupling model, there were significant differences between individual provinces in decoupling status. As a result, differentiated and targeted environmental regulations and policies regarding energy consumption and carbon emissions should be reasonably formulated for different provinces and regions based on the corresponding level of economic development and decoupling status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem plays an important role in the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and achieving the coordinated development of economy and environment among cities is important for improving the quality and efficiency of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Using the panel data of 286 prefecture-level cities in China from 2003 to 2016, this study adopts the global reference super efficiency slack-based measure model considering undesirable output to measure China's urban ecological efficiency. In addition, the spatial lag model is used to investigate the impacts of industrial structure advancement and rationalization on ecological efficiency, and the impacts of the heterogeneity of industrial structure and economic development under the distortion of resource dependence on ecological efficiency. The results show that: every one-unit increase in the advancement of industrial structure will lead to a 0.0741 unit increase in ecological efficiency, but the high dependence on natural resources will inhibit the promoting effect of industrial structure advancement on ecological efficiency, and such an inhibiting effect will weaken with the improvement of economic development level; moreover, the influence coefficient of industrial structure rationalization on ecological efficiency is not significant, nor is it affected by the natural resource dependence and the level of economic development. This paper hereby proposes that in the process of promoting green entrepreneurial activity at present, the Chinese government should give full play to the role of industrial structure advancement on improving ecological efficiency, actively break through the constraints restricting the impact of industrial structure rationalization, reduce excessive dependence on resource industries, improve the level of regional economic development, and strive to transform resource-intensive industries to technology-intensive industries to support the sustainable development of a green entrepreneurship ecosystem. • Industrial structure (IS) advancement significantly affects ecological efficiency. • No correlation exists between IS rationalization and ecological efficiency. • Higher dependence on natural resources distorts IS advancement. • Heterogeneity exists in the impact of IS rationalization on ecological efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy consumption is of great significance to the sustainable development of the economy. Due to the spatial heterogeneity of low-carbon growth in regional economies, the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth is complicated. However, a few researches have been published about spatial spillover effects and non-linearity of energy consumption and financial development on regional economic growth in China. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2017, this paper analyzes the spatial spillover effects and threshold effects of energy consumption and financial development on regional economic growth by using spatial and nonlinear econometric methods. The main conclusions are as follows. Spatial econometric methods show that financial development and energy consumption are two factors of production input to promote China's economic growth. Meanwhile, energy consumption and financial development have spillover effects on regional economic growth. Additionally, the nonlinear econometric method finds that with increasing financial development, the impact of energy consumption on economic growth is segmented. Therefore, relevant policies should be implemented to enhance the role of finance in energy consumption to promote low-carbon growth of China's economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liu, P., 2020. Marine ecological construction and economic coordination in Beibu Gulf City Cluster of China. In: Wan, Z. (ed.), Coordinated Sustainable Development in Coastal Areas: Environment and Economy. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 109, pp. 19–26. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. This paper selects eight cities to analyze the coordinated relationship between economic development and the marine environment in Beibu Gulf through the coupling analysis method, evaluates the coordinated development level of Beibu Gulf region, and proposes corresponding policies and paths for the coordinated development of marine economy and marine environment in this region. It is found that the score coefficient of Nanning's coupling coordination degree is the highest, which means its coordination degree between the ecological environment and economy is the best among 8 cities. Industrial restructuring, government management and awareness raising are important sustainable development paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An, H.F. and Li, J., 2020. Financial support for marine economic development and industrial structure optimization. In: Al-Tarawneh, O. and Megahed, A. (eds.), Recent Developments of Port, Marine, and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 110, pp. 171–174. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The marine industry is an important driving force for the development of the country. The development and structural optimization of the marine industry requires a large amount of financial support. Good financial support has become increasingly prominent in the development of the marine industry and economy. Based on the financial support theory, this paper attempts to explore the financial support for China's marine economic development and industrial structure optimization. Besides, it proposes related measures of financial support to promote the development of marine economy and optimization of industrial structure by combing with the current development of marine economy. The research results show that the financial support plays an important role in the optimization, innovation and agglomeration of marine industry and the financial support for the marine economy is multi-faceted, multi-layered, and fully covered; to improve the competitiveness of the marine industry, it requires financial support for the development of emerging industries; the proportion of financial support in coastal areas in the country has declined, while the marine secondary and tertiary industries have shown a growth momentum, but there still exists the problem of irrationality in the industrial structures. The research findings provide a theoretical basis for the efficient and sustainable development of the marine economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Li, M., 2020. The innovation of management policy and system of marine economy. In: Al-Tarawneh, O. and Megahed, A. (eds.), Recent Developments of Port, Marine, and Ocean Engineering. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 110, pp. 64–66. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The ocean is an important strategic space for China to achieve sustainable development. Resource and environment constraints seriously affect the sustainable development of the marine industry. Institutional innovation is an important countermeasure for sustainable development. It is the institutional innovation of the marine economic management system to properly authorize different agents in the marine economic management. The marine ecosystem has the nature of public products. If it is damaged, it needs to establish the marine economic ecological compensation mechanism, which is the institutional innovation to realize the development of the marine economy. This paper reviews the current situation of marine economic development in the marine economic experimental area, and summarizes the research ideas of policy and institutional mechanism innovation to ensure the development of marine economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhao, Y.C. and Cao, S.Y., 2020. Research on forecast of coordinated development of economy and environment in coastal economic belt based on GM model. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 338-344. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With the continuous development of the coastal economic belt, it has become the main area of China's economic development and shouldering the important mission of China's economic development and social construction. This paper mainly analyzes the economic development and environmental development of coastal areas, constructs an evaluation model for the coordinated development of coastal economic belt and environment, and analyzes the economic development and environmental coordination of six cities under the jurisdiction of coastal economic belt. The GM model is used to predict the development of the coastal urban economic belt, and the annual index matrix is obtained. The economic and environmental development of the coastal economic belt and the six cities involved are calculated through the coordination model, and the relative evaluation is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liu, M.L., 2020. Research on port infrastructure, port efficiency and urban trade development. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 220-222. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With the progress of science and technology and the continuous development of productivity, economic globalization and regional economic grouping have become irreversible trends. Interactive development of port infrastructure and port city economy is an important guarantee for sustainable and rapid development of regional economy. The improvement of port infrastructure such as port cargo throughput, number of berths and terminal length can promote trade development. Port efficiency is specific in today's global trade. If we think that port efficiency is not specific in global trade, or if we do not have a far-sighted prediction of global trade, we cannot see the long term after all. With the development of port economy, the competition of port logistics has changed from cost difference to service difference. This paper explores the relationship between foreign trade and the level of port infrastructure and port efficiency in China's coastal cities, trying to find out the factors that have been ignored by all sectors in the past but have an important role in the development of trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhao, Y.C. and Cao, S.Y., 2020. Research on forecast of coordinated development of economy and environment in coastal economic belt based on GM model. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 338-344. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With the continuous development of the coastal economic belt, it has become the main area of China's economic development and shouldering the important mission of China's economic development and social construction. This paper mainly analyzes the economic development and environmental development of coastal areas, constructs an evaluation model for the coordinated development of coastal economic belt and environment, and analyzes the economic development and environmental coordination of six cities under the jurisdiction of coastal economic belt. The GM model is used to predict the development of the coastal urban economic belt, and the annual index matrix is obtained. The economic and environmental development of the coastal economic belt and the six cities involved are calculated through the coordination model, and the relative evaluation is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liu, M.L., 2020. Research on port infrastructure, port efficiency and urban trade development. In: Bai, X. and Zhou, H. (eds.), Advances in Water Resources, Environmental Protection, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 115, pp. 220-222. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. With the progress of science and technology and the continuous development of productivity, economic globalization and regional economic grouping have become irreversible trends. Interactive development of port infrastructure and port city economy is an important guarantee for sustainable and rapid development of regional economy. The improvement of port infrastructure such as port cargo throughput, number of berths and terminal length can promote trade development. Port efficiency is specific in today's global trade. If we think that port efficiency is not specific in global trade, or if we do not have a far-sighted prediction of global trade, we cannot see the long term after all. With the development of port economy, the competition of port logistics has changed from cost difference to service difference. This paper explores the relationship between foreign trade and the level of port infrastructure and port efficiency in China's coastal cities, trying to find out the factors that have been ignored by all sectors in the past but have an important role in the development of trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Performance of airports relates to underlying patterns of economic development, airport size and aircraft used. • Airports have a high reduction potential of CO 2 emission, without a loss of economic performance. • Airport size, location, and linkage to the local economy are closely related to aircraft CO 2 emissions. • Different stakeholders have different impacts on adding to sustainable development. This paper analyzes aircraft CO 2 emissions (in both quantity and intensity per passenger) during landing and take-off cycles at nine different airports in Jiangsu province (China) over a ten-year time span (2007–2016). Our database is unique and very detailed in that we combine flight schedules, with aircraft type (engines) used, and landing-and-take-off cycles. We are particularly interested in how the spatial characteristics impact emission levels. To this end we estimate a CO 2 emission model taking the airport characteristics into account, and apply a spatial classification and autocorrelation model to distinguish between different types of airports and systems. Our analysis shows that: (1) there are strong spatial distribution differences between airports due to the patterns of economic development, airport size and aircraft used; (2) most airports have a high reduction potential of CO 2 emission, without a loss of economic performance; (3) significant spatial aggregation effects exist and are persistent during most observational years, which indicates a strong Matthew effect of CO 2 emission within Jiangsu province; and (4) airport size, linkage to the local economy, and airport location are closely related to aircraft CO 2 emissions. We also provide a number of recommendations to improve airport CO 2 emissions and add to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco-efficiency can effectively measure the relationship between economy, resources, environment, and development. Understanding eco-efficiency is of great practical significance for decision makers tasked with addressing and delivering sustainable socioeconomic development. Based on an "undesirable output Slacks-Based Measure models," this study evaluated the eco-efficiency of 285 Chinese cities during the period 2004–2014, analyzing spatiotemporal dynamics and influencing factors using a Spatial Autocorrelation Panel Data Model. The main results are as follows: From the spatial perspective, eco-efficiency in Chinese cities generally evidenced an M-shaped trend (increasing-decreasing-increasing-decreasing), and imbalanced spatiotemporal dynamics. Furthermore, the urban eco-efficiency generally presented a distinct convergence of HH cluster and LL cluster clubs, with the latter being the most dominant. From the regional point of view, there existed a decreasing trend in the efficiencies of cities, from eastern China to central and western China. In addition, we identified significant differences in the eco-efficiency of different cities in China, and the coefficient of variation of eco-efficiency showed a general decrease. The results of our estimation of the factors affecting urban eco-efficiency showed that the economic development level, the industrial structure, import and export trade, and the information level all had significant positive influence, and local government expenditure, social retail sales of consumer goods, and infrastructure all had a negative effect on urban eco-efficiency. This paper puts forward numbers of suggestions for ways to promote social, ecological, and economic development in Chinese cities, based on our findings. • China's city-level eco-efficiency were estimated using undesirable output SBM model. • Eco-efficiency in China presents significant spatial and temporal distribution characteristics. • Effects of socioeconomic development were explored using spatial autocorrelation panel data model. • Economic development, industrial structure, import and export trade had significant positive impact. • Local government expenditure, social retail sales of consumer goods, and infrastructure had a negative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using panel data from 2003 to 2016, this paper estimates the green development efficiency of 34 cities in Northeast China based on the SBM-DEA model and determines whether industrial agglomeration promotes or impedes green development efficiency. The results show the following: (1) The average green development efficiency of Northeast China exhibits a fluctuant upward trend in 2003–2016, and there are significant spatial differences. (2) During the revitalization period, industrial agglomeration hinders green development efficiency. A U-shaped relationship exists between industrial agglomeration and green development. (3) Economic development level and foreign direct investment are positively related to green development efficiency, while industrial structure, energy consumption structure and environmental regulation are negatively related. Economic development level has the greatest positive influence and environmental regulation the strongest negative influence on green development. Several corresponding policy implications are proposed for promoting green development and revitalization. • The average green development efficiency of Northeast China exhibits a fluctuant upward trend. • Significant spatial differences exist in the green development efficiency in Northeast China. • A U-shaped relationship exists between industrial agglomeration and green development. • Economic development has the greatest positive effect on the green development. • Environmental regulation has the strongest negative influence on green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The changes of teachers' mental health in China were examined by using a cross-temporal meta-analysis. • Work overload made teachers' mental health deteriorated along with the rapid economic growth. • Overemphasis on competitions may heighten hostility among teachers and impairs their mental health. • Excessively centralized control in teaching and low socioeconomic status may relate to psychosocial risks in teachers. • It is crucial to take proactive steps to improve teachers' mental health on a global scale. Education is one of the main pillars of sustainable development in a knowledge-based economy. Teachers' mental health is an essential factor affecting the quality of education. Using a cross-temporal meta-analysis, this paper reviewed 116 studies investigating the mental health status of Chinese teachers between 1998 and 2013. Results showed that there was a similar trend in mental health of different types of teachers and their mental health was generally deteriorating, especially in dimensions of hostility and psychoticism. This disconcerting finding may reflect a high-risk occupational stress on teachers. Teachers with poor mental health status may suffer from occupational stress, such as frequently changing regulatory framework, too many non-teaching tasks, overemphasis on competitions, excessively centralized control in teaching and low socioeconomic status. It is crucial to pay attention to teachers′ occupational stress and take effective measures to improve their mental health on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September 2015, provided a global development agenda for all countries to use as a blueprint for progress on economic, social, and environmental sustainability. There are 17 Goals, 169 Targets and 230+ Indicators in SDGs, which specifically depends on multi-source data for monitoring and reporting on progress towards the associated targets and indicators. The existing evaluation methods are mainly based on statistic and survey data with lower spatiotemporal resolution, longer evaluation cycle, and higher cost. To monitor indicators of the SDGs quickly and accurately, it required us to explore new data sources and technology. In this paper, firstly, we reviewed comprehensively all indicators information (concepts and definitions, computation method, and data sources) in three Goals (SDG6, SDG11, and SDG15). Then, we analyzed the feasibility of monitoring accurately and quickly the above indicators on basis of available multi-source data (statistics, remote sensing, ground-based observations and internet data). Finally, a series of integration methods are developed to monitor several specific indicators with multi-source data. The methodology of this study provided experience for monitoring SDGs indicators in developing countries and filled the gap for the assessment of SDGs indicators at fine scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The goal of this paper is to propose solutions (preventive measures) to systemic environmental problems. The eco-centric policy for sustainable development is proposed instead of the currently dominant economic growth paradigm to prevent systemic environmental problems worldwide. The principal solution for Sustainable Development lies in mental transformation towards an eco-centric mindset that prioritizes socio-ecological objectives in human well-being. A Modernized Educational Policy that focuses on eco-centric human development from childhood throughout the lifespan is proposed in order to shape the socio-ecological human mentality and behavior. This educational policy is complemented by appropriate institutional, economic and technological policy tools. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]