Analysis of the Difference of the Basic Pension by Regions

Nowadays, the disparity of the basic pension in local regions of China can be described as follows: the low level of the unification of the basic pension systems, the large disparity of the level of the basic pension, and unfairness of the enterprises’ payment for the basic pension in different local regions in China. These have already brought many negative influences, which have greatly held back the development of the society and national economy. We should build the basic pension system in all local regions of China as a whole, which can cover all people and decrease the disparity in different local regions in China.     

Analysis on the Evolution of Regional Economic Disparity in the West Coast of the Strait

With the implementation of reform and opening-up, the overall economy of China has made brilliant achievements; meanwhile, however, the economic disparity has been enlarging among some regions, and between the city and the countryside. The existence and evolution of this kind of economic disparity is concerned with social stability, sustainable development and the construction of harmonious society, which has gradually become the hotspot in social economic development. The West Coast of the Strait （WCS） located in southeast littoral areas is adjacent to the Pearl and Yangtze River Delta in the south and north and faces Taiwan Province in the east. The stability and development of this region has vital political and economic meaning in the social economic development of our country. It has important theoretical meaning and practical value to research the form, characteristics and evolution of regional economic disparity in the WCS. Based on insightful analysis on existing study results on the WCS, the paper defines the connotation and extension. By a series of absolute and comparative relative evaluation indexes and taking the WCS since 1992 as the study object, the paper makes analysis on different scales including three regions, four regions, 20 cities and 152 counties, quantitatively evaluates the level, characteristics and evolution of the regional economic disparity and compares the regional economic disparity on different scales. The main conclusions are as follows： the variation trend of the absolute disparity of the whole region is obvious and stable, which has presented an inflating trend; the comparative variation trend on a large scale has waved, The comparative disparity of the three regions increased annually from 1992 to around 2000, which had a decreasing trend from around 2000 to 2005; the comparative variation trend on a small scale was not stable, which showed an annual increase of four regions, 20 cities and 152 counties from 1992 to around 2003 and a decrease from around 2003 to 2005; the     

Threshold effects of tourism agglomeration on the green innovation efficiency of China’s tourism industry

ABSTRACT

Industrial agglomeration is an essential and effective way to integrate resources and elements. Its impact on the green innovation efficiency of the tourism industry is a process of continuous development and dynamic change. This paper, based on the provincial panel data from 2006 to 2015, uses super SBM model to measure the green innovation efficiency of China’s tourism industry. The threshold regression model is employed to conduct empirical tests of the nonlinear threshold effect of agglomeration on the green innovation efficiency of tourism industry. The inter-provincial differences of various threshold effects and their possible causes are analyzed. Results indicate that the green innovation efficiency of China’s tourism industry is generally growing, while regional disparity is significant with a gradient decrease along the eastern-central-western regions. There is an obvious positive nonlinear relationship between tourism agglomeration and green innovation efficiency. It is also found that with the increase of agglomeration, its influence is at a high level. As the level of agglomeration crosses the first threshold, its impact is at a low level, and when it crosses the second threshold, the impact of tourism agglomeration is at an intermediate level. Finally, this paper proposes the basic path and some policy recommendations to promote the green innovation efficiency of the tourism industry in China.     

China’s Regional Policies: Progress of the 11th Five Year Plan Period and Prospect of the 12th Five Year Plan Period

Abstract

During the 11^th Five Year Plan period, China improved its policy system for the overall strategy of regional development, and established and completed the policies intended for the promotion of regional cooperation and interaction. Thereupon, regional development in China took on a series of positive changes such as the enhancement of coordination. During the 12^th Five Year Plan period, China will fully implement and continuously improve the policy measures for development in its four major regions, strengthen differentiated guidance to different regions in line with the planning for major function-oriented zones, and accelerate the establishment of basic systems that facilitate coordinated regional development.     

The Application of Multiple Evaluating Methods on the Comprehensive Evaluation of Urban-rural Interaction and Conjunctional Development of China

Abstract

Urban-rural interaction and conjunctional development is the effective way of harmonizing urban-rural relationship and promoting urban-rural development. However, there are differences in the level of urban-rural interaction and conjunctional development of China. How to measure and reflect the difference properly is a decision-making foundation for optimizing urban-rural development of different regions. The paper employs multiple methods to evaluate and order the urban-rural interaction and conjunctional development of 31 provinces (municipalities) in China. Kendall's W consistency coefficient is employed to give a consistent test for the evaluation result series, and the results of multiple methods are aggregated as the final evaluation value. The results reflect the level of regional urban-rural interaction and conjunctional development in China.     

Evaluation of Material-based Development of China Using GIS Methods

Abstract

Regional development is a course of accumulation based on many factors, which is directly related to resources utilization and conversion. And material wealth production and accumulation embody the outcome of regional development. Thus, focusing on material wealth, regional development can be evaluated from resources and perspective of resources conversion. Taking the infrastructural level, transportation accessibility and economic development level into full account, the concept of “material-based development” was presented and the material-based development index (MDI) model was established. By using the MDI model, geographic information system technology and mathematic methods, this article then calculated MDI of each county and province of China in 2005 and systematically evaluated the material-based development of China at county and provincial scales, so as to bring some scientific references and policy-making supports to the population development function oriented zoning and population spatial distribution planning of China. The result showed that: (1) At county scale, the material-based development of counties within China in 2005 was significantly different, in which there were 1876 counties belonging to the mid-level material-based development and accounted for 78.10% of the total. The numbers of high-level and low-level counties were 144 and 382 and accounted for 6.00% and 15.90% respectively, demonstrating a spindle shape in general. The spatial distribution of material-based development was unbalanced, and it was much better in southeastern part of the line of “Daxinganling–Yinshan–Liupanshan–southeast edge of Qinghai– Tibet Plateau” than that of northwestern. Furthermore, there were also differences of the sub-index between different material-based development levels. Therefore, for different regions, key issues and measures adaptable to local condition should be prioritized and taken in order to realize regional balance development. (2) At provincial scale, there was also significant difference between each province and the spatial distribution of it was “high in the east, low in the west” in general. It meant that the capacity of natural resources attraction and conversion of east China was better than that of west China. The infrastructure level was the main factor accounting for the differences of material-based development levels among provinces. As a result, our government should make great efforts to improve infrastructure condition, especially the western part of China, so as to narrow the gap between the western part and the eastern part to realize the coordinated development within different regions and rapidly socio-economic development of China.     

Strategic Study on Integration of Port and City Development in Rizhao

Abstract

Agglomeration of the Yangtze Delta (UAYD), one of the most developed regions of China, has witnessed an increasing prevalence in building ecological cities when the ecological cities are pursued by many modern cities, and great achievements have been made in this regard. It is inevitable, however, that certain problems exist during the construction of ecological city, which include but not limited to non-harmonious development of urban complex ecosystem, and the difficulty in quantifying eco-city construction or incomplete quantification in assessing the construction of present and future eco-city. Based on the analysis on social-economic conditions and regional conditions of the UAYD, this paper attempts to set up an index system of eco-cities combining with local characteristics, and to adopt the indices of eco-city, urban harmony, and eco-city colligate to evaluate the ecological level, urban harmonious development and eco-city construction of cities within the UAYD. Results indicate that among 15 cities in UAYD, Suzhou City ranks the highest in terms of eco-city construction, whereas Nantong ranks relatively lower; sustainable eco-city construction is possible only when cities are developed in every respect of harmony.     

Dynamic Changes,Regional Differences,and Influencing Factors of CO2 Emission Performance in China

Abstract

This paper proposes to use DEA models with undesirable outputs to construct the Malmquist index that can be use to investigate the dynamic changes of CO₂ emission performance. With the index, the authors have measured the CO₂ emission performance of 28 provinces and autonomous regions in China from 1996 to 2007; with the convergence theory and panel data regression model, the authors analyze the regional differences and the influencing factors. It is found that the performance of CO₂ emissions in China has been continuously improved mainly due to the technological progress, and the average improvement rate is 3.25%, with a cumulative improvement rate of 40.86%. In addition, the CO₂ emission performance varies across four regions. As a whole, the performance score of eastern China is the highest. The northeastern and central China has relatively lower performance scores, and the western China is relatively backward. The regional differences are decreasing, and the performance of CO₂ emissions is convergent. The influence of some factors on the performance of CO₂ emissions is significant, such as the level of economic development, the level of industrial structure, energy intensity, and ownership structure. The influence of some factors, such as opening-up to the outside world, on the performance of CO₂ emissions is not significant.     

我国三大地带经济发展不平衡性动态分析

本文采用人均GDP指标,对1978-2002年我国三大地带经济发展的不平衡性及驱动机制进行了动态时序分析,剖析了三大地带经济差距产生的原因.结果表明:近20多年来无论是绝对差距、相对差距还是综合差距，三大地带经济区域差异均呈现扩大趋势，尤其是以20世纪90年代初期最为显著。究其原因，除了自然环境和历史背景的影响外，产业结构、所有制结构，投资强度，对外开放程度和社会文化环境等因素均具有重要影响。为缩小三大地带的经济差距，除加强对中西部的投资建设外，应加快对中西部改革开放的步伐，增强了中西部的自我发展能力。     

我国东部沿海地区差距状况以及经济低谷地区的崛起

我国是区域发展差异巨大的大国之一，存在着多种尺度的区域发展差异。从中小尺工区域差异的角度，分析了我国东部沿海地区内部发展差距扩大趋势有其影响，可以看出，东部沿海地区在经济快速发展的同时，也存在着经济相对落后的低谷地区。沿海经济低谷地区分布相对集中于香港－－珠江三角洲、上海－长江三角洲、京津唐－环渤海三个经济隆起带之间，处于省际交界处。按照类型可以分为黄泛平原区、丘陵山区和沿海库区。东部经济低谷地区区位条件相对比较落后，交通可达性较差，产业结构单一，城市化水平发展严重滞后，社会经济发展比较缓慢，这些不利因素制约着该地区经济和社会的发展。根据崛起机制和途径，低谷地区发展呵以分为资源转换型、非国有经济推动型和外资推动型。建议国家修筑贯穿沿海经济低谷地区的东部沿海铁路大通道，降低沿海经济低谷地区设定标准，加快农业产业化发展，对特殊贫困地区实行特殊优惠政策，从而促进东部沿海地区经济协调发展。     

Spatial Variation and Space Optimization of the Development of China’s Circular Economy

Abstract

China’s circular economy is still at the initial stage, whose development has many difficulties and problems requiring immediate resolution theoretically and practically. Due to the differences of regions on the scale of land, endowment of resources, economic basis and cultural background, the developmental levels and capabilities of circular economy are inevitably different. Based on establishing the indicator system for assessing the developmental level of regional circular economy, spatial variation of China’s circular economy is measured by the quantitative measurement using principal component analysis, and the existing problems are also analyzed and discussed. On one hand, the differences of the development capability of the circular economy of different provinces (cities) are profound in China; Difference between the first category (strong) and the second category (relatively strong) is 1.1264 points. Difference between the second category and the third category (relatively weak) is 0.3867 points. Difference between the third category and the fourth category (weak) is 1.0238 points. Difference between the first category and the fourth category reaches up to 2.0869 points. Average difference between the area where the developmental level of circular economy is relatively strong and the area where the developmental level of circular economy is relatively weak is 1.3617 points. The differences of the distribution of the areas, with different development capability of circular economy, which are located in the three economic regions of China, are also profound. The regions with a relatively strong development capability of circular economy are mainly located in the eastern economic area, which account for 22.58% of the whole regions, while only account for 12.90% in the middle and western economic areas. On the contrary, the regions with a relatively weak development capability of circular economy account for 48.39% in the middle and western area, while account for 16.13% in the eastern area. On the other hand, among regions with different development capability of circular economy, the regions with a relatively weak development capability of circular economy are in a dominant position, which account for 64.52% of all the provinces (cities), which indicates that the development of the China’s circular economy still has a long way to go. Though certain achievements have been made in the development of China’s circular economy, in general, there are still some obstacles to be tacked in the development of China’s circular economy which require the economic, legal and administrative methods.     

Analysis of Environmental and Socio-economic Determinants Affecting Population Longevity Level at County Level in China

Abstract

Based on the current literature, this paper is mainly intended to test whether environmental factors and socio-economic factors will have direct effect on the longevity at county level in China in order to determine the major determinants affecting local longevity level. Using the multi-regression model, we find the result that factors such as temperature, climate, longitude, type of soils, as well as type of agricultural food production play a major role in shaping the longevity at county level, and that socioeconomic factors like infant mortality and gross death rate also have some direct impact on longevity, but the degree of impact is not as strong as the above environmental factors.     

中国耕地非农化对经济增长贡献的地区差异分析

现阶段中国耕地非农化对经济增长贡献存在地区差异,掌握差异的主要来源和变化趋势有利于耕地非农化指标的高效调配,促进地区经济增长的协调发展。利用1989~2001年我国东、中、西部建设用地占用耕地面积和国内生产总值的分省数据,测算了以建设用地占用耕地面积和GDP增量为对象的基尼系数、加权变异系数以及泰尔指数等指标,并对泰尔指数进行因素分解得到差异的主要来源和变化趋势。结果表明：三类地区内部省际差异是总体差异的主要来源,其中东部内部差异对总体差异贡献增大、中部减小、西部有先增大后减小趋势。鉴于此,从促进资源的高效利用和保护地区间公平发展环境的角度出发,耕地非农化指标调控的重点在于三类地区各自内部省份之间的调剂。     

Regional Research Capacity-Building in Sustainability Science: Facts,Gaps, and Futures in Northeast Asia

Abstract

Evidence shows that some conceptual ideas relevant to both local and global sustainability have been adopted in some official documents in northeast Asian nations, particularly China, South Korea, and Japan. This seems to be a very positive signal for the future development of sustainability science in this region. However, studyes show that there are still some major gaps there. One is the problem of how to build up the regional research capacity of sustainability science among northeast Asian research institutes across different disciplines as well as different political systems. Another is how to shift the conceptual frameworks of sustainability science into the operational policy frameworks. There are four major obstacles to the enhancement of regional research capacity-building in sustainability science. In order to build up the regional research capacity in sustainability science and to realize both local and global goals of the sustainable development in northeast Asia, this paper proposes some basic frameworks, including regional institutional innovations, establishment of a regional sustainability information network, initiatives of the regional assessment programme, and focus on the regional education and training of sustainability knowledge.     

长江经济带区域经济差异分析

长江经济带是与沿海经济带并列的国家一级发展轴线，自20世纪90年代以来其内部区域经济差距日趋扩大，如何缩小差距以促进长江经济带整体和谐发展是摆在当前的重要任务。基于SPSS12.0统计分析软件和历年统计数据，分析长江经济带内部三大地区及41个地市之间的区域经济差异，找出产生区域差异的主要因素，然后对这些因素进行分析，以期在此基础上找到缩小区域差异、促进可持续发展的政策建议。最后对长江经济带内部各省市经济发展进行预测，分析长江经济带各省市发展的趋势。长江经济带内部差异显著，且有拉大趋势；发展前景良好，是国家重要的经济增长轴。     

Multi-scales Analysis of Driving Forces on Land Use/Cover Change in China: Taking Farmland Returning to Forest or Grassland as a Case

Abstract

Increasing populations are causing an increase in food demands, and the area of cultivated land expands every year. Inappropriate land transition from ecology to production results in the constant decline of the ecological security level and influences the regional sustainable development. Adjusting unreasonable land use mode and reconstructing natural land cover are important ways to maintain and improve the ecological environment. Also reclaiming farmland as areas for forests and grasslands (FRFG) is another way. Successful implementation of FRFG in China is the result of comprehensive effect of the multi-scales driving forces. This paper analyses the driving forces of FRFG in China on a national (country)—regional (province)—local (county)—household (farmer) level scale, and the results are: driving forces at the national scale include ecological and food security and the western development of China; at the regional scale, ecological and economic benefits become the main factors to influence the dimension of FRFG under the same policy. The driving forces can be divided into 6 types: industrial structure adjustment, water source protection, flood prevention, the Three-Gorge Project protection, reduction of the amount of sediment flowing into the Yellow River and wind erosion desertification prevention. The driving forces at the local scale can be divided into 12 types with developing leading industries, increasing farmers' income and improving agricultural production conditions as the main types; at the household scale, the national policy meeting farmers' demands and the optimization of individual interests are all driving forces.     

Industrial layout reconstruction,the role of local government and variation of pollution distribution in China

ABSTRACT

In recent years, high-polluting industries have been gradually shifted from the eastern developed regions to the central and western underdeveloped regions in China. Certain environmental regulations have been in place accordingly in various regions, but the pollution in the central and western regions has risen sharply. Based on the data of interprovincial panel in China from 2006 to 2015, this paper calculates high-pollution industry dynamic agglomeration index, environmental pollution agglomeration index and relative environmental regulation intensity index, and uses Generalized Method of Moments to carry out the regression analyses of the whole samples, regional heterogeneity and temporal heterogeneity. The results show that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between relative environmental regulation and environmental pollution concentration in China. The concentration degrees of industrial wastewater pollution and industrial waste gas pollution are deepened, which are mainly caused by the transfer of highly polluting industries. However, the concentration of industrial solid waste pollution caused by the transfer is not obvious. Furthermore, the deepening of industrialization intensifies the concentration of regional environmental pollution. Environmental Kuznets Curve does exist in China, but it is not significant. The increase of labor cost and quality will reduce the concentration of environmental pollution.     

Study on the Comprehensive Tourism Development Pattern in Periphery Minority Area: A Case Study of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province,China

Abstract

The paper took the human-land relations as a basic point, and the theories of tourism industry system and sustainable development as the guidance, with Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (Gannan) as the case study area. From microcosmic and macroscopic viewpoints, the author carried out function orientation and evaluation to the tourism industry development, and research on the comprehensive tourism industry development pattern of Gannan. Results show that the fragile ecological environment and the traditional economic growth pattern have restricted regional sustainable development, and made Gannan to become a representative of the periphery minority areas in Northwest China. Tourism development of Gannan is at the primary phase, with the characteristics of short industry chain and low economic efficiency. It is an inevitable choice to transform the way of regional economic growth and the development pattern of tourism industry from the traditional pattern to the pattern of sustainable development. Simultaneously, Gannan's natural, national and religious culture makes Gannan a broad prospect on the comprehensive tourism development. Gannan should choose the comprehensive tourism industry as its scientific pattern to realize sustainable development, promote harmonious social, economic and ecological development, alleviate the human-land contradictory, and realize dual goals in terms of ecology construction and economical development. For Gannan and the similar areas in China, studies on the sustainable development pattern of tourism have extremely important strategic sense with respect to tourism development and the sustainable development of regional economy.     

What has caused regional income inequality in China? Effects of 10 socioeconomic factors on per capita income

This study analyzes the driving factors behind regional income inequality to provide an important reference for China and other developing countries and to support the formulation of more effective regional development policies. The study used data from 625 county-level administrative units in China in 2017 and conducted a total factor analysis of China's regional income based on 10 economic dimensions using spatially explicit regression methods. The results show that commerce, population footprint, industrialization, and investment are the main factors that affected a Chinese region’s income, but different factors have different degrees of influence in different regions. The impact of economic institutions (developing an institutionally diverse market economy) on income cannot be ignored. Based on our findings, China should give local governments more autonomy, so they can formulate strategies that account for local constraints and opportunities, thereby increasing their chances of decreasing regional income inequality.

     

中国城市化发展决定因素的地区差异

城市化的发展与地方经济发展水平和劳动力迁移密切相关，中重城市化进程中的一个显著特征是区域差异非常明显，其根源是在国内经济发展水平不同的各地区，影响城市化发展的诸因素之发育程度及所起作用不同。本文运用平行数据《panal》模型，对影响中国各省、直辖市和自治区城市化发展的请因素进行了实证分析。主要结论为：①各地区之间，特别是沿海与内地之间。城市化进程的差异非常显著。②在中部地区，第二产业的发展对当地城市化水平的提高起推动作用；而在沿海地区，则由第三产业扮演着更为重要的角色。③对外开放政策对推动中国的城市化发展起了显著作用，在沿海省份表现尤为突出。由此可以推断。中、西部开放力度的加大将推动当地城市化的发展。④农村非农产业的发展在城市化进程中发挥着双重作用：在沿海和西部地区，农村非农产业对城市化起补充作用；而在中部地区，则起替代作用。