Role of Green Governance in Achieving Sustainable Urbanization in China

Since economic reforms began in 1978, China＇s urban population has increased by half a billion. Over the next 20years, cities will likely add another 300 million people through local population growth, migration and the integration of nearby rural areas, Cities account for the majority of resource use and pollution so achieving greener growth will depend on developing and implementing a more sustainable urbanization model. China＇s leaders have responded to these challenges with ambitious goals and comprehensive environmental laws and regulations. These have so far not significantly reduced the harm from air, water and soil pollution.＂ in large measure because China ＂s green governance does not match its green ambitions. Drawing on the World Bank ＇s work on green growth and a recent joint urbanization study by the Development Research Center of China＇s State Council and the Worm Bank, this paper reviews recent academic research on green governance in urban China and discusses its main implications in the context of emerging global green growth concepts.     

Reform of China＇s Pension System

This paper mainly analyzes development and reform of China‘s pension system. It introduces the evolution of China‘s pension system reform and discusses its strengths and problems.The paper then proposes some suggestions on the direction of China‘s pension reform. The last section is devoted to a discussion of China‘s corporate occupational pension, which is a fast-developing area of the pension system.     

加入WTO对中国农产品进入美国市场的影响

Agricultural trade between the U.S. and China is very important for both countries. Focusing on the potential of China‘s agricultural products entering the U.S. markets, this research introduced the development of agricultural trade between the U.S. and China and analyzed the impacts of the U.S.-China bilateral trade agreement and China‘s WTO membership on agricultural trade between the two countries. The authors also examined current and potential competitiveness of China‘s agricultural products and provided suggestions to increase China‘s agricultural exports to the United States.     

State Fragmentation and Rights Contestation： Rural Land Development Rights in China

The functionalist reasoning of institutional changes builds on individual rationality and explains institutional changes from the demand side. While insightful, a comprehensive understanding also needs to take into account the supply side, The state, as the ultimate supplier of institutional changes, plays the pivotal role of agency; therefore, its willingness and ability decide how such regime change occurs and what partieular form the new regime takes. Since the mid-1990s, the Chinese economy has embarked on a path of rapid industrialization and urbanization. The contestation over rural land development rights in China offers an excellent case to illuminate the importance of state agency in institutional changes. Drawing on case studies in China＇s three major urbanizing regions, this article analyzes how villages brought their own land directly to the land market and reaped handsome profits. We argue that the three successful cases, Nanhai in Guangdong, Kunshan in Jiangsu and Zhenggezhuang in Beijing, all represent a product of active agency on the supply side. The Chinese state＇s fragmented authority provides a favorable institutional environment for such changes.     

Analysis on Development Strategy of China＇s Commercial Street： A Case Study of Hangzhou City

China is arranging a boom of commercial street development across the country and Hangzhou works as an outstanding example. Commercial street economy is boosting China＇s urbanization and industry prosperity. Concerning on the rapid and sound development of commercial street in China, this paper introduces many problems and conflicts that block domestic commercial street development. With the guidances of China Commercial Walking Street Committee and Hangzhou Bureau of Economy and Trade, data analysis by Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Statistics, and case study of commercial streets in Hangzhou, the paper states that commercial street development beyond China＇s socialism economic system should follow the guidance of scientific outlook on development, insist on government-led and market-driven, design first and service-oriented, and highlight core feature and comprehensive facility. Also, it is essential to unify and ensure legal status of management committee, and streamline organizational structure, balance between interest groups, weaken conflicts of public and private, and promote industry association development and privately-operated public affairs to ensure sustainable development of commercial street, which will truly benefit domestic urbanization as well as improve people＇s material and cultural life. For the other developing countries in the urgent progress of industrialization and urbanization, the paper is expected to be guidelines.     

Local ＂Land Finance＂ in China＇s Urban Expansion： Challenges and Solutions

This paper considers the issue of local ＂land finance＇＂ in the context of China ＂s fast urban expansion. In an analysis of China ＂s land requisition and public leasing system we argue that low-cost land acquisition is the fundamental cause of land-related distortions that have occurred during China ＂s urbanization. Granting farmers the power to negotiate directly with land users during urban expansion, combined with coordinated land tax reforms to consolidate local tax bases is the key to China achieving both equity and land use efficiency in urban expansion.     

China＇s Urban Employment and Urbanization Rate： A Re-estimation

The present paper argues that China＇s existing population and employment statistics are misleading, and have failed to include many of the migrant and labor force flows between urban and rural areas. The paper reconciles the differences between official census data and other survey statistics and attempts to recalculate China＇s urban population and employment figures. Our analyses indicate that official statistics of 2012 underestimate China ＇s urban employment by approximately 47 million while overestimating rural employment by 31 million. The adjusted urbanization rate exceeded 55 percent in 2012, almost 3 percentage points higher than the official statistics. Nevertheless, there remains much potential for rural-to-urban migration. More specifically, if the current bottlenecks in household registration, social security and public welfare systems can be removed or relaxed, China＇s urbanization rate could rise by another l O percentage points or even more over the next decade.     

Viability and the Development of China＇s Capital Markets

The paper analyzes the abnormal phenomena in China‘s capital markets and provides a critical review of the existing hypotheses about the phenomena. The paper argues that thelack of “viability” among most of the listed SOEs is the primary cause of the problems in China‘s capital markets. The paper also applies a consistent framework to analyze the relationship among viability, SOEs and the capital markets, and makes some policy proposals for improving China‘s capital markets.     

Review of the EU＇s Preliminary Assessment of China＇s Market Economy Status

In June 2004, the European Union (EU) made a decision on its preliminary assessment of China‘s market economy status (MES). After seriously studying the EU‘s preliminary assessment report, the Institute of Economic and Resources Management of Beijing Normal University made a review. We hold that the decision on the assessment fails to be fair and objective and is undermined by incorrect understanding and logical contradictions. However, the decision has still left some leeway for China‘s improvement and China needs to speed up in improving its market economy regime.     

Transition of China＇s Diplomacy and Foreign Relations

The present paper focuses on the transformation of China＇s foreign affairs. The transformation is closely associated with and mutually reinforced by the developmental changes that have taken place in China. China＇s strong economic focus has had a profound effect on its foreign relations and international strategies. With sustained growth over the past three decades （1978-2008）, China has become an important member of the world community. In particular, its influence has been growing in the Asia-Pacific area. China＇s unique developmental model and path are recognized and scrutinized worldwide. The present paper discusses special aspects of foreign aid and also explores the changes in principles of and approaches taken in the application of foreign aid policies. Under dual external and internal pressure, China has to constantly adjust, renew and improve its approach to diplomatic and international relations.     

Does China have Inflationary Effects on the USA and Japan？

With China＇s share in global trade increasing rapidly, some argued in 2002-2003 that China was exporting deflation to other countries as it was dumping cheap goods in mature markets. Later, others argued that China was causing sharp increases in global prices. This paper uses several econometric techniques to assess the extent of the link between inflation rates between China and the USA and Japan. Only limited empirical evidence at the aggregate level is found for consumer price inflation in China leading to price changes in the USA and Japan. However, there is some evidence that inflation in the USA has an impact on Chinese inflation. The results seem consistent with the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan being concerned about inflation and, hence, adjusting policy such that inflation shocks have no significant effect on overall inflation. Recent Chinese price rises are unlikely to have a material effect on the USA or Japan.     

Analysis of Chinese Cigarette Competition Modes in the Government Monopoly Environment

As a main tax resource, cigarette industry brings about 10% of Chinese annual income. China is by far the largest producer of tobacco products of the world. The nation＇s policy and management mechanism are important elements greatly influencing the competition structure of cigarette industry. Due to the double characters of tobacco, the country generally imposes a high tax and a limited total product output in order to intervene the cigarette market. Therefore, the price signal of cigarette market is distorted and to large extent the competition of the industry is far from a free one, Presently cigarette industry is under the administrative monopoly management in China and meanwhile the cigarette producing is in a multi-element competition style within the nation＇s planning scheme. In other words, administrative monopoly and over-competition exist simultaneously in China＇s cigarette industry. The country predetermines the output quota of each cigarette manufacturing enterprise and the actual production outputs of these enterprises could be adjusted through the quota trades among them. The competition in cigarette industry is mainly represented in 3 modes, i.e. production output competition based on quota trades, value-added competition in producing and selling, and the niche market competition based on product classification.     

Inequality and the Urban-rural Divide in China： Effects of Regressive Taxation

Using three comparable national representative household surveys for China in 1988, 1995 and 2002, the present paper reveals the regressivity and urban bias of China＇s direct tax and welfare system in this period It shows that a regressive taxation system and skewed allocation of subsidies increases the urban-rural income gap and enhances overall inequality. Modeling these relationships indicates that the relatively poorer rural population has a net tax liability, whereas those in the richer urban areas receive net subsidies. This pattern is common in China, although the extent of the bias varies. This skewed system of tax and welfare payments is a major cause of the persisting urban-rural income gap and contributes to the overall income inequality in China. The abolishment of the agriculture tax in 2006 has had a positive impact on rural people ＇s livelihoods.     

中国汽车产业：市场开放和转型

Based on a study of interactive learning and industrial growth, this paper explores the strategic adjustments and competitive advantages of both multinational corporations and indigenous firms in the auto industry after China‘s WTO accession, and forecasts the development trend in this industry. The main conclusions are: (1) with trade and investment liberalization after China‘s WTO accession, competitive advantages of transnational corporations have played an active role. Under this circumstance, indigenous firms depend heavily upon multinational corporations by establishing joint ventures and introducing new models. (2) As a result of strategic adjustment, China‘s car industry will transform from an independent industry into a dependent one. (3) Under pressure from the competitive advantages of the dominant multinational corporations, infant industries and enterprises of developing countries need, for their development, more support from local government. In addition, one of the key factors in the future development of China‘s car industry is the establishment of an interactive learning relationship between indigenous firms and multinational corporations.     

The Reform of China＇s Rural Land System

This paper discusses the reform of China‘s rural land system in the past more than 20 years. It reviews the course of China‘s rural land system reform since 1978 and the enormous contribution that the household contract responsibility system made to China‘s agricultural and rural development. Then it summarizes the current situation and existing problems in China‘s rural land system. Finally, it offers some policy suggestions on how to perfect the rural land system.     

English Column

The Scale of China‘s Electronic and Information Technology Ranked Third in the Worid It‘s learned that the scale of China‘s electronic and information technology was ranked third,which has become the pillar industry of China. Total sales revenue of China electronic and information Technology in 2003 reached RMB1.88 trillion,up by 34%than 2002,generating     

Long-Term Development Trend of China＇s Economy and Importance of the Circular Economy

This paper aims to explore the solution to the contradiction between economic growth and resources and the eco-environment, based on an analysis of the features of China‘s economic development trend within a given future period, by promoting a new paradigm of technological economy, and speeding up development of the circular economy.     

On the Coordinated Development of Urbanization and Rural Economy in China

Urbanization is one of important missions in china＇s modemization. The most vital task in the advancement of urbanization is to increase peasants＇ income and appropriately solve the issues concerning agriculture, rural areas and peasants, thus ensuring the accelerated development of rural economy. This paper mainly discusses five issues that urgently need solving in the development of rural economy and urbanization. They include peasant＇s qualification and right of the real management entity in the market, financial support, circulation and transference of agricultural land, welfare and social security of peasants and fairness of taxes on peasants.     

白鸽飞向世界 ——白鸽(集团)股份有限公司

White Dove(Group)Company Limited is the largest of its kind in China,which manufacturesabrasive materials and grinding products.It is established in 1993 on the basis of the Second Abrasive Wheel Factory of China,whichwas set up in 1950‘s.The company is one of the 512 most important enterprises in China evaluated by the StateCouncil.     

Elasticity of Energy Demand and Challenges for China＇s Energy Industry

I. Introduction Since late 2002, China’s energy demand and resources have become one of the most prominent issues in international discussions of energy. In our earlier studies of China’s energy demand as relates to transportation and urbanization (Gates and Yin, 2002; Yin and Gates, 2002), we took more of a long-term view and raised the possibility that even if China’s economy continued to grow rather slowly, which was the prevailing perception at the time, there would still be strong d…