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Highlights • Forest resource Metabolism Network model isdeveloped for ecological and economic analysis. • Exploitation index is developed to reveal the weaker sectors in the ecological relations. • A case study of Guangdong province, China isconducted to illustrate the potential benefits. • Scientific Basis are provided to allocate forestresources and stabilize industrial structure. Abstract Integrating forest resources into the socio-economic system correctly and reasonably is of vital importance to tackle the increasingly scarce forest resources. In this paper, forest resource input-output model and forest resource metabolism network model are established to provide new insights into the relationships among the systems, industries and sectors related to forest resources. A promising indicator named exploitation index is developed to reveal the weaker sectors in the ecological relations, which will further help to provide better corrective actions and integrated strategic measures. Guangdong is taken as an example to verify the availability of the model and solve the problem. The results show that the primary manufacturing consumes more direct timber, while advanced manufacturing and the service sector utilize timber indirectly. In addition, Guangdong forest metabolism system shows a negative correlation and the whole network does not achieve the mutualism state, leading to competition relationships between pairwise sectors that should not appear, such as Forestry sector and Papermaking and Paper Products sector. These results provide the corresponding reference for helping the decision makers to allocate forest resources and coordinate ecological and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of high-quality development, the e-commerce industry needs to seek more comprehensive development, and the logistics industry should not only maintain higher efficiency, but also meet the requirements of green and low-carbon transportation. This study aims to investigate the link between the logistic density and the proportion of e-commerce transaction scale. There are few studies on how logistics density affects the development of e-commerce quantitatively. In order to solve this gap, this study establishes an impact model of high-quality growth of e-commerce, and based on Solow production model, constructs a calculation method of logistics density, and analyzes the impact mechanism of logistics density on the scale ratio of e-commerce transactions. Using the bidirectional fixed effect model, this paper makes an empirical analysis of the panel data of 31 provinces consisting of 248 observations and autonomous regions in China from 2014 to 2020. The results show that logistic density has a positive and significant impact on the growth of e-commerce, thus promoting the optimization of economic structure. The acceleration of logistics density decreases the expansion of the ecommerce. Finally, there are obvious regional differences between the development of e-commerce and logistics infrastructure in China. Finally, based on the empirical result, this paper puts forward recommendations for government and companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The correlation between the economic development and the HSR construction is analyzed. • Uses a GWR model to examine the implications of HSR to the economic developments of Chinese cities. • The Cities obtaining HSR benefits are identified. Based on the situation of high-speed railway (HSR) construction in the past decade in China, as well as China's latest national railway network planning proposal, this paper studies the correlation between the economic development and the opportunity of obtaining HSR infrastructure investment for Chinese cities in different periods over time span 2007–2030. The "winners" and "losers" of obtaining HSR infrastructure investments are determined and the reason is explained by a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. According to the findings, the spatiotemporal development strategy of China's HSR is revealed. Further, the implications of the HSR for the economic development of Chinese cities are presented. It hopes that the results presented in this paper could facilitate Chinese cities with the appropriate urban developing policies for both the economy promotion and HSR infrastructure construction; moreover, the rapid development of China's economy and HSR can bring a good example to other countries in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There exists a nonlinear, hump-shaped pattern between prefecture-level trade openness and manufacture labor share in China. • Internal geography is critical in shaping patterns of trade-induced structural change. • Internal reallocations of resources across regions and sectors within one country are central to the economic development. • Place-based policies based on regional stage of structural transformation are needed. Notable heterogeneity regarding international trade openness and level of development across different regions with significant inter-provincial migration has been a prominent feature in contemporary China. This paper studies the particular role of international trade in the structural transformation across each region in China. Combining several data, we document that there exhibits a non-monotone, hump-shaped relationship between international trade freeness and prefecture-level manufacture labor share in China. We rationalize this stylized fact in a spatial equilibrium model with multi-region, multi-sector, costly trade and endogenous allocation of labor, capital, and land. The analysis highlights the role of internal geography in shaping patterns of trade-induced structural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2017, the Chinese government released the first special plan for the development of geothermal energy, named “ The 13th five-year plan for geothermal energy development and utilization (2016–2020) ”, which promotes the development of geothermal energy to the national energy strategic level. As a stable and low-carbon renewable energy, it is significant to develop geothermal energy to relieve air pollution and supply continuous base load power. This paper first introduces the resource endowments of geothermal energy in China, the current status and development targets of geothermal energy use, as well as series of related policies on China's geothermal energy. Then the economic, environmental and social benefits of geothermal energy development are analyzed respectively. Next, based on the PESTEL framework, this paper analyzes the unfavorable factors in the development of geothermal energy in China. Fourth, based on the PESTEL analysis results, we give some countermeasures and solutions for the future development of China's geothermal energy from two aspects of technology and policy. Finally, based on the above analysis, the corresponding conclusions and policy recommendations are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Agriculture grew much faster in output and labour productivity in China than in Australia, Canada, India, Japan and the United States. • The unprecedented growth in China was mainly driven by multifactor productivity improvements. • Agriculture has been playing a diminishing role in the Chinese economy as in all the developed countries. • The diminishing importance is an outcome of market forces in balancing various demands and supplies for goods and services as an economy advances and income rises. Abstract This paper studies the evolution of the agricultural sector in the Chinese economy, with a comparison to a number of selected economies that are at different stages of economic development. It shows that China’s unprecedented agricultural growth comparing to other emerging and developed countries was mainly driven by its world-beating productivity improvement, resulting from a series of fundamental reforms that have been undertaken in the Chinese agricultural sector since 1978. Despite the remarkable achievement, however, agriculture is playing a diminishing role in the growing Chinese economy, including declining agricultural employment. The paper illustrates that, as in other developed countries, the decline trend in China is an outcome of market forces in balancing various demands and supplies for goods and services as income rises. The research results will have important implications for further policy designs that seek to maintain a healthy agricultural growth in China in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By positioning in the discourse that economic output is always coupled with natural resource depletion, pollution, and carbon emission, decoupling analysis is widely adopted to evaluate how “quality” economic growth can lead to fewer such downsides so as to encourage sustainable development. This paper aims at examining the decoupling relationship between economic output and carbon emission by focusing on China's construction industry, which is a pillar industry for national economic growth, meanwhile contributes a huge amount of carbon emission. The method of Tapio decoupling model is used to examine the decoupling relationships at both national and provincial levels from 2005 to 2015. It continues to identify the driving force leading to a certain decoupling state by adopting the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI). Results show that: (1) there existed an expansive decoupling relationship between economic growth and construction carbon emission in most provinces of China during 2005–2015; (2) Shanghai presented the best decoupling performance, while in contrast, other provinces such as Guizhou and Fujian displayed expansive negative decoupling state; and (3) “Economic output” played the most significant role in inhibiting the decoupling at both national and provincial levels, while “Indirect carbon intensity” was the main driver for promoting the national decoupling. Although the paper refers to the specific construction of China, the decoupling analysis approach can be extended to other countries as well as to other pollutants such as land pollution, waste water and haze. The understanding of driving forces for the decoupling state in China's construction industry provides international policy-makers with valuable reference for formulating effective measures to balance the dilemma between economic output and carbon emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late twentieth century, rural areas in China have experienced a rapid and far-reaching transformation of social and economic structures. Residential land in rural areas, as a type of land where rural residents live and engage in producing, is under significant pressure and face significant change as a consequence. How has rural residential land changed over time, and why it differs across peri-urban interface? This paper presents a methodology for confronting this issue. By applying an integrated framework, we explored the rural residential land transition patterns from the internal structure, i.e., rural residential land-use structural transition (RLST) and identified the driving forces from the perspective of urbanization and industrialization. Our findings show that there are three RLST patterns in China, i.e., non-agriculture, rurality and decay. During the period, the peri-urban area – Pinggu has shown the coexistence of non-agriculture and decay patterns. In particular, RLST patterns varied at different levels. Spatially, along with getting closer to urban areas came increasing complexity of RLST patterns, which formed the structure of circle layer. The various RLST patterns are closely linked to interaction and reorganization between external and internal factors, including basic condition, industrialization, urbanization and policies. Among of them, urbanization changed the internal structure of rural residential land through the population flow; while industrialization influenced the RLST through shaping the industrial structure and level of economic development. Other outstanding issues discussed in this paper relate to the implication for rural spatial restructuring and benign rural residential land transition, which can be achieved through industrial structure reshaping, population relocation and cultural regression. The findings of this study can help us better understand the process of rural residential land transition and thus have significance for the land use multifunctionality and restructuring policies in rural China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the long-term effects of historical institutions on modern economic development. The Ming Great Wall, built to prevent incursions from northern barbarian nomads, divided China, which encouraged institutionalized self-governance, from the patron-client model of the nomads who lacked a system of local government or a fiscal and legal system. By exploring this cutoff and using a geographical regression discontinuity design (GRDD) framework, we document that present-day economic development, as measured by nighttime light intensity, exhibits a discontinuity at the Great Wall. After considering other potential explanatory factors, we suggest that the differences in the administration established during the Ming dynasty might explain this discontinuity. The immediate impacts on the economic outcomes during the succeeding dynasty and the persistent differences in institutional development proxies, which serve as deep determinants of economic development, represent supplements to our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper pursues an inquiry into the relationship between ethnicity and development in the largest authoritarian country in the contemporary world, the People’s Republic of China. It engages the theoretical literature on ethnic diversity and development in general, but also pays special attention to political economy logics unique to authoritarian systems. Focusing on the western part of China over a decade since the launch of China’s Western Development Program ( xibu da kaifa ) in 2000, this paper utilizes the data from two censuses (2000 and 2010) together with nighttime streetlight imagery data to analyze the overall relationship between ethnicity and development provision. It also analyzes changes in such a relationship during this period. The paper finds that ethnic minority concentration negatively correlates with economic development in both the years 2000 and 2010 across the western provinces. It also finds that counties in non-autonomous provinces, which are historically more integrated with the rest of China than autonomous provinces, have a positive and systematic correlation between changes in ethnic minority concentration and changes in development during the 10-year period. The counties in autonomous provinces, on the other hand, show the opposite trend. Using three case studies of Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang, the paper concludes that although there is in general a tendency for ethnic minority concentrated areas to be less developed, ultimately which groups prosper more or less depends upon specific economic development and which political control logics the Chinese state implements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Megaregion has emerged as a new dimension of global urbanization. A megaregion approach based on polycentric strategy is deemed to enhance regional economic competitiveness. Numerous studies have highlighted the economic benefits, celebrated the spill-over effects, and outlined the creative potentials of contemporary megaregion policies in different nations worldwide. However, further policy instruments require the knowledge about the achievement and failure of megaregion policies that seek for spatial, economic, social, and environmental efficiency and sustainability. This paper introduces China’s megaregion policy and proposes an analytical framework for performance evaluation from four principle domains (rational urban growth, economic development, social equity, environmental protection) at three levels (internal collaboration, integral development, and overall development). Using a case of the Megaregion around Hangzhou Bay (MAHB), we find very limited success of China’s megaregion policy. In particular, the megaregion policy only accomplishes the economic goal, and fails to achieve the goals of rational urban growth, environmental protection, and social equity. A series of mechanism based regressions are established and show that the implementation duration of megaregion policy: (1) associates positively with the economic growth; (2) relates negatively to social equity and urban rational growth; and (3) has no significant relationship with improved environmental quality. Institutional fragmentation, no unified spatial planning, and inadequate legislation at megaregional level are the underlying causes of the expected performances within the policy context of governance itself. We finally propose some possible solutions and discuss the implications for spatial polycentric governance. The demonstrated methodological framework can be applicable to other megaregions around the world. This paper is thus believed to provide some new insights for land use policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes the slacks-based measure (SBM) undesirable model to analyze the environmental regulation efficiency (ERE) from 2003 to 2013, and uses the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Malmquist productivity index to divide the environmental regulation total factor productivity (ERTFP) into a technical progress index, pure technical efficiency index and a scale efficiency index from the perspective of scale change. The results show that the ERE presents “polarized” effect and the ERTFP has an obvious “agglomeration” effect in China. There is also a very significant “match-up” effect between the ERE and economic development level. In addition, the paper also finds that the technical progress index has the largest contribution to ERTFP, followed by pure technical efficiency index and then the scale efficiency index. The preceding results can provide scientific suggestions for regional environmental departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-based cities play a crucial role in China's economic development. However, they are faced with the challenge of urban shrinkage due to the slowdown of economic growth in China, single industrial structure and the ‘boom and bust’ industrial cycle. To reverse the expected decline of these cities in the future, the Chinese Government has implemented active policies at national, provincial and municipal levels. This paper reviews the current planning policies and practices in resource-based cities in China from the macro perspective, and analyses how the Government engages with the pressing economic problems faced by resource-based cities, in particular, focussing on economic restructuring. To further analyse the policies from Central Government and the diversification of practices in local contexts, this paper presents two case studies, a petroleum mining city (Daqing City) and a coal mining city (Pingxiang City). Through discussion and an evaluation of general and place-based policies and practices for resource-based cities, this paper aims to enhance the understanding of shrinking cities in China and shed light on the policy-making of economic development for other resource-based cities in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of environmental degradation, sustainable development has become a common goal across the globe. Making a scientifically based investment scheme is of great significance to promote the sustainable development of China's economy. However, there is scarce research related to such an investment scheme of sustainable development. This paper proposes a new inverse data envelopment analysis method with undesirable outputs to make several scientifically based investment schemes from different perspectives, namely, the natural, regulation, and optimal perspectives. By this method, decision makers can scientifically forecast the specific amount of investment based on their actual sustainable development objectives, which is conducive for reducing the blindness of investment in the future. In addition, a new ideal perspective is defined to guide a definite direction for improving the level of sustainable development. Combined with the gray forecasting model GM(1,1), the methods proposed by this paper were then applied to analyze the investment problem for China's sustainable development during the 2015–2024 period. The results show that: the unbalanced distribution of labor investment and the excessive investment in capital and energy are serious barriers to China's sustainable development in the short term; and in the long term, the demand for investment in labor and capital will continue to increase along with a lower demand for energy investment, and that appropriately strengthening environmental regulations will not affect the overall demand for investment. Meanwhile, improvement directions for improving China's sustainable development are discussed, and the results show that most of developing and undeveloped regions in China have great potential for improvement. Finally, some suggestions are proposed in order to create better conditions for China's sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of globalization, China has been widely regarded as the most successful country in the world in utilizing inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for economic development. The mainstream of the literature has produced a wide range of studies that are largely within the theoretical framework of neoclassical economics, and they tend to conclude that FDI has contributed significantly to Chinese economic development—through capital formation, export expansion, technology transfer, and the transformation of the economic structures and institutions. The objective of this paper is to assess the role of FDI in Chinese economic development with reference to the broader theoretical literature on FDI and late development, which encompasses structuralism and radical political economy along with neoclassical economics. From the perspectives of the broader literature, the analyses of the paper find that FDI in China has indeed promoted economic development in one respect (improving allocative efficiency), but has also had unfavourable effect in another respect (worsening productive efficiency), resulting in an overall impact that tends to be on the negative side. The mainstream story of China is thus judged to be partial, and the lessons to be drawn from the experience are arguably far more complex than have been hitherto perceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of transport infrastructure is characterized by intensive capital input, intensive energy consumption, and pollution emissions. Against the background of the continuous intensification of resource and energy constraints in China. Therefore, the analysis of China’s regional transport efficiency and its determinants has practical significance. This paper attempts to evaluate regional total factor transport efficiency in China based on the Super-SBM DEA model considering undesirable output and explores the influence factors of transport efficiency in China during the period 1995–2012. The empirical results indicate that during the research period, most provinces in China are not performing efficiently in transport systems. Additionally, the overall average level of China’s total factor transport efficiency is low and the spatial pattern of the total factor transport efficiency demonstrates a declining trend from eastern to western China, which coincides with the spatial pattern of economic development in China. The analysis of the influence factors by the regression model shows that economic development and government influence can decrease overall transport efficiency, while industrial structure, population density, and geographical position can influence transport efficiency. The influence of these factors varies by region. Finally, this paper provides policy recommendations to improve transport efficiency in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the economic reform in 1978, the Chinese economy has grown at a remarkable pace in the past few decades. Among a plethora of factors contributing to the growth of China, this paper pays a particular attention to the logistics infrastructure that is widely cited as a major catalyst for economic development of a country. The causal relationship between the logistics infrastructure and the economic development in China for the period 2000–2017 is examined under the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) frameworks. This study documents the long-run equilibrium between the logistics infrastructure and the economic development in China and causality, in general, running from the former to the latter. Especially, it is also found that the infrastructure related to maritime transport plays a key role in promoting the Chinese economy and international trade. • Causality between logistics infrastructure and economic development in China is investigated. • In general, causality runs from logistics variables to economic indicators. • Importance of maritime transport to economic growth of a country is found. • Importance of integrated operation of different logistics functions is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper describes a project-based governance approach for public goods provision in the domain of land administration, which is a new decentralized structure within the traditional centralized system in China. Project-based governance represents a new relationship between the central and local governments that aims to cooperatively provide land-related services for public interest projects. The top–down project allocation from the central government and the bottom–up project packaging by local governments together successfully improve the incentives of the local governments and, therefore, achieve the central government’s aim of providing public goods and fostering economic development. We use Fujian Province of China as an example to show the operational process of the project-based governance approach, and we discuss in detail the features and potential effects of the new governance system. The paper may provide new evidence for governance innovation regarding decentralization in a traditionally centralized system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In company with rapid economic growth, Chinese consumers have seen a remarkable nutrition improvement and a dramatic dietary change. This article investigates the driving forces behind these changes with use of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data. This paper first proposes 10 different indices to measure nutrition improvement and dietary change from different perspectives, and then adopts semiparametric panel data models to capture the complicated nonlinear relationship between these nutrition indices and income growth, while controlling for other variables parametrically. This enables us to directly predict the nutrition improvement and dietary change at different income levels from different aspects. This paper particularly finds that nutrition improvement and dietary change will continue in China but will slow down in the future with further income growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the state of forest resource utilization in China and correctly evaluating the role and function of forest resources in national economic development are essential for realizing balanced development of forests, the environment, and the economy. This is especially true given the present situation of increasingly scarce forest resources. Using data from Chinese forest industry statistical yearbooks, forestry development reports, and other documents, this paper examines the current state of forest resource utilization in China from the angle of combining quantities and values based on input–output tables. We show that demand for and input use of forest resources varies greatly across industrial sectors; the paper products and furniture manufacturing industries have the greatest direct consumption coefficient for timber use. When considering direct and indirect demand, it is clear that forest resources restrict different industrial sectors in diverse ways. These results provide an important set of reference values regarding the utilization of forest resources and coordinated industrial development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Guangdong Provincial government in China envisages co-operation between, and development of, the three cities of Shantou, Chaozhou, and Jieyang. To these ends, it has sought to mobilise the region's untapped resources through policies encouraging these cities' integration and growth. However, the policy and rhetoric of inter-city integration has not yielded concordant material outcomes. Instead, the three separate municipal governments have engaged with the policy agenda not in pursuit of co-operation and integration, but rather to take advantage of otherwise unavailable opportunities to boost their individual economic competitiveness. This paper examines the disjuncture between the rhetoric of inter-city co-operation and the material reality of competition in the Shantou-Chaozhou-Jieyang city-region. The paper takes significance first, in its critical exploration of the grounded and political processes underpinning the formation and implementation of the city-regional integration policies proliferating in China recently. The paper's second point of significance lies in its contribution to broader literature on city-regionalism and state rescaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building resource-conserving and environmental-friendly society (referred to as “two-oriented society”, TOS) is an important way proposed by the Chinese government to achieve sustainable development. In this paper, a pilot city of constructing TOS in China-Wuhan is taken as a case to evaluate the performance of TOS from 2005 to 2012. Treating the indicators of TOS as multi-dimensional vectors, this paper proposes a methodological framework by integrating the methods of vector angle and Euclidean distance to measure the angle and distance between the vector of annual status of TOS and the vector of planning target of TOS. Based on this, the paper employs coordination (the angle between the two vectors) and effectiveness (the distance between the two vectors) to describe the performance of TOS and its subsystems, including economic development (ED), social and people's well-being (SW), resource consumption (RC), resource recycling (RR), environmental quality (EQ) and pollution control (PC). Moreover, grey relational analysis approach is used to analyse the core factors influencing TOS construction. Results reveal that the performance of TOS in Wuhan is continually improved in the study period while the performance of its subsystems shows several differences: (1) both coordination and effectiveness of TOS, ED and SW keep on improving, while those of EQ fluctuate; (2) the effectiveness of both RR and PC shows a downward trend while the coordination of them fluctuates; (3) the actual value of RC indicators reaches the planning targets. Based on the analysis of determinants, we suggest that strengthening technological ability and adding investment are extremely important to improve the performance of RC and PC. For the sake of improving RR, it is critical to provide more government public expenditure and encourage financial institutions to provide more loans to stimulate and support the businesses. Moreover, increasing the amount of R&D funding and maintaining steady external economic environment are proved to be effective to improve all subsystems of TOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The landscapes and infrastructures of cities have long been viewed as products of human–nature interaction. This paper sheds new light on how a critical constituent of urban landscape and infrastructure, urban public green spaces, has been produced in China's ongoing profound urbanization process. Over the past decade, China's urbanization has been characterized by a land-based pattern centered on the commercialization and capitalization of urban land induced by the decentralization of state power. The non-budgetary revenues generated from urban land leasing hold the promise to empower local governments' fiscal capacity and flexibility in financing various urban infrastructures aiming to enhance local amenities and attract external investment. This paper investigates the impact of land-based urbanization on the provision of urban public green spaces, an integrated part of urban public infrastructure, using panel data across 285 Chinese prefecture cities from 2002 to 2009. The results reveal a negative relationship between the reliance on land finance and the amount of urban public green spaces, indicating that local governments' pursuit of maximizing land lease revenue will not be able to finance more public green spaces, and may even cause the loss of public green spaces. The regional variations amongst the eastern-coastal, central, and western cities confirm that an initially positive relationship between land finance and the provision of urban public green spaces at the early stage of development would reverse to a negative relationship with the increasing pace of urbanization and economic development, which may lead to a social inequity pertaining to public accessibility to urban green spaces. A balance amongst economic growth, environmental concerns, and social equity is very much needed in the quest for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring multi-goal sustainable development paths is a global concern. To date, little is known about the characteristics of and logic behind the evolution of China's land use policies (LUPs), especially when they are linked to China's governance philosophy of an ecological civilization (EC). An EC is a unique development concept in China that emphasizes human-nature coexistence alongside economic progress. Therefore, we examine the evolutionary process of China's LUPs in the context of an EC. We identify meaningful shifts that have occurred in those policies, as well as reveal the logic behind the changes. Based on staged text mining of 220 national LUPs initiated in China between 1986 and 2021, by disclosing the changes in the number, foci, goals, concepts, measures, and reform methods of LUPs, this paper provides an overview and four-dimensional deconstruction of the country's LUP evolution in the context of an EC. Three major findings emerge from text mining. First, China's LUP has evolved through three stages, with modifications in the number, dominant foci, and themes of the policies across each stage. Second, comprehensive and significant alterations have transpired in the orientation, goals, concepts, measures, and reform approaches of the policies. Third, the transformation in LUP has transpired centering on four dimensions: improving economic efficiency; balancing production, living, and ecology; promoting social equity; and conserving ecology. These four aspects accord with four governance concepts of an EC—efficient development, symbiosis of humans and nature, social harmony, and green development. We also discuss how China's LUP evolution offers a valuable case for exploring sustainable development at a global level. [Display omitted] • Ecological civilization (EC) and land use policies (LUPs) are interactive in China. • Key changes of China's LUP are tracked by text mining. • An overview and deconstruction of China's LUP evolution are provided under an EC. • Four concepts of an EC are matched with four evolutionary benchmarks of LUP. • China's LUP provides a case for exploring multigoal sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the construction of China’s high-speed rail (HSR) network only started in 2003, the network is already the largest in the world. This paper analyses the impact of the evolving HSR network on the accessibility by HSR and conventional ground transport of 333 prefecture-level cities and 4 municipalities. This paper employs three indicators of accessibility, and analyses three Scenarios. It shows that the HSR network will bring about substantial improvement in accessibility, and lead to national time–space convergence, but will also increase the inequality of nodal accessibility between eastern, central, and western regions, between cities with different sizes of population (excluding the case of the daily accessibility indicator) and between cities that differ in the shortest distance to HSR stations. The HSR network enlarges internal disparities in each of the regions and the five types of cities. The internal inequality of nodal accessibility in all three Scenarios generally increases from the eastern region via the central region to the western region, as well as from very large cities to small cities, varying inversely with the level of economic development and population size. Spatially, accessibility increases generally conform to the distance decay rule but with minor fluctuations. The 50 cities with the largest increases in accessibility are mostly located 50 km or less away from HSR stations and have populations of over 3 million, with the smaller ones located along HSR lines or around large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. As time progresses, the planned HSR network will result in more balanced development, but regional disparities in accessibility will still be greater than before the construction of the HSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China already has more numerous and larger cities than ever before. If the current trend holds, by 2025 it will have a predicted 1 billion of urban population and 8 megacities, each containing 10 million residents or more. China is facing enormous challenges when it comes to balancing rapid economic development with social development, sustainable use of resources and environmental protection in its fast-growing urban areas. Of the 10 most polluted cities in the world, 7 are in China. To meet these challenges, China has become a vast living laboratory for experiments on sustainable urban development. This paper reviews the use and development of city concepts and approaches regarding sustainable urban development in China. The large number of different concepts used appears to be partly due to institutional reasons and partly because they involve gradual changes in national policies. However, the data indicate that the concepts are generally becoming more comprehensive in relation to sustainable development, including social and heritage aspects. The most common barrier to the development of sustainable cities in China is still lack of clear visions, targets and indicators for sustainable development. More holistic approaches are needed for integrated urban planning, such as that used in Tangshan Bay Eco-city, a joint project between Sweden and China. This paper proposes the use of metabolic thinking and eco-cycle models derived from the discipline of Industrial Ecology to support urban planners in developing more sustainable and resource-efficient urban pathways. This will require closer cooperation between academics and practitioners and better monitoring of projects. Finally, it will be important to identify ways to scale up successful interventions in the urban area, rather than just moving from one innovative pilot project to the next. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper tries to explain one paradox: why does the division of planning power in China's metropolitan cities become more administratively centralized in the context of political decentralization? This paper argues that centralization of planning responsibilities to the consolidated metropolitan city government enables the local government to effectively mobilize land-based financial resources for fast economic development, which is a responsibility coming with the decentralization process and has been a dominating criterion when local government performance is evaluated. The centralization trend reflects an issue-oriented rationale for structuring metropolitan government and planning, which is similar to its western counterpart, but conditioned on China's view of active planning. A case study of the Yongzhou City is included to help understand the economic forces and fiscal motivation that has driven China's metropolitan government and planning reforms, and the spatial development strategies enabled or strengthened by the centralization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The institutional driver, i.e., the relaxation and reform in the hukou system, is considered the most important factor in the increasing mobility in post-reform China in the literature. This paper argues that the above institutional factor was influential in the initial increase of migration in the 1980s. Subsequent increase in the migration scale from 1990 to 2000 was driven largely by rapid and unbalanced economic development in China. The framework of time–space geography is adopted in this study. It is argued that various factors have different characteristics of dynamic response and spatial diffusion. For example, economic reform and open door policy have been implemented with increasing intensity since 1978. But they have a clear pattern of spatial diffusion. The time–space geography of development indicates that some areas would first become major destinations of migration, to be followed by other areas later. On the other hand, the registration of temporary population was introduced in the whole country at almost the same time in 1985. It has one-off impact on migration. But population in less developed areas may respond to relaxed migration control and migration opportunities in advanced areas gradually. Their response time is determined by their migration tradition, ability as well as distance from the destinations of opportunities. This paper makes a detailed time–space analysis of the migration patterns in China using migration data from 1990 and 2000 censuses and 1995 and 2005 population surveys. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In March 2011, China’s central government set a new challenging target of reducing its energy intensity by 16% during 2011–2015, after it had achieved a reduction of 19.1% during 2006–2010. And this new target was assigned to provincial authorities in August 2011. However, China’s provincial energy-economic developments are unbalanced and different provinces have different key sectors for energy conservation. Most previous studies focused on provincial energy efficiency at the aggregate level, or the three-industry level (or one-digit level). However, whether for policy decision or academic research, it is necessary to further subdivide the sectors. In this paper, we use three indicators (Gini Coefficient, energy consumption share and energy intensity) to compare provincial energy conservation potentials at the two-digit sector level. To our knowledge, this paper is the first one to identify the keys for energy conversation across the 31 provinces×65 sectors. And the results are shown in visualized maps and matrix tables to help identify the key province×sectors for energy conservation easier. This also helps the central and provincial governments to distinguish key sectors when they monitor the energy conservation progress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines how different weighting methods affect the results of urban competitiveness ranking. Using a hierarchical indicator system that considers economic, social, and environmental dimensions of the competitiveness of Chinese cities as a case study, it shows that principal component analysis (PCA) produces rankings of urban competitiveness that are significantly different from the alternative equal weighting (EW) method. Moreover, PCA generates problematic weights for some indicators and assigns a small weight to the environmental performance of cities. The paper investigates these problematic results and argues for the necessity of deliberating more consciously on appropriate weighting methods in the construction of composite indicators in urban competitiveness studies and beyond. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzed the interactions among China’s economic growth and its energy consumption, air emissions and air environmental protection investment during 2000–2007. Conventional energy and emergy are applied to quantify energy consumption and emissions’ impact, respectively. The five indicators based on money, energy and emergy, including ratio of nonrenewable energy to renewable energy (RNR), energy use per unit GDP (EUPG), environmental cost per unit GDP (ECPG), impact of emissions per unit energy consumption (IEPEC), and environmental benefit per unit environmental protection investment (EBPEI), are presented to depict the relationships among economic growth and energy consumption and impact of air emissions and air environmental protection investment. The results show that energy consumption rapidly rises with China’s fast economic growth; however, energy efficiency and environmental loading intensity from energy consumption are reduced simultaneously but their improvements fall far behind economic growth rate. Impact of air emissions, mainly composed of impact of emissions on human health (especially dust), is slightly decreased. The performance of air environmental protection investment is obviously declined in the study period. Generally speaking, the conflict among economy, energy and air environment protection is slightly mitigated but still acute due to great dependence of China’s economy on fossil energy and inefficient environmental protection measures. Finally, this paper discusses the corresponding issues, and then puts forward some related suggestions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This research examines government policies and urban transformation in China through a study of Hangzhou City, which is undergoing dramatic growth and restructuring. As the southern center of the Yangtze River Delta, an emerging global city region of China, Hangzhou has been restlessly searching for strategies to promote economic growth and survive the competition with Shanghai. This paper analyzes Hangzhou’s development strategies, including globalization, tourism, industrial development, and urban development, in the context of shifting macro conditions and local responses. We hold that urban policies in China are situated in the broad economic restructuring and the gradual, experiential national reform and are therefore transitional. The paper suggests that China’s urban policies are state institution-directed, growth-oriented, and land-based, imposing unprecedented challenges to sustainability and livability. Land development and spatial restructuring are central to urban policies in China. Last, while Hangzhou’s development strategies and policies to some extent reflect policy convergence across cities in China, local/spatial contexts, including local settings, territorial rescaling and land conditions, are underlying the functioning of development/entrepreneurial states. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The sustainability of Chinese economy has attracted attentions from all over the world since China''s reform & opening up policy. This paper attempted to evaluate the relationships among Chinese economy, energy and its impact of emissions during 1991–2009 using several novel indicators based on emergy, energy and monetary units. The results show that NH3-N in wastewater has taken main responsibility for impact of emissions, the hidden environmental cost per unit economic output has been continuously reduced, education and R & D investment has cut pollutants generating intensity since 1997, and environmental protection investment has cut emission intensity since 1996. Generally speaking, the coordination degree of structure and scale of China''s economy has been improved to different degree from 1991 to 2009. However, the growth of education and R & D investment and environmental protection investment has not prevented impact of emissions from increase caused by economic aggregate growth, and the turning point has not appeared in this period. Finally, this paper discusses some related issues and puts forward the corresponding suggestions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: It is widely acknowledged that China’s economic miracle has been achieved at the expense of its natural capital and environment. In order to deal with this problem, the circular economy (CE) has been chosen as a national policy for sustainable development. National laws and regulations have been enacted to facilitate the implementation of CE and national CE demonstration projects have been initiated such that national benchmarking activities could be completed. China is the first country to release nationally focused CE indicators so that objective and credible information on the status of CE implementation can be recognized. These CE indicators are valuable metrics for policy and decision-makers and can help achieve CE goals and outcomes. This unique indicator system has not been communicated to international communities. This paper aims to more broadly introduce this unique national CE indicator system. China’s CE efforts are first detailed with various provisions of the national indicator system. A critical analysis of such an indicator system is presented. We show that certain benefits can be gained, but substantive revision is also needed due to the lack of a comprehensive set of sustainability indicators which should include social, business indicators, urban/industrial symbiosis, absolute material/energy reduction, and prevention-oriented indicators. Concerns related to barriers on implementation are also presented in this paper. The knowledge gained from Chinese efforts on CE indicators are valuable to both developed and developing nations seeking to implement sustainable development measures within their regulatory policies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Explanations of the existence of socio-spatial divisions in Western Europe and the United States revolve around the importance of economic, demographic, political, and socio-cultural macro developments and often also on the role of globalization. Much of the literature also emphasizes the role of institutions, especially the national and local state as well as individual and household constraints and opportunities. Many authors explain socio-spatial divisions by a mix of these factors and developments. This paper provides an account of the current state of affairs concerning the literature and theory on divided cities in China. Concentrating on a selection of 88 articles published in international journals during the last decade, we examine how authors explain urban socio-spatial divisions in Chinese cities. The paper indicates that a five-category framework of trends, policies, players, position, and preferences are useful in addressing the complexity of explanations attributed to current urban divisions and inequalities in Chinese cities. While the spatial patterns in the Western and Chinese contexts share rather similar characteristics, the interplay of mechanisms is significantly different. The influence of the state, its institutions, and the cultural background has a much stronger explanatory power in China than in the West. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A comprehensive understanding of the interdependence between China's economy and carbon emissions can better serve China's transition towards a low-carbon economy, and can also provide reference for other developing countries. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the dependence of China's economy on CO 2 emissions: (i) the Tapio decoupling model was applied to quantify the decoupling elasticity between China's economy and CO 2 emissions; (ii) the structure decomposition technique was utilized to quantity the contribution of China's economic structure to the decoupling elasticity; (iii) the combined decomposition model which combined Cobb–Douglas (C-D) production function with Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) technique and was solved the residual problem was employed to identify more driving factors (labor input, investment, carbon coefficient, energy structure, energy intensity, economic structure, and technology state) affecting the decoupling elasticity. The main results were as follows: (i) The decoupling elasticity showed a downward trend during the whole period, and the decoupling state was characterized by two types: expansive negative decoupling (2002–2005) and weak decoupling (2000–2002 and 2005–2014). (ii) The industry sector played the most negative effect on the decoupling process expect 2013–2014. From the cumulative effect, the contribution of six sectors to promote decoupling effect was ranked as follows: Construction > Agriculture > Trade > Other > Transport > Industry. (iii) The most critical factor driving the increased CO 2 emissions was the investment effect, accounting for 145.34% of the cumulative total CO 2 emissions, while the energy intensity effect contributed to a cumulative reduction in CO 2 emissions of 1443.72 Mt. Finally, some policy recommendations were offered to achieve the decoupling of China's economic growth and carbon emissions. • Quantifying effects of investment on decoupling economy from emission in China. • Combining C-D function and LMDI to develop non-residual decomposition technique. • The decoupling elasticity showed a downward trend, dominated by weak decoupling state. • Industry sector played the most negative effect on the decoupling process. • The leading contributor to China's CO 2 emissions was the investment effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper established a new low-carbon economic development capability evaluation index system, and then collected relevant data of provincial economic development, energy consumption and carbon emissions in 2009.On this basis, this paper integrated use of factor analysis method and entropy weight method to calculate the provincial development capacity of low-carbon economy and to rank it, and then summarized development capability of national low-carbon economic, analyzed the ability of low-carbon economic development around the reasons for the differences. Finally, put forward low carbon economy countermeasures and Suggestions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Globalisation has led to a rapid increase in the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) globally. Over the last decade China has become the largest recipient of FDI whilst simultaneously increasing its outward FDI dramatically. The growth in China''s outward FDI has attracted little attention from scholars in mainstream research publications. The motivation behind this paper is to investigate the factors driving this growth from both economic and strategic backgrounds. The paper employs panel data analysis covering the period 2003–2009 where we quantify the main drivers of China''s outward FDI across a range of variables including bi lateral and multi lateral trade, market size, GDP growth, openness and resource endowment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Low carbon electricity is essential for China''s low carbon development. In the paper low carbon electricity is defined as an economy body manages to realize its potential economic growth fueled by less electricity consumption, which can be characterized by indexes of GDP electricity intensity and CO2 emissions per unit electricity generation. IRSP is proposed by Hu to implement power planning on state level in deregulated power sector and is used in the paper to study China''s power planning into 2030. A business-as-usual scenario is projected as baseline for comparison while low carbon electricity development based on IRSP is studied. Results show that, with IRSP, China could save energy by 1.5 billion toes and reduce CO2 emission by 5.7 billion tons, during 2010–2030. Super Smart Grid (SSG) must be constructed as the physical foundation of IRSP. The main components of developing SSG in China are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Health impact assessment (HIA) is a useful tool to predict and estimate the potential health impact associated with programs, projects, and policies by comprehensively identifying relevant health determinants and their consequences. China is undergoing massive and rapid socio-economic changes leading to environment and population health challenges such as a large increase in non-communicable diseases, the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases, new health risks associated with environmental pollutants and escalating health inequality. These health issues are affected by multiple determinants which can be influenced by planned policies, programs, and projects. This paper discusses the needs for health impact assessment in China in order to minimize the negative health consequences from projects, programs and policies associated with rapid social and economic development. It first describes the scope of China''s current impact assessment system and points out its inadequacy in meeting the requirements of population health protection and promotion. It then analyses the potential use of HIA and why China needs to develop and apply HIA as a tool to identify potential health impacts of proposed programs, projects and policies so as to influence decision-making early in the planning process. Thus, the paper recommends the development of HIA as a useful tool in China to enhance decision-making for the protection and promotion of population health. For this to happen, the paper outlines steps necessary for the establishment and successful implementation of HIA in China: beginning with the establishment of a HIA framework, followed by workforce capacity building, methodology design, and intersectoral collaboration and stakeholder engagement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: China’s state-owned banks have demonstrated a tremendous capacity for change, but their implications for development policy are often unclear. The paper examines why the pre-reform banking system based on moral compromise almost seamlessly changed to one based on self-advancement. Focusing on a period when resources were desperately short, the paper argues that China’s great advantage has been Hong Kong and the safe access to international markets it provided. Consequently China’s leadership is more familiar with international markets than is often assumed, and although capitalism is no longer exceptional, access to formal institutions continues to be a core development priority in achieving modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper investigates the traits of self-employed entrepreneurs in urban China, an economy rife with informational and institutional imperfections, under-developed financial markets, but a growing and important non-state sector. Despite this challenging context, this paper finds that entrepreneurs make on average 20% more than non-entrepreneurs, while being similar in age, marital status, educational attainment, and socio-economic background. Fewer are Communist Party members and more have experienced unemployment, however. Women, Party members, more educated and older workers are less likely to become entrepreneurs. Social networks, motivation and drive, and attitudes toward risk, are all significant factors associated with entrepreneurship. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Promoting sustainable development in resource-based cities is required to accelerate transformative economic development, which also can promote harmonious development and accelerate progress of industrialization while playing a critical role in China's urbanization. However, the role of regional sustainable development plans within resource-based cities is unclear. This paper selected 87 resource-based cities as the treated group, matching propensity scores of city characteristics on a total of 253 cities in China from 2008 to 2018. The paper used the difference-in-differences method to evaluate the impact of the implementation of the "National Plan for Resource-based City Sustainable Development (2013-2020)", measuring six years before and five years post-planning implementation. We found: (1) The implementation of the plan has promoted economic, social, and ecological transformation by 19.6%, 55.4% and 74.5% respectively (p < 0.01), but there appeared to be no additional effects on sustainable utilization of resources. (2) Among driving factors, market development affected all forms of transformation the most. (3) The impact of this transformation varied by stages of urban development according to the full life cycle of the resource-based city and its local resources. Specifically, the transformation effect of the growing type city in economic, social, ecological and resource transformation was the strongest among that of all type stages. • Regard pilot policy of Resource-based City Sustainable Development as a quasi-natural experiment. • Employ a differences-in-differences method with panel data of 253 cities in China from 2008 to 2018. • Evaluate policy effects upon resource-based city sustainable transformation. • Exploit drive mechanism and market development is an important driving factor. • Transformation effects vary from stages of urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years diplomatic and economic relations between China and many African countries have deepened. This has been driven largely by China's remarkable economic growth, which has increased demand for energy and commodities, thus encouraging trade and investment with different African countries. Additionally, China is playing a key role in the emerging challenge to the unequal architecture of global trade and governance, for which it seeks political allies. For Africa, the impacts of these deepening relationships are mixed. Rising commodity prices, direct investment, aid, and cheap consumer goods can be beneficial; but China also threatens to undercut local manufacturing sectors and compete for export markets, notably in textiles. China also has a history of support for authoritarian and corrupt regimes, and its (stated) insistence on non-interference in sovereign affairs may undermine more progressive efforts towards accountability, transparency, conflict reduction, and environmental and social protection. This paper explores how UK broadsheet newspapers represent China's complex relations in Africa, and in doing so, how they reflect on the West's own role(s) in Africa. The paper concludes by debating the importance of these media images at a time when China's rise is being anxiously observed by western publics and policy communities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The role of equity markets in economic development has been increasingly recognized in recent years. Yet few studies have analyzed the transmission mechanisms between them. This paper looks at this missing agenda by indirectly assessing whether the equity markets fulfill the following roles: (a) financing firms'' investment; (b) improving firms'' corporate governance and, hence, performance; and (c) signaling information regarding issuers to public investors through stock prices––all of which are essential in achieving economic growth for developing countries. This paper assesses the development stages of China''s equity markets by testing whether the above three roles are fulfilled. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Chinese firms operating in Africa are often accused of violating international labour standards and not adhering with national labour laws. Considering China’s tendency to maintain control over development projects throughout the entire implementation phase, using Chinese contractors for work performed in the recipient countries, the present paper investigates whether China impacts African labour practices in their capacity as a donor. Specifically, we use a new data material allowing for systematic quantitative analysis of Chinese development finance to investigate whether Chinese development projects affect trade union involvement. Matching geo-referenced data on the subnational allocation of Chinese development projects to Africa over the 2000–2012 period with 41,902 survey respondents across 18 African countries, our estimation strategy relies on comparing the trade union involvement of individuals who live near a site where a Chinese project is being implemented at the time of the interview to those of individuals living near a site where a Chinese project will appear in the future, but where implementation had yet to be initiated at the time of the survey. The results consistently indicate that Chinese development projects – unlike the projects of other major donors – discourage trade union involvement in the local area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of work safety greatly affects many parts of the world, especially developing countries such as China. The release of the Thirteenth Five-Year Guideline for National Economic and Social Development in March 2016 marked the beginning of China’s Thirteenth Five-Year Plan (13th FYP) period (2016–2020). Work safety continues to be a national priority. Since the release, a newly important work safety policy, namely the 13th FYP for Work Safety has been announced on February 3, 2017 in accordance with the Thirteenth Five-Year Guideline for National Economic and Social Development. What is the current status, what are new challenges and future tasks of work safety during China’s 13th FYP period? The two key objectives of this paper are: (1) to analyze the current status of work safety in China, and (2) to introduce the new challenges and future tasks during China’s 13th FYP period briefly. Firstly, a statistical analysis of accidents and occupational diseases in recent years in China was carried out, and a brief introduction to safety management on the national level in China has been given to analyze the work safety status in the whole of China. Secondly, combining with the demand for economic and social development in China, and according to the suggestions in the 13th FYP for Work Safety and the current status of work safety in China, the new challenges and future tasks of work safety during China’s 13th FYP period are also introduced. This study can promote the cooperation and exchange of knowledge on work safety between China and other countries to provide evidence-based services for work safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid economic growth in China has lead to an increasing energy demand in the country. In combination with China's emission control and clean air initiatives, it has resulted in large-scale expansion of the leading renewable energy technologies, wind and solar power. Their intermittent nature and uneven geographic distribution, however, raises the question of how to best exploit them in a future sustainable electricity system, where their combined production may very well exceed that of all other technologies. It is well known that interconnecting distant regions provides more favorable production patterns from wind and solar. On the other hand, long-distance connections challenge traditional local energy autonomy. In this paper, the advantage of interconnecting the contiguous provinces of China is quantified. To this end, two different methodologies are introduced. The first aims at gradually increasing heterogeneity, that is non-local wind and solar power production, to minimize production costs without regard to the match between production and demand. The second method optimizes the trade-off between low cost production and high utility value of the energy. In both cases, the study of a 100% renewable Chinese electricity network is based on 8 years of high-resolution hourly time series of wind and solar power generation and electricity demand for each of the provinces. From the study we conclude that compared to a baseline design of homogeneously distributed renewable capacities, a heterogeneous network not only lowers capital investments but also reduces backup dispatches from thermal units. Installing more capacity in provinces like Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, Hainan and north-western regions, heterogeneous layouts may lower the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) by up to 27%, and reduce backup needs by up to 64%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small hydropower (SHP) has a global reputation as a ‘green’, low-carbon energy source that improves rural livelihoods and contributes to local economic development. In China, SHP has grown rapidly since the early 2000s, particularly in the water-rich provinces in the country’s southwest. However, because SHP plants in China are privately-operated and approved by local governments, there is an incentive to construct large, multiple-cascade systems to generate as much power as possible. In many areas, this has led to over-development of SHP and associated negative environmental and social impacts. In this paper, we identify the factors that shape geographies of SHP over-development, what we refer to as ‘shades’ of green energy. We then analyze the direct and indirect impacts of over-development. We draw on interviews and electricity generation data from six prefectures in Yunnan province, one of the world’s largest hydropower producing regions. We find that prefectures that operate in a semi-autonomous way in electricity management and industrial planning are most prone to over-develop SHP, since they depend on hydropower revenues from electricity generation and local energy-intensive industries. We also find that over-development of SHP causes streamflow reductions and unstable electricity generation, and in some areas, drives an increase in environmentally-destructive mineral processing and reduces irrigation water access. These findings suggest a need for coordinated river basin planning on small watersheds and a reassessment of the role of SHP in local economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coastline serves as a space carrier of marine economic development in coastal areas, and is an important platform for protecting marine environments and maintaining ecological balance. The integral components of a natural coastline have important ecological functions. In addition to the excessive economic development in China's coastal areas since the 1990s, other problems have occurred such as: a sharp decrease in natural coast due to the artificialization of mainland coastline, inefficient utilization of coastline resources by unplanned projects, weak legal enforcement by an imperfect management system, and impaired coastal functional value. By analyzing problems arising from the protection and utilization of China's coastline in the past 30 years, this paper reviews the relevant policies and regulations in China's marine administration. These issues are approached from the perspectives of an ecosystem, refined management of marine resources, scientific planning and natural coastline protection. The results indicate an improvement in the ecological environment through the introduction of multiple management systems. For instance, the natural coastline of China is currently decreasing at a rate slower than in 2008, and has a stable retention rate. Additionally, the over-exploitation of coastline has been curbed with a scientific and rational allocation of coastline resources; ecological problems such as coastal erosion, beach and coastal wetland degradation have been improved. The introduction of relevant policies, including, “Regulations on the Management of Coastline Protection and Utilization” fundamentally changed the passive decentralized management model. An initial institutional system that is in line with the protection and utilization status of China's coastline has been formed. Simultaneously, all levels of China's marine management departments are exploring and improving the coastline management system. Ultimately, this will provide valuable experience and practice in the protection and utilization of coastline for coastal countries across the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]