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The Chinese food system has expanded its focus from aiming to solve food problems to tackling current health and environmental issues. The Chinese diet has increased in quantity and improved in safety, but there is still room for improvement in terms of health and sustainability. This study used Chinese dietary data provided by the Global Diet Database to analyze the changes in China’s dietary structure from 1990 to 2018 and highlight differences in urban and rural areas and across education levels. Findings show that the intake of food and beverage, macronutrients, and micronutrients in urban areas is higher than in rural areas. The difference in food and beverage intake between urban and rural areas is significant. The dietary gap between urban and rural areas has gradually widened. The difference in food and beverage and macronutrient intake across education levels is significant, but the difference in micronutrient intake is not significant. The gap in dietary structure across educational levels is relatively stable. These results indicate that the dietary structures of different groups in China are uncoordinated. We propose policies covering agricultural production, supply chain infrastructure, public institutions, education, and public awareness to build a sustainable food system with a healthy dietary pattern.

PurposeThis paper examines the impact of livestock environment regulations (LERs) on the location dynamics of the livestock farming industry. Specifically, it tests whether a “pollution haven effect” (PHE) exists in the Chinese livestock industry.Design/methodology/approachThe authors manually collected LERs data based on the frequency of livestock-related vocabulary in government work reports from 279 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2017. Using China's implementation of LERs since 2014 as a natural experiment, the authors employed difference-in-difference (DID) to avoid the endogeneity problem.FindingsLERs have led to a decline in livestock production in regulated areas. Moreover, compared with areas with more stringent LERs – southern China and developed areas, areas where LERs are less stringent – northern China and undeveloped areas, attract more livestock industry. As a result, people in northern China and undeveloped areas are exposed to higher livestock pollution.Originality/valueFirst, most empirical studies on PHE focus on industrial firms. PHE in the livestock industry has received limited attention. This paper aims to fill this gap. Second, this paper regards LERs as an endogenous process and uses the DID method to generate unbiased results. Third, this paper introduces a novel measurement of LERs based on the frequency of livestock-related vocabulary in government work reports from each prefecture city. Fourth, this paper uses prefecture-level data to analyze the PHE of LERs, and thus obtains more reliable results.

It is well known that women bear the greatest burden of health, time and labor supply due to gender disparity in many developing countries. In this study, we analyze the health inequality in rural China caused by indoor air pollution from traditional energy use. Specifically, we study the effect of clean energy access on woman health outcome by exploiting a nationwide rollout of clean cooking fuel program in 2014. Based on interviews with rural women in 2014 and 2016, this study analyzes the impact of clean energy use on women's health by using the Propensity Score Matching method with the Difference-in-Differences model (PSM-DID). We also analyze the heterogeneous health effects of clean energy uptake on rural women with different characteristics. The results show that clean energy applications can significantly improve the health of rural women. The positive health effects are substantial for middle-aged and older women, illiterate women and those women lived in northeastern China. The results highlight the role of clean energy in reducing gender disparities in health inequality. Therefore, the government in developing countries should do more to educate the people on the uses of clean energy and its benefits for women's health, provide technical and economic support for clean energy applications, and optimize clean energy promotion strategies.

Stock selection is one of the most significant topic in investment decision problems, which can be solved through aggregating financial variables of the enterprizes. Because of the complexity and ambiguity of the stock exchange market, crisp financial ratios and their corresponding probabilities could not represent the fluctuation and ambiguity over a period. Interval type-2 fuzzy numbers have advantages in modeling uncertainty over type-1 fuzzy sets(T1 FSs), and have gained popularity in investment decisions. In this paper, we propose an uncertain possibility-probability information fusion method for stock selection under interval type-2 fuzzy environment. Firstly, based on the expected value and variance of the evaluations, both the interval type-2 fuzzy evaluations and probabilities are constructed. Secondly, considering the idea of probability for a fuzzy event, the fused probability with possibility-probability information is suggested to handle the uncertainty under interval type-2 fuzzy environment, and the entropy weight is used to reflect the importance degree for each criteria. Thirdly, the aggregation model based on the concept of the relative closeness to the ideal alternatives is used to compare the alternatives. Finally, an application have been performed in stock selection of real estate industry in China.

The relationship between farm size and production cost, especially inefficiency cost, has been a hotly debated topic for decades, but no general conclusion has been reached. This subject has particularly important implications for agricultural policies in China, which is in the course of rapid structural change. We decompose the production cost into frontier cost, technical inefficiency cost and allocative inefficiency cost with a primal system approach, and we demonstrate that technical inefficiency cost increases but allocative inefficiency cost decreases as farm size increases. In addition, large-scale farms gain the overall cost advantage due to their lower allocative inefficiency cost. We also find that a minimum purchase price higher than all farm costs impedes the enhancement of scale and masks the competitiveness of China. Moreover, the determinants of inefficiency costs imply that region-specific market imperfection holds a considerable explanatory power for the allocative inefficiency costs.

The increasingly open market in China has ushered significant changes in the Chinese agricultural sector. Most existing research indicates that land transfer improves technical efficiency. However, this study finds that from the perspective of land cost, land transfer will have a negative impact on technical efficiency in China. With the development of agricultural moderate-scale operation, land cost continues to rise. From 2009 to 2016, land transfer price in Jiangsu Province rose from 3412.5 CNY/hm2 to 11,866.5 CNY/hm2, accounting for 38.1% of the total production cost. These are high prices, even at the international level. A further empirical test shows that land cost has an inverted “U” shape effect on the technical efficiency of wheat production. In other words, when the land cost for two growing seasons exceeds 3514.35 CNY/hm2 or the land cost for the wheat growing season is above 1665.45 CNY/hm2, increasing the land cost will further reduce the competitiveness of the wheat industry. To develop Chinese agriculture, it is necessary to internalize and market land cost through land contract cooperation and land custody. It is also possible to consider establishing a land-transfer insurance system and promote the sustainable development of land transfer.

It is well known that women bear the greatest burden of health, work time, and labor supply due to gender disparity in many developing countries. In this study, we analyze the health inequality in rural China caused by indoor air pollution from traditional energy use. Specifically, we study the effect of clean energy access on woman health outcome by exploiting a nationwide rollout of clean cooking fuel program in 2014. Based on interviews with rural women in 2014 and 2016, this study analyzes the impact of clean energy use on women's health by using the propensity score matching method with the difference-in-differences model (PSM-DID). We also analyze the heterogeneous health effects of clean energy uptake on rural women with different characteristics. The results show that clean energy applications can significantly improve the health of rural women. The positive health effects are substantial for middle-aged and older women, illiterate women, and those women lived in northeastern China. The results highlight the role of clean energy in reducing gender disparities in health inequality.

Utilizing the 1995–2013 Harmonized System's six-digit agricultural product data for China, this study measures the dual margin contribution to export growth in China's agricultural products. Results show that contribution from the intensive margin has reached and been staying at a high level since 2007, providing new insight in explaining the deteriorating terms of trade in China's agricultural products. In light of this, an empirical analysis of the determinants of dual margins indicates that larger trading partners lead to less growth in exports of both new and existing products. Destination countries with higher labor productivities and lower fixed trade costs are China's target markets to convert intensive-margin-driven growth into extensive-margin-driven growth. In addition, the impact of relative labor productivity and free trade agreements on the intensive margin differs between primary and processed products due to their product characteristics. Au moyen des donnees a six chiffres du produit agricole pour la Chine provenant du Systeme harmonise de 1995–2013, cette etude mesure la double marge de contribution a la croissance, des exportations des produits agricoles chinois. Les resultats demontrent que la contribution provenant de la marge intensive a atteint et demeure elevee depuis 2007, fournissant de nouvelles explications aux termes de l′echange des produits agricoles chinois. Etant donne ces informations, une analyse empirique des determinants des doubles marges indique que les grands partenaires commerciaux menent a moins de croissance dans les exportations a la fois de produits nouveaux et existants. La Chine choisit comme cibles les pays de destination avec une productivite elevee de la main-d'œuvre et de faibles couts fixes de commerce pour convertir la croissance stimulee par les marges intensives en croissance stimulee par les marges extensives. Qui plus est, l'impact de la productivite relative de la main-d'œuvre et des accords de libre-echange sur les marges intensives differe des produits primaires aux produits transformes en raison des caracteristiques du produit.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the multiplier effects of the grain subsidy program in China, which is a large food self-sufficiency project that is implemented as a cash transfer program. Income multiplier effects have not been empirically examined in the evaluation of the grain subsidy program although increasing the income of farmers is the original goal of this project. Design/methodology/approach – A large number of household-level observations are employed to measure the program’s income multiplier. An unrestricted model was first employed to measure the multipliers in a period of two years, and the difference was evaluated. Then, the income promotion effects of grain subsidy on various income sources for each specific subset of the population, such as liquidity conditions and household characteristics, were estimated. Findings – The results show that the grain subsidy program has a high income multiplier, and the income promotion effect of the transferred subsidies is from agricultural production derived by intensifying input for each unit of land. The multiplier effect of the grain subsidy program as a cash transfer program can be interpreted as the shadow value of relaxing liquidity constraints and could be particularly utilized by households with more farming land and farmers in less developed regions in China. Hence, to maximize the income multiplier effect, the grain subsidy distribution method should consider these criteria instead of retaining the prevalent standard that is based on contracted land areas. Originality/value – This study addresses the gap that the effect of China’s grain subsidy program on income increment has not been empirically examined in nation wide.

China's hog production is undergoing a great transformation due to the soaring demand and changing raising system. Regarding the essential role of pork in Chinese diet, a systematic analysis on the productivity and efficiency of hog production can provide significant implications for policy makers. This paper investigates the productivity and efficiency of hog production and the determinants of technical efficiency in China using a household level panel data (2004–2010). A stochastic frontier translog production function with scaling property in inefficiency term is adopted for hog production analysis, and the determinants of technical efficiency are incorporated in a one-step estimation using maximum likelihood estimation. Our results show that the average technical efficiency of hog production in China is 0.5914. More importantly, we find that specialized farmers have higher technical efficiency than others, and technical efficiency in the eastern region is higher than that in Central and West China.

This article analyses the technical and environmental efficiency of hog production in China using data from the China Agricultural Product Cost-Benefit Compilation (NDRC 2005–2013) and the First National Census of Pollution: Manual of Discharge Coefficient of Livestock and Poultry Industry (IEDA and NIES 2009). The empirical results show a great variation in environmental efficiency, ranging from 0.344 to 0.973 with a mean value of 0.672 that declines over time. Southwest China is found to be the most environmentally efficient region, while the Northeast and the Northwest are the least efficient. Another finding is that technical and environmental efficiencies are highly correlated in hog production; the most environmentally efficient regions are usually found to have high technical efficiency, and vice versa. In addition, we computed the output elasticities with respect to each factor input. The results show that feed is the most efficient input, with an output elasticity of approximately 0.551, which is much higher than the elasticity of the nitrogen surplus, other capital or labour. The output elasticity with respect to the nitrogen surplus is 0.287 on average. Finally, the scale elasticity in hog production is slightly higher than 1.

This study examined the effects of China’s grain subsidy program, the largest food self-sufficiency project of all developing countries, on grain-sown areas within the context of liquidity constraints. A large household-level panel was used to evaluate how the subsidy program affected the cultivation schedule of farm households through the relaxation of households’ liquidity constraints over a given period. Results suggest that, in general, the grain subsidy program improved farm households’ grain planting areas in liquidity-constrained households. This finding provides a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of China’s grain subsidy than previous studies have.

International audience; Supply shortages and competitive disadvantages are the main problems faced by China's hog sector. The non-essential import of pork products, triggered by competitive disadvantages, poses great challenges to hog farms. Structural changes are an important policy concern in China and elsewhere. Previous literature has ignored whether the ongoing structural changes from backyard to large farms can contribute to sustainable development. This study adopts the micro-level data of hog farms collected from Jiangsu Province, and uses a two-step metafrontier model and a primal system approach. The empirical results reveal that the ongoing structural changes are capable of boosting the growth in output in China's hog sector, since the stronger increase in comparable technical efficiency compensates for the inappropriate technology. Furthermore, the ongoing structural changes are also beneficial in the reduction of production costs and in improving competitiveness in China's hog sector. The decline in technical and allocative inefficiency costs, particularly for technical inefficiency costs, contributes to the cost advantage with the increasing farm size.

Crop straw is the most important source of domestic energy in rural areas of many developing countries. However, as household income grows, rural residents begin to disuse crop straw, leading to a serious pollution and waste of biomass resources. This paper empirically examines the effect of public policy on crop straw use in the case of Jiangsu Province of China. Policy measures, such as burning ban and incentive programs for comprehensive use of crop straw, have important implication for rural energy supply and sustainable development of agriculture. Our results show that the burning ban has reduced crop straw burning in open field dramatically and driven farmers to retain straw into soil in sample areas. Straw retention subsidy, however, seems to play an insignificant role as the subsidy was low and not directly delivered to farmers. Moreover, crop straw markets in Jiangsu are inactive due partially to high cost of collecting and transporting crop straw, which may impose a big chanellge for straw-based energy plants that require larger scale and stable supply of crop straw. Our findings provide critical knowledge on designing and reforming current programs for crop straw management.

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the factors that influence urban consumers' attitudes towards food safety after the melamine scandal.Design/methodology/approachBased on the research about the attitudes of urban consumers in Nanjing towards the safety of milk powder after the melamine scandal in 2008, this paper adopts the ordered logit model to test which factors significantly influence consumers' attitudes.FindingsThe findings suggest that: first, there is a common concern among consumers about the safety of milk powder after the melamine scandal; second, according to the research, the concern is in inverse relation to the level of educational attainment, consumers' awareness of food safety incidents and their opinion of governments' action after the incident. Moreover, those who always have a concern about the safety of the alternatives to milk powder are more easily affected.Originality/valueDifferent from other researches, the paper focuses on consumers' attitudes towards food safety by studying a specific case, namely the melamine scandal.

China's horticultural exports have almost doubled in value over the past decade, her imports have increased by even more, and China is increasingly a net exporter of horticultural products. After adjusting trade data for irregularities in the reported trade between Hong Kong and mainland China, growth in China's exports and imports is discussed. Major traded products and markets will be identified. Case studies are China's trade in fresh apples, which have become the major fruit export, and in cut flowers which are a relatively new export product for China. China's competitive position and market shares relative to other suppliers of apples and cut flowers to foreign markets are examined.

We developed a virtual reality system to simulate humanoid robots. Currently most humanoid simulation systems require manual manipulation of body parts or require capturing movements enacted by a person. We aim to describe humanoid motions using high-level language and created a humanoid motion description language. We defined new motion primitives and new syntax that allows programmers to easily describe complex humanoid motions. To make the motion specification possible, we defined a humanoid framework that models humanoid robots by specifying their capacities and limitations. Furthermore, we developed a simulation system that can execute the humanoid motion description language and can automatically handle conflicting motion statements and ensure that the described motions are within the limitations of humanoid robots. Our simulation results show that the proposed system has great future potentials.