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China’s paper industry consumes a lot of energy and emits huge amounts of pollutions. The Chinese government over the past decades has done a lot to promote energy efficiency of the industry. This paper studies the impact of industrial polices to improve energy efficiency. The energy efficiency change is firstly studied under a framework of total factor efficiency. On this basis, different econometric models are built to discuss the detailed energy efficiency characteristics of the paper industry. The main results are as follow: (i) ownership structure did influence the energy efficiency, but the influence is different in different conditions; (ii) energy efficiency of the paper industry can be improved by economies of scale; (iii) market competition can to some extent overcome the motivation and supervision problem that often occur in state-owned companies; (iv) energy price cannot play the role of resource allocation well in China. Finally, based on our findings, some suggestions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's paper industry accounts for a larger proportion of the global paper industry and consumes large amounts of energy. Energy conservation and pollution reduction of the industry have become the focus of China's national development strategy. Energy efficiency is an important index which directly determines the amounts of energy consumption and pollution emissions. To understand the energy efficiency evolution of China's paper industry, this paper establishes an input-output data of the paper industry for 29 provinces in China and applies DEA method and econometric models to estimate and comprehensively discuss the energy efficiency issues based on the framework of total factor efficiency. Our results indicate that China's paper industry has a large energy saving potential even though its energy efficiency has improved during the period 1990–2013. The saving potential is about 65% under the meta-frontier and 44% under the group-frontier. Moreover, there are significant differences between different regions in production technology and energy efficiency. The performance of eastern China is better than other regions. But the technology gaps between the different regions are shrinking and converging over time. Finally, some policy recommendations are proposed to improve the energy efficiency of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's ecological environmental problem becomes severe, corporate environmental behavior (CEB) has become the focus of a range of stakeholders, policy makers and the whole society since the operating activities of companies is the main source of environmental pollution. This study used a questionnaire survey and structural equation model (SEM) to examine the relative importance of external and internal pressures (EIP) on driving CEB. Data was obtained from 702 papermaking companies in China. The mechanism of EIP effects on CEB was tested employing SEM through path analysis, using AMOS 21.0. The results showed that government pressure, economic pressure and internal pressure played significant positive roles in environmental behavior of papermaking companies in China. Economic pressure was the most important factor on environmental behaviors (including defensive, accommodative and proactive behaviors) of papermaking companies. Furthermore, the role of internal pressure on CEB (defensive and proactive) was second only to economic pressure, while the role of government pressure on CEB was much weaker than our expectation. However, the role of social pressure, which was imposed by general public and environmental Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), was not significant. Thus, policy makers should emphasize on the interactions of economic mechanism, government regulation and internal incentive mechanism to stimulate firms to adopt active environmental behavior. More concerns from the general public shall be addressed to enhance their driving effect on CEB in Chinese papermaking industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the domain of global socio-economic dynamics, the pivotal role of food production (FP) cannot be overstated. It constitutes the bedrock of fundamental human necessities while being inexorably linked with critical aspects such as economic expansion, societal equilibrium, and geopolitical interplays. The multifaceted nature of FP appears through its direct impact on macroeconomic indicators and its latent influence on international relations and policy-making. This critical nexus underscores the imperative for a comprehensive understanding and strategic management of food production processes to sustain and enhance global socio-economic stability and growth. Investigating the nexus between green finance (GF) and FP is pivotal for ensuring national security and promoting sustainable economic development. This research thus paper examines GF's impact on FP in China as outlined in the 2017 green finance policies. It employs the difference-in-differences (DID) method and analyzes a balanced panel dataset comprising 282 cities in China from 2009 to 2020. The results show that GF has an inhibitory effect on FP, and this remains valid after a range of reliability checks, including parallel trend assessments and placebo tests. Further findings of transmission mechanism analysis indicate that non-agricultural factors and financial exclusion are critical for GF's inhibitory effect on FP. Heterogeneity analyses show that GF's inhibitory effect on FP is more pronounced in the main food-producing areas, the main food-marketing areas, and cities with better infrastructure. The empirical results of this paper comprehensively illustrate GF's impact on FP and how it contributes to the achievement of food security objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early childhood education programs have been found to effectively promote children's social and cognitive development. However, the health impact of these programs is less understood. Using a quasi-experiment of the first universal child care reform in China from 2010, this paper aims to identify whether the preschool reform produces any short-term effects on health-related outcomes of preschoolers (3-6 years old). Specifically, this reform expands access to affordable preschools that provide full-day center-based education, with school meals and essential health services on campus. I exploit the variation in the number of newly established preschools across provinces and implement difference-in-differences and triple-difference strategies. Results confirm the effectiveness of this reform by showing a strong and positive impact on preschool attendance. This paper then documents the benefits to alleviating underweight among preschoolers. Estimates show a larger effect in rural areas, suggesting that the reform narrows rural-urban disparities in education access and undernutrition prevention. I also explore the impact on caregivers' health consciousness and find improved health-seeking behavior when children get sick. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The current approaches to study the coupling mechanism between economy and environment seem to fall into self-circulation, failed to reveal "economy–environment interdependence". In this context, an exogenous variable is introduced into these models for better understanding the relationship. Benzo[a]pyrene (Bap) environment inventories in different cities in China were estimated by fugacity model based on Bap concentration data collected from previous studies. An extended model, stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT), generated from original IPAT (a model that expresses the idea that environmental impact (I) is the product of three factors: population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T)) was used to study the relationship between Bap environment inventory and anthropogenic factors including population, vehicle amount, affluence and energy consumption. A ridge regression has been applied to optimize the model parameters. Overall, there exist good relationships between Bap inventories and economic factors. Specifically, population and affluence are the most significant factors that influence Bap inventory. Rise of the scale of population and vehicle amount increases the Bap inventory, as growth of GDP per capita and the efficiency of energy utilization have inhibitory effect on Bap inventory. Apparently, the influences of anthropogenic factors on Bap inventory are different between north and south China. Bap inventory in north China is more sensitive to the change of population and energy consumption, while is highly correlated to GDP per capita in south China. Further, according to social-economic development prediction, with assist of the result from STIRPAT model, we find out that Bap inventory drop 31% from 2001 to 2020 in China. Our estimates are comparable with the published data and confirmed that Bap can be regarded as a chemical indicator of social-economic development in China. Image 1 • An extended STIRPAT model derived from original IPAT was developed. • Population and affluence are the key factors that influence Bap inventory. • Advance of affluence and technology level curbs Bap environmental exposure. • We predict Bap environmental inventory drop 31% from 2001 to 2020 in China. • Bap can be used as an indicator of social-economic development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a perspective on the potential of Chinese ecological agriculture to address sustainable human–environmental interactions. As Chinese agriculture is increasingly challenged by the constraints of population, resources and environment emerging from its modern development, it is imperative to explore a sustainable agricultural paradigm that could accommodate economic and socio-cultural needs within an already stressed natural resource base. The rise of ecological agriculture is suggested as a workable alternative that has the potential to mitigate negative impacts of modern conventional agriculture and at the same time, to overcome limitations of traditional agriculture in meeting the needs of China''s growing population. Ecological agriculture represents a site-specific manifestation of the application of ecological economics, among others, to agricultural practices. Some challenges being experienced in translating this rhetoric into practice are identified and discussed. Highlighted is the view that sustainable agricultural development is meaningful only when it is tailored to specific ecological, economic, political and socio-cultural settings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Measure the land dispute intensity (LDI) at the provincial level in China. • The geodetector model, OLS, and SDM models are used to explore the spillover effects of LDI. • Panel threshold model is applied to explore the non-linear relationship between socioeconomic factors and land disputes. Land disputes pose significant challenges to social stability and development. In this paper, land dispute intensity (LDI) is measured at the provincial level in China from 2009 to 2018 and its spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors are explored. The ordinary least squares(OLS), spatial durbin model (SDM), geodetector model, and panel threshold model are used to explore the spatial spillover effects of LDI and its potential non-linear relationship with socio-economic factors. The results reveal that LDI is spatially distributed in a decentralized form, with local areas showing the structural characteristics of "single core, multiple clusters". The LDI exhibits a significant positive spatial autocorrelation and follows a "logarithmic" upward trend over time. The urbanization rate (UR), social security expenditures (SSE), and the number of land and resources institutions (NLRI) are important driving forces affecting LDI. The SSE and NLRI have a single threshold effect on the LDI, with a "V" shaped weakening trend, and the UR is an important factor causing nonlinear effects. Interestingly, the effect shifts from inhibition to stimulation when the SSE and NLRI cross the corresponding threshold value. This paper can provide new insights into the governance of land disputes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photochemical air quality models (AQMs) are a vital tool for atmospheric pollution research and have been widely used in various applications, such as air quality prediction and evaluation of pollution control strategies. Before using these models for further studies, it is essential to thoroughly evaluate their reliability and accuracy. While previous guidelines and benchmarks have primarily focused on fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) and ozone (O 3), there is still a lack of benchmarks for evaluating the model performance on primary criteria pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO 2), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 10 μm (PM 10). The use of air quality models in China has increased significantly in the past decades. However, there is still a lack of standardized benchmarks for the performance evaluation of these models. Building upon our previous work on PM 2.5 and its chemical species, we propose a set of benchmarks for evaluating the performance of the aforementioned four air pollutants. Initially, we identified a total of 475 papers published during 2007–2019 that utilized at least one of the five commonly used AQMs in China. From these papers, we selected 164 articles that provided model performance evaluation (MPE) results of the four primary air pollutants. The three most frequently used Model Performance Evaluation (MPE) metrics were selected to analyse the impact of different model configurations on the reported statistics, including modelling region, season, and emission inventory. Lastly, three commonly used statistical indicators, including normalized mean bias (NMB), normalized mean error (NME), and correlation coefficient (R), were proposed for the validation of simulated NO 2 , SO 2 , CO, and PM 10. Two sets of benchmarks are given, including the "goal" and "criteria". The "goal" represents the best range of performance that a model can be expected to achieve, and the "criteria" represents performance that the majority of studies have achieved. We recommend R values above 0.50, 0.35, 0.45, and 0.40 for NO 2 , SO 2 , PM 10 , and CO, respectively, in order to meet the "criteria" benchmark. If the "goal" benchmark is to be achieved, the corresponding R values are 0.60, 0.55, 0.60, and 0.60. The "goal" benchmarks of NMB for NO 2 , SO 2 , PM 10 , and CO are within ±20%, ±25%, ±20%, and ±25%, respectively; while the "goal" benchmarks of NME for the four pollutants are less than 40%, 45%, 45%, and 60%, respectively. These benchmarks supplement our previous benchmarks for PM 2.5 and its components and provide a more comprehensive guideline for the air quality modelling community in China. • A set of benchmarks for evaluation of the NO 2 , SO 2 , CO and PM 10 simulation over China are proposed. • Three commonly used statistical indicators (NMB, NME, and R) were proposed for the validation of the four pollutants. • The goal benchmarks of NMB for NO 2 , SO 2 , PM 10 , and CO are <20%, <25%, <20% and <25%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Established conservation key areas identification methodology. • Conducted conservation Gap analysis combining global data with local characteristics. • Delineated six conservation priority levels for the blank areas of nature reserves. The global system of nature reserves is facing adjustment and restructuring towards the goal of harmonizing ecological conservation with regional development. We use multiple ecoregion data at both global and national scales as ecological indicators to explore the gap areas of China's nature reserves, which can help to build a global network of nature reserve systems and lay a spatial foundation for global biodiversity conservation. This paper comprehensively resorts to the ideas and modeling approaches involved in gap analysis, conservation prioritization analysis and eco-region planning. After identifying in both global and national scales the potential areas with gaps in national nature reserves in China, it proposes conservation priority areas and optimization strategies. The study finds that in a global extent, the areas with the gaps in China cover a large area and are distributed widely, mostly on the both sides of the Tengchong-Heihe Line. The conservation priority areas are concentrated in mid-subtropical humid areas, plateau subtropical sub-humid areas and semi-arid areas, and plateau temperate humid/sub-humid areas. These areas are usually not sufficiently protected due to their diversified landforms, complex ecosystems and lack of protection measures. The results have verified and identified the areas with gaps in the building of Chinese national nature reserve system. They may make a unique and important contribution to global ecological conservation efforts in terms of protected area system optimization and conservation network building. This paper analyses the conservation gaps in China's national nature reserves and proposes conservation priority areas for optimising the layout of the nature reserve network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green total factor productivity is a vital measure of sustainable progress, holding immense implications for attaining both economic growth and environmental preservation in a mutually beneficial manner. Focusing on green total factor productivity, this paper examines its nexus with low-carbon energy technology using the Instrumental Variable Generalized Method of Moments (IV-GMM) model, based on a panel dataset in China during 2005–2018. This paper also examines the asymmetric impact of low-carbon energy technology on green total factor productivity. In addition, the moderating and mediating effects are checked. The main findings are that (1) low-carbon energy technology is a promoting factor for green total factor productivity. (2) Low-carbon energy technology exerts a more prominent marginal impact on green total factor productivity when green total factor productivity is at higher quantile levels. (3) Renewable energy generation not only drives green total factor productivity directly, but also further increases the promotion effect of low-carbon energy technology on green total factor productivity, showing a positive moderating role. (4) Energy structure transition and industrial structure transition are two internal impact mechanisms between low-carbon energy technology and green total factor productivity. These findings suggest that the government can promote green total factor productivity development by developing policies related to low-carbon energy technology and fully releasing the effects of technology on sustainable development. • This paper assesses the level of low-carbon energy technology (LCET) in China. • This paper examines the effect of LCET on green total factor productivity (GTFP). • LCET plays a significant role in enhancing GTFP. • Renewable energy generation positively moderates the nexus between LCET and GTFP. • Energy structure transition and industrial structure transition are two mechanisms. [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]

• Changes of ecosystem services based on Nature-based solutions were evaluated from 76 screened papers. • Five ecosystem services have improved after the implementation of ecological restoration projects. • Tradeoffs and synergies among ecosystem services had mixed effects. • Natural factors had a greater influence on ecosystem services than socioeconomic ones. Nature-based solutions (NbS), an upgraded version of ecological restoration concept, has developed as an integrated approach to encompass a broad range of actions that protect, restore, or sustainably manage ecosystems to provide benefits to people. However, it is challenging to obtain a thorough understanding of the effectiveness of NbS because of the uncertainty of the assessment in different regions based on ecosystem services. Here, we conduct a synthesis analysis of the effects of ecological interventions on ecosystem quality within China. We systematically analyze 76 studies selected from 275 peer-reviewed papers, which were undertaken at regional scale and published between 2011 and 2022. Average values of ecosystem services before and after the ecological interventions are extracted to quantify the ecosystem changes. Results show that ecological restoration purposefully contributes to the improvements of ecosystem services with an increase in Net Primary Productivity (NPP) of 31% and an increase in soil conservation (SC) of 21%. Effects on water yield (WY), carbon storage (CS) and habitat quality (HQ) are all not significant. Restoration interventions have a mixed effect on ecosystem service trade-offs which may vary by regions. Trade-offs primarily exist between WY and other ecosystem services on the Northeastern Forest Belt and the Southwestern Karst, while synergies mainly exist among NPP, SC and CS on the Loess Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Moreover, utilizing grey correlation analysis methods, factor analysis reveals that temperature and precipitation are highly correlated with the changes of the five ecosystem services. Natural factors contribute more to the changes of NPP, SC and WY than the human factors. This research is aimed at obtaining an overall perception of the effectiveness of ecological restoration programmes implementation in different regions across China, which will provide references for reducing ecosystem services trade-offs and adjusting the layouts of regional ecological restoration programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational assessment of the regional sustainable development level is an important prerequisite for formulating development strategies and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, little literature provides nuanced understanding for national sustainable development from the perspective of county sustainability. Such studies can provide more accurate regional heterogeneity characteristics and policy decision support. Thus, this paper applies the entropy weight method and Chinese county data from 2000 to 2017 to reassess the sustainability of Chinese counties. The results show that China's county sustainability (Sustainable Development Index, SDI) is slowly improving. County sustainability performance is poorer in ethnic minority agglomerations, poor counties, old revolutionary counties, and central and western regions, better in county-level cities and eastern regions. The decomposition results show that economic sustainability and environmental sustainability are the main supporters of SDI growth, and livelihood sustainability is in urgent need of improvement. The regional inequality of SDI in Chinese counties gradually decreases, and inter-group differences are the main contributors to regional inequality in SDI. This paper provides support for China to develop county-level sustainable development measures and practice the SDGs. The findings could be useful for policymakers. [Display omitted] • Based on the entropy weight method and the Chinese county data, the sustainable development levels of 1533 counties in China from 2000 to 2017 are estimated. • Analyses of spatial-temporal dynamic heterogeneity, Linear decomposition, and Dagum decomposition are conducted to study the features of sustainable development in Chinese counties. •The influence of natural features and national concern preferences on county sustainable development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the complex network of industry space, this paper investigates the industry structure optimization in Jiangxi Province in China. For the prefecture-level cities in Jiangxi Province, the location quotient is applied to obtain the specialized sub-industries. The conditional probability is used to analyze the interdependencies between industries. The complex network of industry space is presented to illustrate the relatedness among industries and analyze the space and structure of the regional overall industry. The index of transitional potential is proposed to measure the potential of a non-specialized industry which will become a specialized one in the future. The transformation difficulty index of industry is obtained to analyze the difficulty level of the transformation of the original specialized industry set to a new specialized one of a city. The results show that more industries have positive than negative interdependencies with one another in Jiangxi Province; rare industries specialize in cities at higher-level GDP, and common industries dominate the cities at lower-level GDP; it is more difficult for rarer non-specialized industries to become specialized ones, more common non-specialized industries can become specialized ones more easily, and the cities with higher GDP can transform industries more easily. By discussing the industries that have positive interdependencies with existing specialized industries, the detailed direction of industry structure optimization is analyzed. Finally, the policy implications are proposed, and these can be applied to other developing countries. • The conditional probability is used to analyze the interdependencies between industries. • The complex network of industry space is presented to illustrate the relatedness among industries. • The index of transitional potential is used to measure the potential of a non-specialized industry becoming specialized. • The transformation difficulty index is the difficulty level of the transformation of the originally specialized industry. • The industry structure can be optimized by developing the industries that have positive interdependencies with existing specialized industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The time-varying dynamics of the transition to renewable energy reflect the effectiveness and efficiency of energy policy. This paper investigates renewable energy transition behavior in China using Markov regime-switching models. Two distinct phases, expansion and contraction, are identified based on the growth rates of renewable energy consumption share. We find that since China started its new-energy national strategy in 2005, there has been an extended period in which it has been in the expansion state, although it occasionally reverts to a contraction state. Intriguingly, we uncover that the timing of transition state changes can be explained by the changes in policy-related, market-based instruments and risk-related indexes. These findings present implications for policymakers in developing more precise and effective policies, that drives investment choices to align with the goal of a sustainable energy system. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terrace abandonment in hilly and mountainous regions, particularly in China, has become a significant concern. However, comprehensive assessments of abandonment patterns and underlying causes are still lacking. This paper elucidates the patterns, determinants, and impacts of terraces abandonment in China by using data from a survey of 580 villages across 346 counties and employing spatial analysis and the Heckman two-stage model. Terrace abandonment, which began in the 1990s, has progressively intensified, peaking in 2015. Currently, 51.55% of surveyed villages experience terrace abandonment, affecting 21.17% of households and 8.37% of the total terrace area, with a distinct prevalence in the South and scarcity in the North. Key factors contributing to terrace abandonment include low returns compared to other options, wildlife damage, high engagement in non-farm labor, and substantial non-farm income. In 2021, terrace abandonment led to the loss of 9.36 million tons of grain production capacity, enough to fulfill the yearly consumption requirements of 23.4 million people. Moreover, terrace abandonment undermines the cultural importance of terraced agriculture, reduces tourism potential, and hinders rural rejuvenation. The challenge of terrace abandonment is anticipated to worsen with the increase in non-farm economic activities and ecological restoration projects in hilly and mountainous regions. It is crucial for the government to implement measures to enhance terrace management. These measures include reducing operational costs for large contiguous plots, promoting the cultivation of cash crops to increase revenues from extensive scattered plots, and advocating for the reforestation of agricultural land to enhance the ecological value of remote terraces at higher altitudes. Addressing these issues can achieve sustainable terrace use and management, contributing to broader rural development and ecological goals. [Display omitted] • Terrace abandonment has been observed across approximately 60 countries. • 21.17% of households and 8.37% of terrace areas have experienced abandonment. • Terrace abandonment has led to a decrease in China's grain production capacity by 9.36 million tons. • Terrace abandonment may intensify because of the expanding non-farm economy and ecological restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This study applied a logistic growth model with parameters estimated by a non-linear least squares (NLS) method to daily new COVID-19 cases. • The model fitted time-series data exceedingly well for the whole of China, eleven selected Chinese provinces and municipalities, South Korea and Iran. • This study provided key estimates and a 95% confidence interval for parameters K , r, and P 0. • This study found that the growth rates of outbreaks differed between provinces in China and between South Korea and Iran. • As of March 13, 2020, this study's model suggested that countries such as the U.S.A., France, Italy, and Spain were still in the early stages of outbreaks. As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to proliferate globally, this paper shares the findings of modelling the outbreak in China at both provincial and national levels. This paper examines the applicability of the logistic growth model, with implications for the study of the COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases. An NLS (Non-Linear Least Squares) method was employed to estimate the parameters of a differentiated logistic growth function using new daily COVID-19 cases in multiple regions in China and in other selected countries. The estimation was based upon training data from January 20, 2020 to March 13, 2020. A restriction test was subsequently implemented to examine whether a designated parameter was identical among regions or countries, and the diagnosis of residuals was also conducted. The model's goodness of fit was checked using testing data from March 14, 2020 to April 18, 2020. The model presented in this paper fitted time-series data exceedingly well for the whole of China, its eleven selected provinces and municipalities, and two other countries - South Korea and Iran - and provided estimates of key parameters. This study rejected the null hypothesis that the growth rates of outbreaks were the same among ten selected non-Hubei provinces in China, as well as between South Korea and Iran. The study found that the model did not provide reliable estimates for countries that were in the early stages of outbreaks. Furthermore, this study concured that the R 2 values might vary and mislead when compared between different portions of the same non-linear curve. In addition, the study identified the existence of heteroskedasticity and positive serial correlation within residuals in some provinces and countries. The findings suggest that there is potential for this model to contribute to better public health policy in combatting COVID-19. The model does so by providing a simple logistic framework for retrospectively analyzing outbreaks in regions that have already experienced a maximal proliferation in cases. Based upon statistical findings, this study also outlines certain challenges in modelling and their implications for the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dramatic increase in textile waste and the ineffective disposal of textiles as emerging global issues are driving researchers to study new ways of thinking and designing textile waste policies with the aim of conserving resources and reducing the environmental impact of textile waste. However, there is limited research that systematically and comprehensively examines the development processes of policies that govern textile waste management. It is important to identify the underlying issues and improve textile waste management systems. This paper fills this gap by presenting a comprehensive study of the development and characteristics of policies related to textile waste in China. All the major textile waste policies issued between 1991 and 2017 at the central-government level have been examined to ensure accuracy and reliability. To achieve the descriptive objective of the study, content analysis was employed, and the following conclusions were derived: (1) The number of policies has gradually increased since more stringent textile waste management was introduced in 2001, and although the Chinese government has continuously reinforced its supervision from 2010 onwards, stringency remains low; (2) most policies regulate the recycling level of the waste hierarchy, as in open-loop recycling, and only a couple of polices regulate higher levels; and (3) the highly imbalanced structure of policy instrument types has been changing, and the variety of policy instruments has peaked in recent years. This paper contributes a general and important reference relating to textile waste policies for governments and businesses in other industrialized nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current era of Industrial 4.0, open innovation, and the sharing economy, innovation ecosystems are formed through government-industry-university (triple helix) interaction. The concept of responsible innovation has emerged to explore how innovation can be conducted in a transparent, trustworthy, and sustainable way so as to respond to the public interest. While current literature provides a conceptual framework, details of how responsible innovation can be formed, developed, and sustained in the sharing economy, in particular in developing countries, have been under-explored. This paper aims to explore factors of responsible innovation, linking dimensions with business practice, and identify the dynamic stages of the industry life cycle. Through an in-depth case study of China's shared bicycle industry and the firm Hellobike, this paper has prioritized factors which lead to responsibility, such as user safety and friendliness in product design, real-time operations combined with big data, collaboration between industry and local government for industry standardization, and user credit systems. It has enriched key dimensions based on literature and case studies and proposed dynamic interaction models for industry, government, users, and universities at different stages of responsible innovation in the shared bicycle sector. From this empirical study, future research areas have been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable portfolio standard (RPS) is a compulsory institutional change to achieve low-carbon energy transformation in China. Its success depends on the scientific system quasi-parameter design, the most important system quasi-parameter is the benchmark price of the tradable green certificate (TGC). Setting the benchmark price of TGC scientifically and reasonably in line with China's national conditions is conducive to the effective implementation of RPS in China. Based on the system dynamics (SD) to construct China's green certificate trading market model, this paper analyzes the interaction between the TGC market and the electricity market under the RPS, and uses Vensim simulation to simulate the optimal TGC benchmark price based on the maximization of social welfare. The results show that the TGC market and the electricity market are mutually influential. As the benchmark price of TGC increases, the total power generation increases and the on-grid price decreases. Consumer surplus, producer surplus and social welfare all reach the maximum when the TGC benchmark price is 0.4yuan/KWh, so determines 0.4yuan/kWh as the optimal benchmark price of TGC. • The cyclical influence mechanism of TGC price are studied. • The trading process of TGC market and electricity market is analyzed by SD model. • This paper reveals the optimal TGC's benchmark price from China perspective. • This paper simulates the operation of the TGC market in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty remains one of the long-term chronic dilemmas facing the sustainable development of human society during the 21st century. The spatiotemporal dynamics of poor regions, particularly in developing countries, is crucial for realizing fundamental sustainable development goals (SDGs). For decades, many scholars have sought to accurately measure, identify and alleviate poverty at different geographical scales. However, reliable data about the estimation of poverty remain scarce for developing countries, hindering efforts to accurately identify poverty. This paper utilizes the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) sensor nighttime light imagery to identify poor counties in China from 1992 to 2013. Using 16 statistical and spatial features extracted from this nighttime light imagery and using 96 poor counties and 96 nonpoor counties from 2010 as the classification sample, we describe the spatiotemporal dynamics of poor counties based on a random forests approach. Our study finds that the number of poor counties is decreasing in a fluctuating pattern and that contiguous poverty-stricken areas are becoming fragmented. The reduction in poor counties exhibits a manner of moving horizontally from the eastern regions to the central and western parts of China, while the number of poor counties in the central and western regions has decreased around the central cities or areas. The Aihui-Tengchong Line is not the dividing line in the distribution of poor counties in China, which means that China's poor can also be found in areas with relatively high population density. Together, the findings reveal that the key to reducing regional poverty is the development of regional economies and the implementation of national macro policies. This paper provides references for formulating antipoverty strategies for each county and offers new insights into poverty estimation and regional sustainable development for other developing countries. Image 1 • A new research framework is proposed to identify poverty. • Imagery and random forests are used to classify poor counties. • Spatiotemporal dynamics of poor counties are monitored in China. • Poverty dynamics generate implication for poverty policy and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most swiftly industrializing countries in the world, China is struggling with significant challenges facing its environment, in particular in its marine ecosystems. Hence, economic activities increasingly are influencing these ecosystems, requiring their study crucial for sustainable development. Therefore, it is paramount perceiving the potential implications of economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) for marine health. The study aims to explore the impact of economic growth and FDI on China's marine ecosystem during 1980–2019, examining the probable intersections of economic advancement, FDI, and marine sustainability, the study used a novel nonlinear Fourier Autoregressive Distributed Lags (FARDL) approach. Notably, the paper confirms the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Curve (FGLCC) hypothesis, demonstrating a nonlinear affiliation among income levels and maritime conditions. Moreover, the results point out that FDI initially worsens marine conditions until a certain threshold is reached, marking a pivotal change in the influence of FDI from environmental degradation to improvement. In addition, the study underscores the critical need for policies that balance economic development with Chines' marine environmental sustainability, emphasizing the importance of intended regulatory and strategic interventions. These insights are vital for enhancing marine requirements and ensuring well-being and health of future generations, providing significant implications maritime policymakers in addressing marine environmental challenges amid economic development. [Display omitted] • Analyzes China's marine sustainability from 1980 to 2019 using the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Factor. • Proposes and tests the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Curve hypothesis. • Evaluates marine Pollution Haven and marine Pollution Halo hypotheses. • Provides evidence for FGLCC and marine Pollution Haven based on Fourier ARDL modelling. • Offers insights into balancing economic growth and marine ecosystem preservation in China through key policy levers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart energy plays an important role in alleviating energy poverty in China in the context of the new technological revolution and industrial change. This paper uses China's smart pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment, employing China's provincial panel data from 2011 to 2022, measuring energy poverty indices based on a projection pursuit evaluation model, and conducting a quasi-natural experiment using a synthetic control method to assess the effect of smart energy on energy poverty and specific mechanisms of action. The study found that smart energy has a specific and significant impact on energy poverty, but the effect differs in different regions depending on the construction cycle and energy endowment. In the mechanism test, smart energy significantly alleviates energy poverty through the mechanisms of improving energy supply capacity, improving energy payment capacity, and improving energy cleanliness. The results of the study provide empirical references for regional solutions to energy poverty and the planning of smart energy construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies on water resource issues focus on water scarcity while largely lacking an integrative water balance health assessment and ignoring the combined impacts of water quality, water transfer, and unconventional water resources on water balance. Here, we proposed a novel framework for assessing regional water balance health considering three dimensions of water problems about imbalances: water scarcity, water inequality, and systems incoordination. This paper first quantified the levels of water balance health at multiple geographic and temporal scales in China, and then investigated the critical components and the impacts of improved surface water quality, inter-basin water transfer, and unconventional water use on the local water balance health. Results showed that China was under an unhealthy water balance due to multiple imbalances based on the annual average assessments during 2014–2018. More than 45% of the national population (∼615 million people) was affected by an unhealthy water balance. Hotspots with unhealthy water balance exhibited spatial heterogeneity and temporal variability, with Northern China experiencing unhealthy water balance throughout the year, while Southern China usually faced this issue during the winter. Unhealthy water balance in Northern China was primarily driven by water scarcity, while in the west of the Hu-Huanyong Line, water inequality exacerbated the situation. Southeastern China faced systems incoordination, particularly vulnerable during extreme events, such as severe droughts. More than 400 and 150 million people benefited significantly from improved surface water quality and inter-basin water transfer, respectively, relieving unhealthy water balance. However, the effectiveness of unconventional water use was found to be limited. This study contributed to a better understanding of water balance health and facilitated the development of policies for integrated water resources management in China. [Display omitted] • A novel method is proposed to quantify water balance health level at a basin scale. • China is experiencing an unhealthy water balance with multiple imbalances. • Over 45% of the national population is affected by an unhealthy water balance. • Geographic patterns of the critical components responsible for unhealthy water balance are determined. • Effectiveness of multiple measures in improving water balance health level is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being one of the significant conduits linking international and domestic markets, agricultural trade is an area of study that commands attention. While it may bring about transnational carbon emission transfers, it begs the question: does it promote carbon reduction in a country's agricultural sector? Such an inquiry holds profound implications for optimizing agricultural trade and promoting low-carbon agricultural advancement. Utilizing two-way fixed effect model, mediating effect model and dual-fixed spatial Durbin model, this paper examines the impact effects, mechanisms and spatial characteristics of agricultural trade openness (ATO) on agricultural carbon reduction using panel data from Chinese provinces spanning 2000 to 2021. The main findings include: (1) ATO markedly and positively influences the reduction of agricultural carbon emissions (ACE), this conclusion maintains its validity under endogeneity treatment and robustness tests. (2) ATO contributes to reducing ACE through three intermediary channels: scale effect, technological effect, and structural effect. (3) From a spatial perspective, a notable positive spatial spillover effect is observed from agricultural trade openness to agricultural carbon reduction, with the spatial carbon reduction effect being more apparent. (4) The spatial carbon reduction effect of agricultural trade liberalization exhibits heterogeneity across different natural geographical locations and levels of ATO. The study confirms the vital role of ATO in promoting agricultural carbon reduction in typical countries, underscoring the urgency and importance of bolstering cross-border agricultural trade cooperation and domestic agricultural product circulation in the domain of climate change. • The impact of agricultural trade openness (ATO) on agricultural carbon reduction is investigated in China. • The scale, technological, and structural effect of ATO serve as intermediary channels in reducing carbon emissions. • ATO engenders positive spatial spillover effects on agricultural carbon reduction. • Bolstering cross-border agricultural trade cooperation are of importance and urgency in the domain of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper provides analysis of the availability of grain straw resources for centralised industrial usages and suitable areas in China at the prefectural level. China has abundant straw resources for both decentralised and centralised usages. Decentralised usages are inefficient and cannot absorb enough straw. However, centralised usages have technological and economic problems, such as product cost and resource supply, and therefore, a system analysis of the economic available resources and suitable areas are needed. Three main grain crops – rice, wheat, and corn – and three typical centralised usages – paper making, direct combustion power generation, and bioethanol – are investigated in this study. An optimal model is established on the basis of straw resource characteristics and techno-economic characteristics of the usages and used to calculate the distribution of suitable prefectures and the largest supply of resources for each usage. The study focuses on prefectures in 13 provinces with relatively abundant grain straw resources. The suitable areas for paper making are in North China, for direct combustion power generation are in North and Northeast China, for bioethanol are in Northeast China. The largest economic available resources for paper making, direct combustion power generation, and bioethanol are 47.5, 221.4, and 164.4 million tons, respectively. The operation cost and the ratio of straw actually collected from production are selected for conducting a sensitivity analysis. The impacts of other factors, including the geographical environment, local product demand, existing industry, change in total straw production, technical progress and straw from other crops, are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The metal industry (MI) in China is energy and emissions intensive. This paper tries to provide guidance for the green development transformation of China's MI, by investigating the green total-factor productivity (GTFP) and its influencing factors using a global data envelopment analysis and a spatial Tobit regression model. The estimation results show that: (1) from 2000 to 2015, GTFP of China's MI enjoyed a considerable improvement. However, the current value of GTFP of China's MI is still less than 0.5, indicating that GTFP of China's MI is far from efficient; (2) the spatial correlation test shows that GTFPs of China's provincial MIs have positive spatial correlations. Most of the provinces scattered in "high-high" and "low-low" agglomerations; (3) GTFP of China's MI is significantly positive related to the degree of marketization, fiscal decentralization, environmental regulation, industrial scale, is significantly negative related to resources endowment and product structure, and has "U" shaped relationship with the level of economic development. The above results suggest that China already has made remarkable achievements in promoting green development of its MI. However, there is much room for further improvement. Policy options for the green development transformation of China's MI include but are not limited to promoting market-oriented and financial system reforms, strengthening environmental supervision, and optimizing industrial scale and product structure. Finally, recommendations for the effective implementation of these policies are provided at the end of the study. • This paper analyzed the historical performance and influencing factors of GTFP of China's MI. • Results show that GTFP of China's MI achieved considerable improvement in the past few years. • However, the current level of GTFP of China's MI is still very low. • There are many effective policy options for further promoting GTFP growth of China's MI. • Some implications for the implementation of these policies are provided in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Currently, wind and solar energy have not been well utilized in China, and the rate of abandoned wind and solar facilities in China is increasing annually. Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are an effective system for promoting large-scale renewable energy integration and consumption and realizing the goal of renewable energy development. To clarify the interactive relationship between the different levels and multiple actors in RPS, this paper uses policy network theory to analyze the interactive relationship of stakeholders from the three aspects of network subject, network structure and network interaction. The policy network of the RPS consists of the policy community, professional network, intergovernmental network, producer network and issue network. Under the RPS, to meet their own needs, participants affect the formulation and implementation of the RPS through the actions of confrontation, alliance, competition and cooperation. In different stages of developing the RPS, the openness and integration of policy networks change accordingly. This study overcomes the limitations of past simple analyses of the actor relationship in the policy process and thereby offers certain reference significance. Highlights • The actors of RPS policy networks are analyzed. • This paper analyze the game relationship of the stakeholders from three aspects. • This research reveals the network relationship between multiple stakeholders. • This study breaks through the limitations of past analysis of actor relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper builds an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) multiple logistic regression model to analyze how socio-economic development impacts mainland China's coastal waters environment. China's coastal provinces have significantly different seawater quality at different stages of the seawater's EKC. Jiangsu and Hebei are still at the early stage of the seawater's EKC because of the large quantity of pollution-intensive industry, whereas the coastal provinces at the late stage of the seawater's EKC have presented obviously improved seawater quality based on adjustments in the industrial structure since 2001. Urbanization has a severe impact on the seawater quality of Shanghai and Zhejiang at the middle stage of the seawater's EKC. Furthermore, this paper proposes an overall strategy and several "tailored" strategies to address coastal waters environment improvement for current poorly targeted policies at different stages of the seawater's EKC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Public participation in urban planning has become a legal requirement in China since the 2008 Urban and Rural Planning Law prescribed to collect the opinions of the public in preparing plans. The way in which this participation is organized is left to local governments and current practices are still in a stage of experimentation. Drawing on Western experience various participatory tools have been explored, including in some instances Web-based planning support systems (PSS). The current literature has identified several potentials and shortcomings in the performance of PSS that define their usefulness. However, these have been identified in the context of democratic societies and communicative planning paradigms. To what extent do these potentials and shortcomings also pertain to the emerging practice in China? This paper aims to widen the understanding of the usefulness of Web-based PSS when these are applied in a Chinese context. To do so, the paper first presents a conceptual framework that divides usefulness into utility and usability, and thereafter, it analyzes the "East Lake greenway planning project" in Wuhan. The results show that the Wuhan PSS provides new functionalities in eliciting ideas from independent citizens in the early stage of the planning process. In terms of usability, the system meets many of the criteria, but requires a high level of computer experience and domain knowledge restricting its use to "professional citizens". From the point of view of western planners this would seriously limit the usefulness as a participatory tool, but it is legitimate in China. Given the low level of computer literacy, limited access to the internet and a lacking tradition of public involvement in state affairs, it is nevertheless clear that there is a need to improve Web-based PSS and combine them with other participatory methods, both online and offline, to facilitate the participation of a diverse group of target users. Highlights • Web-based Participatory Planning Support Systems have potential to be applied in the Chinese context but the usefulness differs from Europe • Technologies can readily be transported to China, but will be used to different ends • Chinese planners use participatory tools foremost to make better plans, not necessarily to engage citizens in the decision making • With nearly 50% of the population not having access to the internet and low levels of computer illiteracy, the usefulness is restricted to a very selective group of users • This lack of representativeness is further exacerbated by weak 'learnability' of the system [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy ideas associated with the urban minerals industry in China have shifted focus from environmental protection to industrial development in recent years. A key factor influencing the development of this industry is whether the policy system can adapt to changing policy ideas. This paper analyzes a series of policies on urban minerals issued by the central government and related departments and ministries from 1987 to 2017. Using the content analysis method, which is a quantitative methodology, the paper proposes a framework of policy tools and objects of policy intervention to analyze the evolutionary characteristics and problems associated with the development of the urban minerals industry. The research results show that the policy system of urban minerals in China has changed from the germination stage, in which urban minerals policies were embedded in environmental protection policies; to an introduction stage, in which the urban minerals policy system initially took shape; to a development stage, in which the effects of urban minerals policies have stabilized. The changing trend of urban minerals policies can be summarized as follows. First, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) gradually became the dominant policymaker. Second, the policy tools were enriched via restructuring. Third, the objects of policy intervention were continually extended to the whole industry chain. Although the policy system of urban minerals in China has promoted industrial development, certain problems remain to be resolved, such as the conflicting policies from different departments, the unreasonable combination of policy tools and improper object of policy intervention. To this end, we have proposed corresponding countermeasures and suggestions to better improve the development of the urban minerals industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • China's biodiversity decrease due to a declined ecological connectivity. • We modeled the resistance surface of human activities based on spatial databases. • Ecological corridors was established to connect natural reserves in national level. • Importance of eco-corridors was ranked with key pinch point identified. • Scenario of priority protection have developed by combining the descending centrality rankings and current resistance. The decline of ecological connectivity poses a challenge for China as it faces a continuous loss of biodiversity. However, this phenomenon also increases the country's natural reserves and afforestation area. With the approval of the national plan for combating climate change and the implementation of the "ecological redline" policy, there is an opportunity to improve China's eco-connectivity with significant investments available for a continuous ecological restoration. However, little research has been conducted with respect to ecological connectivity, thus preventing policy makers from allocating a central investment between provinces for ecological restoration. This study modelled the resistance map against connectivity conservation by quantifying indicators of human disturbance and subsequently derived the national eco-corridor network by using least-cost path methods. A total of 2790 potential eco-corridors, connecting 97% of the protected areas in continental China were extracted. The paper ranked the importance of each eco-corridor for maintaining national ecological connectivity and identified the pinch points with high resistance. Based on the national eco-corridor framework, this paper proposed a two-dimensional coded table to help policy makers conduct effective management. The table also develops scenarios to aid decision makers in allocating central investments in provinces. By prioritizing ecological restoration to enhance ecological connectivity, the established eco-corridor network and scenario analysis will contribute to biodiversity conservation in China. This paper gives policy suggestions on cross-border management and plan implementation of eco-corridors, which helps decision makers in working towards ecological protection in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth and resource scarcity have remained major constraints on China''s development for several decades. Under conditions of resource limitations, utilization efficiency is a key concern for Chinese scientists and decision-makers. Based on forest production and trade data for China, we present a conceptual framework for resource flow analysis, calculate the quantities and analyze the characteristics of flows of forest resources (primarily wood and wood byproducts) during the critical early economic development of China (from 1953 to 2000) by converting the forest resource flows into log equivalents (i.e., the quantity of logs required to generate a unit of each type of product). The consumption of forest resources has accelerated throughout the study period, and the structure and efficiency of forest resource utilization have both improved. The proportion of forest resource flows obtained from outside China has increased, and most of this wood was consumed by wood-processing industries. Over time, consumption has shifted from logs and lumber to the pulp and paper and artificial board industries. To improve the economics and sustainability of its use of forest resources, China should increase consumption of forest resources by its pulp and paper industry, more fully utilize forest resources obtained from outside China, and weaken the dependence on these foreign forest resources by promoting increased utilization efficiency and structural readjustment of the forest industry. Therefore, improved forest management is an effective mean of weakening the dependence on foreign forest resources. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This research examines the influence of political system changes, particularly official turnover, on pollution reduction in Chinese industrial firms—a response to the environmental challenges posed by China's economic growth. Utilizing micro-panel data from 2000 to 2014 and an official turnover database, this study assesses how these turnovers affect firm-level pollution. The analysis confirms that official turnovers significantly reduce emissions, with the effect more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, under officials who are male, hold PhDs, and are older. This impact is also stronger in areas with a larger tertiary sectors and higher economic growth. A detailed comparison reveals that mayoral turnovers have a greater abatement effect than those of municipal secretaries, especially in cases of abnormal turnovers. Crucially, this study demonstrates that mayoral turnovers lead to pollution reduction by promoting corporate exports and innovation. The baseline regression results, confirmed as robust after extensive robustness checks, underscore the significance of these findings. This paper sheds light on the political dynamics of environmental governance in China, advocating bureaucratic reforms to reduce emissions and providing strategic recommendations to improve national environmental sustainability. • Political turnover in China leads to significant pollution reduction in industrial firms. • The effect of official turnovers on reducing emissions is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises. • Turnover effects are stronger under older, male officials with PhDs. • Mayoral changes have a greater impact on pollution reduction than municipal secretaries, particularly in abnormal turnovers. • Mayor turnovers contribute to pollution reduction by promoting exports and innovation in firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper matched the data for all non-financial listed firms in China from 1990 to 2017 with weather data and used temperature and precipitation to represent climate change. Using daily temperature and daily precipitation data, we constructed temperature bins and precipitation bins. This study presents a potential first empirical analysis that applies the risk perception theory to comprehensively examine the impacts of daily temperature and daily precipitation on firms' debt financing costs. Compared to a day with a suitable temperature, a day with temperatures above 30 °C increases firms' debt financing costs by 0.2411%. Compared to a sunny day, a day with torrential rain increases firms' financing costs by 0.2697%. Approximately $122.13 million and $20.49 million in extra costs were incurred across all firms in 2017. We conducted a series of heterogeneity tests. We found that the negative impacts of climate change on debt financing costs are greater for firms that investor considers more vulnerable. Finally, we found two possible mechanisms. First, from the firm's subjective initiative perspective, firms that respond proactively during seasons of high temperatures and heavy rains can reduce the negative impacts. Second, adverse weather caused by climate change may also increase firms' debt financing costs by blocking travel. These results enrich the literature on firms' debt financing costs and contribute to the understanding of climate change's impact on firms. [Display omitted] • An extra high-temperature day increases firms' debt financing cost by 0.2411%. • An extra heavy-rain day increases firms' debt financing costs by 0.2697%. • The negative impacts will be greater for those firms that investor considers more vulnerable. • Firms' response proactively can reduce the negative impacts. • Climate change also may increase firms' debt financing costs by blocking travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas there is a large literature evaluating the impacts of education, most of the focus has been on getting to universal primary enrollment and understanding the returns to basic education; but it misses the major shifts toward higher education in many fast-growing parts of the developing world over the last 20 years. In this paper, I study the returns to higher education in China using the reinstatement of the National College Entrance Examination in 1977 as a natural experiment, investigating the causal impacts of higher education on later life outcomes and well-being. Through a combination of regression discontinuity and difference-in-difference methods, I find that cohorts that were more likely to complete high school and obtain a college education as a result of the reform were no more likely to be employed, but were more likely to have a high-socioeconomic (SES) occupation in their early 30s, and lesser of the same in their 40s. Cohorts with higher education work for fewer days in a week, and, on average, earn a higher monthly income by 56 percent in their late 40s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Wild boar damage incident has become increasingly frequent in China's cities. • Wild boars appear close to the scenic spots near mountains and water bodies in the city. • Urban climbing expansion has intensified human and wild boar conflict. • Optimization of urban territorial development should be strengthened to mitigate HWCs. Under the context of socio-economic and ecological changes, frequent human-wildlife conflicts (HWCs) have occurred worldwide in recent years. To identify the drivers of human-wildlife conflicts and establish effective management measures, the human-wild boar conflicts in typical city of China were used to conduct empirical study. This study built a database of human-wild boar conflicts (also known as wild boar damage incidents) using 102 wild boar damage incidents occurred in the urban area of Nanjing from 2000 to 2022 to identify the spatiotemporal patterns, hazards and driving factors of these incidents by employing exploratory spatial analysis and geographical detector model. The results showed that the increase in wild boar damage incidents was influenced by a combination of rapid urbanization, habitat fragmentation, vegetation recovery, topography and other aspects. Among them, the root cause is the continuous expansion of built-up areas into the mountainous areas within cities and even encroachment on the mountains, resulting in the fragmentation and shrinkage of wildlife living space. Thus wildlife (represented by wild boars) had to move out and even invade the living space of humans, intensifying conflicts between humans and wild boars. HWCs are a symptom of the imbalance between socioeconomical systems and ecosystems within cities. The government should take some management measures to mitigate these conflicts and promote the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature within cities. For example, limit development, take defragmentation actions and improve compensation mechanism. The process of driving factor analysis of human-wild boar conflicts and related management measures in this paper would be helpful to address similar issues in other cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous advancement of the digital economy and green development strategies, exploring the impact of digital transformation on corporate green technology innovation becomes an importantly urgent issue. Based on the perspectives of asymmetric effects and structural breakpoints, this paper empirically analyses the effect of digital transformation on green technology innovation, as well as its heterogeneity and non-linear characteristics, using fixed effect models and panel threshold model with a sample of Chinese A-share-listed corporates from 2011 to 2021. The findings suggest that digital transformation of corporates can significantly promotes green technology innovation, which remains valid after a series of endogenous and robustness tests. Heterogeneous regression results shows that digital transformation exhibits an asymmetric impact on green technology innovation, with greater incentive effect for state-owned corporates, manufacturing corporates, and corporates located in areas with stricter environmental regulations. Additionally, threshold effect analyses prove that a positive non-linear relationship between digital transformation and green technology innovation, when corporate human capital, industry competition and regional institutional quality exceeded their respective structural breakpoints, the marginal contribution of digital transformation is further strengthened. This research provides clearer policy insights for corporates to promote cleaner production and low carbon development through digitization. [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]

China's rapid urbanization growth during the past decades which has highly promoted its affluence has induced various challenges for the countryside. The problem of rural decline of quite many villages which are suffering depopulation in turn challenges the urbanization sustainability in China. By way of in-depth historical and literature review, the paper finds distorted urban-rural relationship and the tendency of village decline owing to China's long time urban biased policy. By further investigating China's new-type urbanization strategy, the paper draws concerns about future rural development which is less mentioned in the plan. It calls for ruralization and actions to revitalize the countryside so as to be adapted to China's new-type urbanization plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water issues have become increasingly critical throughout the world, especially in the developing countries. Methodologies and analytical tools, such as water footprint assessment (WFA) have become more and more important for sustainable water resources management. This paper presents a comprehensive WFA for a typical large-scale intensive hog farming company located in Henan province, China. Two widely used global water footprint standards — established by the Water Footprint Network (WFN) and the International Standardization Organization (ISO) — were applied to study the water footprints of the hog farming company at both organizational and product levels. The study looks at a full value-chain in this hog farming company's operations, including one feed mill, two hog farms, one bio-fertilizer mill, and one neutralization plant. Results show that: 1) results using WFN and ISO 14046 standards present a basically consistent trend; 2) the total product (finishing hog) water footprint (WF) based on WFN standards is 3868 m 3 /tonne of which the blue WF is 455 m 3 /tonne, the green WF is 2452 m 3 /tonne and the grey water footprint is 961 m 3 /tonne; The water scarcity footprint (WSF) and water degradation footprint (WDF) based on the ISO 14046 standards is 353.67 m 3 H 2 O-eq/tonne and 26 000 m 3 H 2 O-eq/tonne, respectively; 3) the indirect WF generated during the crop cultivation stage, as raw materials for feed production, contributes more than 90% to the total WF; 4) WF produced during the hog farming stage has the greatest impact on water pollution to the water bodies in the vicinity of the farming sites; 5) the studied hog farm has relatively high water use efficiency in its direct operations than the global average, compared with the other studies' results. This paper also analyzes the pros and cons of the two standards and provides references for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is under the pressure of international climate change negotiation, domestic energy security and haze reduction. Replying to these pressures positively, China announced to reduce 40%–45% CO 2 per unit Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2020, 60%–65% CO 2 per unit GDP in 2030 based on 2005 level, and to carry out ambitious reduction measures. To achieve this target, low-carbon governance is necessary. The central government expects to build low-carbon society and develop low-carbon economy through pilots. This paper analyzes the framework of low-carbon governance in China. The government plays a guidance role in the governance process which involves enterprises, NGOs and citizens. Different types of measures, policy tools and actions have been implemented as response to the pressure. The governance can be achieved through the integration of technical, spatial and social pathways. The paper analyzes the framework by using Suzhou Industry Park (SIP) as case study which is a very important part of low carbon management of cities. Although the total CO 2 amount in the Park has increased, its CO 2 intensity per unit GDP has been reduced in recent years after the efforts made by its Park Council and enterprisers. The policy implementation indicates that the guidance role of local governments and the process are still based on a top-down management at park level, although the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) hopes to carry out pilot program and summarize experiences from a bottom-up mechanism. Target Responsibility System (TRS) is still the key working mechanism and makes contribution to the reduction of CO 2 per unit GDP. The low-carbon governance experiences of SIP can be learned by other cities, while local government displays positive attitudes towards low-carbon practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to many government incentives, China has provided, at relatively low prices, a number of solar PV products to the world and enhanced domestic solar PV power. While China's growing solar PV industry has brought about both domestic and international environmental benefits, the provision of heavy subsidies has motivated the discussion of social and economic benefits and costs of this technology. Using the LCA approach, this paper performs an in-depth analysis on the environmental benefits and costs of this industry for the period of 2011–2016. Differing from existing literature, this paper broadens system boundaries to cover 11 stages of the solar PV industry life cycle, taking module sources and market directions of PV system into consideration, and quantifies the costs of environmental emissions of the industry by shadow pricing. The key finding of this study is that during 2011–2016 the total environment benefit was smaller than the total cost of China's solar PV industry. Meanwhile, coinciding with the rise of the domestic solar PV market, the resulting net environmental benefits have witnessed dramatic yearly growth. Policy implications and conclusions from findings are provided at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the onset of industrialization over the past several decades, the rural areas are undergoing considerable changes in China. Optimal rural industrial land use distribution provides a spatial foundation for sustainable development in rural areas. Moreover, the importance of appropriate rural industrial land use adjustment is evident in rural spatial restructuring. This paper investigates rural industrial land use patterns and its impact on rural areas in Pinggu District of Beijing based on a combined method of “landscape indices” and the “geospatial analysis.” Subsequently, this paper proposes a rural industrial land use adjustment. The results show that according to the relevance of township and village enterprises (TVEs) to rural development, rural industrial land can be classified as rural industry land (RI-land) and non-rural industry land (NI-land). “Small scale, spontaneous dispersion” is the overall rural industrial land use pattern in China, and the spatial patterns between the two types of rural industrial land are quite different: the pattern “dispersion inside rural settlements” is usually observed in RI-land, while “agglomeration around regional central towns” and “linear sprawl” are common on NI-land. Considering the peculiarity of TVEs, the dispersion for RI-land is designed to absorb the surplus labor and raw materials nearby in the countryside to enhance their output-efficiency, whereas the agglomeration for NI-land is to pursue the efficiency of agglomeration economies. This paper also revealed that current disperse rural industrial land use pattern has generated polluting effects on the environment. Therefore, following the “classification principle,” rural industrial land use adjustment should not merely pursue economic efficiency and agglomeration efficiency but should also engage in labor absorptivity and environmental benefits. The formation and development of rural industrial land in China is quite different from traditional industrial land; these differences are largely attributed to their unique driving mechanisms and historical backgrounds. In particular, the traditional Theories of the Location of Industries directed by “agglomeration,” are unsuitable for rural industrial land in China. Therefore, the results in this paper can help form a basis for sustainable planning of rural industrial land and contribute to rural transformation development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The land surface area of the mainland China was calculated based on 30 m resolution DEM. • Absolute difference and relative difference of ESV based on surface area and plane area was conducted at country, provincial and county levels. • The characteristics of temporal-spatial variation of ESV of various ecosystems based on surface area in China were revealed. • The total ESV based on surface area was compared with other studies. • The importance of the surface area in land resource survey, natural asset estimation and ecological protection was emphasized. The assessment of ecological assets is of great significance for protecting and using ecological resources. Traditional methods of ecological assets assessment, which adopt the planar area as the standard, often ignore the impact of the surface area, resulting in a large difference between the evaluation and the actual result. To fill this gap, this paper conducted research on ecological assets assessment based on surface area. Taking mainland China into consideration, this paper constructed a triangulation network based on 30 m resolution DEM data to simulate the real land surface form and calculate its surface area. Then, land use/cover data from 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015 were used to estimate the ecosystem service value (ESV) and analyze its spatial variation. This paper found that: (1) The surface area of mainland China is 1.04 × 107 km2, which is 8.2 × 105 km2 larger than the planar area; (2) A huge difference was found between the total ESV based on the surface and planar area, with an absolute difference of ∼$141.66-$144.14 billion and a relative difference of ∼ 10%. For different ecosystem types, the largest difference was found in the forest ecosystem, followed by the grassland ecosystem, while the wetland ecosystem showed the smallest difference; (3) The high value of absolute difference between the ESV based on the surface and planar area was concentrated in Tibet and Northeast China. The high value of relative difference was mainly distributed in Central and Southern China. On the provincial level, the absolute difference in Tibet ranked in the first place. There was a total of 14 provinces showing a relative difference above 10%; (4) The total ESV based on surface area was basically unchanged, while various ecosystems underwent significant changes. The ESV of wetland increased by nearly 50%, while the ESV of grassland decreased by more than 10%; and (5) Change in the ESV based on surface area showed obvious spatial heterogeneity. High-High cluster was located in Tibet and the Northeast China while the Low-Low cluster was distributed in the North China Plain and Xinjiang. This paper emphasized the importance of the surface area in resource survey and asset estimation and gave more effective suggestions for ecological protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There was presently a lack of multidimensional investigation on the impact of virtual water flow (VWF) on regional water use and scarcity. A framework for impact analysis of VWF in consideration of blue, green and grey water differentiation, taking the crop-water relationship estimation in 31 provinces of China as case study, was established in current paper. Results showed that, VWF, which mainly from northern to eastern plain and southeast, reduced agricultural water footprints by 8.3 (blue), 322.0 (green) and 52.5 (grey) G m3. National water stress index reduced from 1.20 (severe water stress) to 0.92 (high water stress), comparing crop consumption to production perspectives. VWF alleviated the resource-based water scarcity attributed to green water stress in south of the Yangtze River, and transformed the resource-based to systematic water scarcity in Xinjiang (XJ). Clarifying the influences of VWF on blue, green and grey water is the innovation of the analytical framework proposed in current paper. • Influences of virtual water flow (VWF) on blue, green and grey water footprint scarcity were quantified. • Green and grey VWFs and their effects on water resources were more impressive than blue water. • VWF alleviated water stress and changed water scarcity type in crop production of China. • Crop production improvement and optimization are proposed to increase the benefits of VWF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce has emerged through digital platforms and Internet construction as an important way to achieve low-carbon development in China. To evaluate the mitigation effect of e-commerce, this paper conducts a quasi-natural experiment in terms of the pilot policy of national e-commerce demonstration cities (NEDC) to explore the changes in CO 2 emissions of 270 cities from 2004 to 2017 in China. We also check the asymmetry, mechanism effects and heterogeneity. The results show that the treated cities reduce CO 2 emissions by 4.1% due to the NEDC pilot policy compared to the untreated cities. The estimated results pass the parallel trend test, robustness tests, and the Goodman-Bacon decomposition. Moreover, the NEDC pilot policy increases the CO 2 emissions of treated cities by promoting economic growth (scale effect), and decreases the carbon emissions of treated cities by upgrading the industrial structure (structural effect) and increasing the technological innovation level (technical effect). Furthermore, the CO 2 mitigation effects of the NEDC pilot policy are significantly concentrated in the higher quantiles. Finally, the NEDC pilot policy has significantly negative effects on CO 2 emissions in "postage-free regions," southern China, and cities with large e-commerce sales. The results of this paper provide theoretical and practical references for China to achieve low-carbon development. • Evaluating the impact of pilot policies of national e-commerce demonstration cities (NEDC) on carbon emissions in China. • The NEDC pilot policy reduces carbon emissions of treated cities by 4.1%. • The NEDC pilot policy reduces carbon emissions through structural and technical effects. • The emission-reduction effects are significant at the higher quantiles. • The impact of the NEDC pilot policy on carbon emissions is obviously heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For regions where limited in-situ observations are available for use as a reference, such as in China, the understanding of how changes in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol retrieval algorithm impact the data quality is limited. In this paper, the MODIS-Aqua Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) Collection 5 (C5) and 6 (C6) Dark-Target (DT) products are evaluated by comparison with similar products from the China Aerosol Remote Sensing NETwork (CARSNET) and the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) in China for the year 2008. The validation data are analyzed for key factors affecting the results of the MODIS-DT aerosol retrieval algorithm, including surface type, aerosol loading and aerosol absorption. The impacts of the change from the C5 to the C6 versions of the MODIS AOT retrieval algorithm are discussed in detail. The main findings are: (1) The agreement from retrieval aspects between both MODIS C5/C6 and CARSNET-AERONET for most AOT values over distinct regions indicates that the conclusions obtained from C5 hold for C6; (2) MODIS-DT has an extended coverage (more retrievals) with good quality due to the change of upstream data (calibration, cloud masking, etc); (3) About 64% of the MODISDT C6 AOT data over China fall within the (±0.15 AOT ± 0.05) error envelope; (4) positive AOT differences between C6 and C5 over relatively dark surfaces and negative differences over relatively bright surfaces due to the change of surface parameterization have been observed; (5) the AOT difference between MODIS and CARSNET-AERONET relating to AOT loading is not significant, especially for large AOT; (6) MODIS-DT performs well for absorbing aerosol over relatively bright surfaces. • MODIS/Aqua AOT C5/C6 DT products are evaluated to understand the effects of different parameters on algorithm performance. • Both MODIS C5 and C6 DT show good quality over China under different surface and atmospheric conditions. • MODIS C6 DT aerosol product has an extended coverage with good quality over China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]