Status and prospect of the Chinese trading scheme for carbon credits

Given the arduous progress in the international talk on climate change mitigation,there is still uncertainty in the continuation of the Clean Development Mechanism(CDM) after 2012.However,a number of countries have regarded market mechanisms as an important approach towards climate change.China’s 12 th Five-year Plan on National Economic and Social Development clearly states that China will set up and improve the system for statistical accounting of greenhouse gas emission and will gradually establish an emission trading scheme.It is expected that in the following couple of years China will develop its own policies on carbon trading and gradually establish its domestic emission trading market.The construction of China carbon market is to be promoted in a voluntary-to-mandatory and regional-to-national manner.China will firstly standardize and promote the trading of voluntary emission reductions,and will then encourage pilot provinces and cities as well as some key industries to implement a policy on emission allowance trading while at the same time facilitating the construction of infrastructural facilities for carbon market operation including climate change legislation and setting up a system for the measurement and verification of carbon emissions.China will also carry out international or bilateral cooperation with foreign carbon trading schemes based on the progress of international negotiation so as to set up a unified domestic carbon market that is linked to international carbon trading schemes.     

Agricultural policy reforms and WTO commitments on domestic support in Japan

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of Japan＇s agricultural domestic policy since 1995 in the context of the current international negotiations in the WTO Doha Round, which has as one aim further reductions of trade-distorting support among member countries. Apparently, Japan＇s attitude towards agricultural domestic policy reform is one of compliance with the WTO, which requests member countries to reduce their Aggregate Measure of Support （AMS） through trimming trade-distorting （amber box） support and/or transforming traditional-type agricultural subsidies to decoupled-type ones. Japan reduced its amber box support by nearly 80 percent between 1995 and 2000. This drastic reduction is mainly attributable to Japan＇s removal of rice from the amber box in 1998. In addition, following the WTO＇s principle of decoupling, Japan launched an extensive agricultural subsidy reform in 2007. This paper, however, shows the ironical realities of Japanese agricultural policy. Neither a sharp reduction of amber box support nor Japan＇s 2007 reform necessarily means there will be a reduction of trade-distorting effects. On the contrary, the 2007 reform may in fact stimulate domestic rice production.     

Guest Editorial

Climate change is a major global issue of common concern to the international community, involving both environment and development. Ever since the industrial revolution, human activities, especially the massive consumption of energy and resources by developed countries in the process of industrialization, have increased the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, produced conspicuous impacts on the natural ecosystems of the earth, and posed severe challenges to the survival and development of human society.     

Opportunities of manufacture under global economic crisis： The case of Estonia

Because of the smallness of Estonia, its main source of economic growth is export, i.e. successful sales in the world market. It is necessary to shift from branches, activities and value chains where it is difficult to increase value added, to more profitable and promising ones. The present economic situation provides for this an exceptionally good chance. All kinds of development, international relocation of production and reallocation of economic power in the world are gathering speed. It is necessary to rapidly find an opportunity in the ＂declining＂ market, a profitable niche. Manufacturing entrepreneurs and executive managers have for several years already been complaining of shortage of workforce that hinders them carrying out new business plans, increasing production and exports. Increased supply of workforce dismissed from construction is an opportunity for the forced development of the manufacturing export sector and sharp increase in exports.     

Experiences and Prospects of China＇s Free Economic Zones after over 20 Years

Chinese FEZs are used as the tool for opening-up policy and the structural reform as well as the growth pole for the regional economic development. It is true that no Free Economic Zones （FEZs） in the world like in China have made so strong impact on national economic development and structural reform. Due to the change of their existing condition since the middle of 1990s, Chinese FEZs have to face the new challenges and problems. This study discusses and prospects the transformation and further development of Chinese FEZs in the 21^st century as well as their significance for the transformation of FEZs in other countries based on the analysis of the indicators such as the role, policy, industrial sectors, administration, development model, spatial structure and location.     

FDI＇s Sustainability and the Sustainable Development of the Yangtze River Delta

The fast development of the Yangtze River Delta of China is closely related to the dense inflows of FDI. The clustering of the foreign capital in this region has brought new projects, technology and business skills, which have given a strong impetus to the fast development of the regional economy and the upgrading of the economic structure. But the sustainability of FDI and its long-term influence have drawn a lot of attention. It is also a problem whether the slow-down of the FDI inflows or its flight will bring negative effect on the sustainable economic development of the Yangtze River Delta. In this paper, we will prove that the inflows of FDI are stable to some degree. It is unlikely that there will be a drastic large-scale FDI flight, so the so-called ＂migratory bird economy＂ will not occur. But the sustainable economic development in the Yangtze River Delta will depend on the continuity of the policies to attract FDI. What should be done includes the policy to promote the accumulation and circulation of the international capital to promote the sustainable development of the regional economy and market.     

Identity in a World of Scarcity： The Book of Eli

This paper examines the construction of identity in Hugue＇s brothers movie, The Book of Eli setting in an America post-apocalyptic world destroyed by nuclear war and environmental disasters. Economic relations in this world without time or history and without production of goods and commodities, are based on ancient practices such as barter. The goods are exchanged for goods according to the need and the currency lost its meaning before the supreme usefulness. Essential items to human life like water now have a very high value due to its complete scarcity. Eli （played by Denzel Washington） toured the United States for 30 years westward circling the wasteland leading the only existing copy of the King James version of the Bible. Then he reaches the town, which is under the control of Carnegie, the villain, whose ambition is to have the holy Bible in order to exercise power. In this world full of shortages, power belongs to the old that has the memory of the past. Texts of Giddens, Beck, Lash, Benveniste, and Marx compose the theoretical apparatus that allow understanding how to reconstruct the identity in a world in crisis, and no shortage of complete story without memory card with the movement of goods excluding currency.     

The Cosine-Shaped Pattern of Innovations and Technological Advantages： Theory and Evidence

Using data from 24 OECD countries, we find that the relationship between a country＇s R＆D investment and technological advantage in a sector （measured by the country＇s labor productivity of the sector relative to the rest of the world） is non-monotonic. In particular, for countries whose technology levels are much lower or higher than the rest of the world in a sector, their sectoral R＆D investment declines as their advantages in the sector improve; for counties with middle technology levels, the opposite is true. Extending the Eaton and Kortum framework, we develop a static model to theoretically analyze the relationship between R＆D investment and technological advantages. We show that when the research efficiency in a sector is sufficiently elastic with respect to the sectoral technological advantage, a country＇s R＆D investment increases with its technological advantage, and vice versa.     

Research on regional capability constructive models of clean development mechanism

Global climate change has been identified as the first of the top ten environmental problems in the world. As climate change will have serious effects on the social and economic development and everyday, living of people in the world, many of the countries and governments are taking untiring efforts to combat climate change. As one of the important mechanisms of reducing greenhouse gas （GHG） emissions in the Kyoto Protocol, Clean Development Mechanism （CDM） has not only provided chance for developed countries to fulfill greenhouse emission reduction obligations, but also provided an opportunity for developing countries to combat climate change under the sustainable development frame. The dual objectives of developed countries＇ GHG emissions＇ reduction obligation achievement and developing cotmtries＇sustainable development will be achieved under the CDM. As a country with responsibility; China has been positively developing CDM projects and promoting energy saving and emissions reduction during the three yeors after the Kyoto Protocol came into force, and CDM projects development has always been in the front tank in the world. However; as the vast clime within China, notable differences occur in different regions. In order to promote the CDM development in China, it is necessa~T to have regional CDM capability construction in accordance with the practicality in different regions. Based on the Slat Analysis of developed CDM projects and current CDM development status in China, problems in the CDM development of China, including the inefficiency in small and medium-sized CDM Projects＇ development, over centralization of CDM development scope and especially the differentiated provincial CDM projects developing capability are pointed out in the paper： What＇s more, reasons for the problems are analyzed from fire leading.factors, including policy orient, information asymmetry and weak CDM capability, In order to promote CDM projects development in China, a new CDM capability, construction model is put forward in the paper.     

Analyze Chinese capital escape ＆ international moving capital influx from net errors and omissions in the balance of payments

With the rapid economic development, the imbalance of China＇s balance of payments gets sever gradually, especially in the continuous increase in the net errors and omissions, which even has exceeded the international alert line. Such scale of net errors and omissions have also presented the flaws of the custody of capital flows, leading to huge capital escape and hot money influx, which needs our attention.     

Policy of giving rewards and subsidies for grassland ecological conservation in Tibetan Plateau

This paper aims to explore the impact of policy of giving rewards and subsidies(GRS) for grassland ecological conservation in Tibetan Plateau implemented by the Chinese government since 2009.Taking Gerze County in Ngari Prefecture in the Tibetan Autonomous Region(TAR) as an example,it discusses the objective,implementation and outcome of that policy with regard to the ecological reconstruction and problems that have ensured.Located in the northern part of the Qiangtang Plateau,Gerze is the largest county in Ngari Prefecture.It covers more than 7.8 million acres of pastureland,of which 6.2 million acres are usable for pastoralism; 3.4 million acres,however,lack water source.In recent decades,due to the increased population and other reasons,pastures of the area have shown signs of overgrazing,thus leading to serious degradation,desertification and salinization of the grassland.Since 2009,when neighboring Coqin County was chosen as a pilot site for the national ecological incentive and subsidy policy(or: ecological compensation policy),Gerze has also started to adopt this policy and brought ful implementation in 2010.Its purpose is to solve the problem of overgrazing.But like other policies carried out in Gerze,its implementation is faced with many challenges.First,it is difficult to define the types and scopes of the incentives and subsidies,which have become a major source of complaints of the local herdsmen.Second,the local herdsmen are also concerned with the fairness of assigning rewards and subsidies.Third,the high cost of the policy’s implementation and supervision reduces its effects.Fourth,the fact that the herdsmen are not willing to reduce livestock population makes it difficult for the policy to achieve actual results.The author thinks it’s necessary to revise and improve the current ecological incentive and subsidy policy.     

How Green is China＇s Path of Catching Up？ An International Comparative Evaluation

China＇s rise as a global economic power in recent decades has been achieved with tremendous environmental costs. Has China been an abnormally heavier polluter in its development path？ How has pollution accounted for China＇s hyper economic growth？ This study answers these questions by evaluating the environmental effects of China＇s growth using a data set of 61 countries over a period of four decades. The analysis is focused on two pollutant emissions： CO2 emissions, which carry global externalities, and particulate emissions, of which the environmental cost is more domestic. A fractional polynomial （FP） regression model is estimated to project emissions levels per worker based on lagged values of per capita GDP and other variables. It reveals that China＇s CO2 emissions have been higher than the projection for most years with an average margin of over 5.3% while its particulate emissions have exceeded projection by an average margin of more than 7.5%. The excessive emissions levels of both pollutants confirm the severity of China＇s environmental challenges and indicate great potential for the economy to work for a greener growth pattern. On the other hand, contributions of emissions to multi-factor productivity （MFP） growth are estimated by FP regressions based on a human-capital augmented growth model. The results show opposing trends of CO2 and particulates in their ＂contributions＂ to GDP growth, which imply asymmetric incentives to abate the two types of pollution. These findings have important implications for China＇s environmental policy making.     

China introduces the 24-hour rule

Recently, international movement measures that may be causing tension between the of cargo had been the subject of increasing border control needs for security and the needs for trade facilitations. On the one hand customs authorities are charged with the responsibility for policing a country＇s borders, and consequently they need to have in place measures to ensure that only legitimate trade takes place and that this trade does not present security concerns. On the other hand we have the requirements of traders, who benefit from an environment of trade facilitation with speedy and efficient movement of cargo across international borders, with minimal bureaucratic intervention. This paper focuses on and provides early discussion and comments on the possible ramifications of the introduction of the 24-hour rule in China, effective for all exports and imports of sea freight container traffic since January 1, 2009. The new rules will have significant impact on the logistics flows of exporters and importers alike. Specifically, the reporting requirements timelines are likely to result in increased costs in cargo processing at wharves that traders will have to bear; place added pressure on storage facilities at wharves, or at container depots; and may additionally increase the amount of inventory buffer because of the timing of the data reporting requirements. The paper concludes that security needs have prevailed over trade facilitation considerations and that traders should urgently implement a review of existing practices to ensure they comply with the China Customs requirements, whilst simultaneously minimizing cost increases.     

Sino-European Trade Competition in Latin America and the Caribbean

The article studies trade in goods between China and the Latin American and Caribbean （LAC） countries and between the European Union （EU） and LAC during the years from 2000 to 2013. From the beginning of the 21st century, big changes in LAC＇s trade patterns have been observed. The article contains possible explanation of them. The analysis is based on the ECLAC （Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean） data. Merchandise trade between China and LAC grew significantly over the period from 2000 to 2013. In 2013, the value of merchandise exports from China was higher than from the EU-28 in the case of 12 LAC countries. Chinese imports of goods surpassed the European ones in five countries in the region. In order to increase its exports of manufactured goods and imports of natural resources and agricultural commodities, China combines trade arrangements with foreign aid policy. Besides, a rapid development of bilateral diplomatic ties between China and LAC is observed. The EU-LAC trade relations have worsened during the last decade mainly due to financial crisis and development of the EU-Asia trade relations.     

A research on the evolvement of industrial structure and economic growth of He＇nan Province, China

This paper, based on the investigation of the statistics in the years of 1980-2005, using Shift-Share Method model, studies systematically the relation between the evolution of industrial structure and regional economic growth in five economic regions in He＇nan to offer the foundation of policy for optimizing the industrial structure and promoting regional economic development in phase, and thereby comes to the conclusions： （1） the industrial structure level of He＇nan, in comparison with the evolution of the industrial structure across the country, remains low, but yet the evolutional tendency of industrial structure in He＇nan complies with the Clark taw of the industrial structure evolution; （2） the spatial difference of He＇nan industrial structure evolution is comparatively large, （3） the evolution of industrial structure in He nan that influences economic growth can be categorized into three types： in eastern and southern regions, the shift-share of the industrial structure is negative, and the shift-share model of competitiveness is negative, in western and central regions, the shift.share of the industrial structure is positive, and the shift-share model of competitiveness is positive; in northern regions; the shift-share of the industrial structure is positive, and the shift-share model of competitiveness is negative： （4） the evolution of industriai structure influences greatly the development of the regional economy of He nan As the results of the researches shown, it can innovation of He＇nan tra：ditional industry with high-tech the vast development of the tertiary industry, the expansion of He＇nan overall level o industrial structure, the growth of deep-processing manufacturing of agricultural products, and the increase of He＇nan agricultural products subsidiary value Will be the strategic choices of the rearrangement of He＇nan industrial structure.     

Discussion on the Impact of Revaluing Chinese Currency

This paper discusses how the threat of revaluing Chinese currency would impact China and world＇s economy. The author discusses the issue from 5 perspectives. （1）Revaluing Chinese currency（the renminbi, RMB）would decreases China＇s export and increases its import, which will lead to reduce its foreign exchange reserves, and then bring about import decreasing. China＇s economy will get into recession. China＇s export decreasing means other countries＇ import that come from china will reduce and bring about unfavorable influence on international trade. （2） The RMB appreciation will make re-export products dearer and make China less attractive to foreign investment. （3） Both China＇s banking system and its capital market are under-developed. Revaluing RMB will destabilize China financial market, even though world financial market. （4） If the risk comes from revaluing the RMB become true, it will hinder the transformation of the China＇s foreign exchange system. （5） Priced Chinese exports due to revaluing the RMB will worsen China＇s already grim employment situation. Since above negative influences will produce from Revaluing the RMB, it is wise for China to choose stabilizing the RMB rather then Revaluing the RMB.     

Impact of openness, economic policy reform and regional shocks on trade and growth of Thailand： An econometric study

Thailand has currently enhanced and promoted intensive trade and investment liberalization and implemented long-term growth policy according with current regional economic integration, WTO obligations and globalization. Nevertheless, several recent internal and external factors e.g. the massive SARS and avian flu outbreaks, the Indian Ocean tsunami devastation, the Asia financial crisis and domestic policy reforms （ICSEAD, 2006） have also impeded this policy. While the issues are important for Thailand and developing countries in Asia, only limited research has been undertaken to investigate them. The paper conducts a substantive quantitative study to contribute to these trade and development policy issues. A new econometric modelling policy method, namely the generalized gravity theory （Tran Van Hoa, 2004） is used to develop a simple flexible simultaneous-equation econometric model of Thailand＇s openness model with its seven major trade partners （ASEAN-4, Australia, the USA, the EU, China, Japan and India）. Using data from the ICSEAD, the World Development Indicators and the Bank of Thailand databases, the paper reveals efficient and reliable empirical findings on trade-growth causality, trade determination including the impact of shocks and policy reform on trade and growth between Thailand and its major trade partners over the past two decades. The paper also provides evidence on the linkages between trade in goods, FDI and services and regional economic integration for more credible policy implications.     

Globalization and Voluntary Environmental Management in Developing Countries

Weak capacity to enforce regulations and sanction violators, and an emphasis on economic growth in developing countries has led to concerns about worsening environmental conditions and the potential for these countries becoming pollution havens for multinational corporations. International environmental standards, voluntary programs, and public disclosure programs have gained popularity because they engage market participants in providing incentives for self-regulation and have the potential to substitute for the lack of domestic regulatory capacity. This paper analyzes the motivations for firms to undertake voluntary environmental management and reviews the empirical evidence on the type of firms participating in such initiatives and their effectiveness in improving environmental performance. We also consider the special case of China that has witnessed dramatic globalization following its acceptance into the World Trade Organization and participation by its firms in global supply chains. We conclude with a discussion of the effectiveness of these efforts as a substitute for weak regulatory and civic society pressures in these countries.     

Consideration for the Asia＇s Monetary Cooperation Based on the Theory of Optimum Currency Areas

According to the theory and the standard of Optimum Currency Areas, this paper analyzes the possibility of the Asia＇s monetary cooperation. Based on the current study, this paper points out that East Asia does not have the condition for the monetary cooperation and the cooperation can only be conducted in a comparatively low level; furthermore, in order to achieve the monetary integration and to form the Optimum Currency Areas, it is still a long way to go for Asian countries. All the Asia countries should work hard in the political and economic area. However, the common interests will make the monetary cooperation an irreversible trend.     

Analysis of the Competition in China＇s Supermarket Sector

China＇s supermarket sector has been growing with a high rate for ten years. Relying on the advantages of new formats and adapting to the economic change of China, several China＇s supermarket companies have replaced the traditional department stores to become the leading player in retail industry of China. Although the interesting phenomenon shows that although these supermarket companies have the inherent problems of shortage of capital and weaknesses in management, their expansion is more emphasized on sizes and speeds. Being weak in management and over squeezing ,margin from suppliers that might lead their position to be vulnerable. Their market share is taken by different competitors, more notably by foreign giant retailers. Competition will become more fierce and complex. Merging, making joint ventures with foreign investors, expanding into chain and fuU-format retailer, hunting for skillful people would be the key strategic options to keep the sector＇s growth.