9. Chinese ‘Develop The West’ Campaigns And Their Environmental Impacts: The Post-Socialist Condition In China

Abstract. The Silk Road, a network of ancient trade routes stretching from China to the Mediterranean, was not just about commerce and goods. It served as a vibrant conduit for cultural exchange, fostering the intermingling of languages, traditions, and artistic expressions between diverse civilizations. Today, the spirit of the Silk Road is being revived in the form of the "New Silk Road," a Chinese-led initiative aimed at economic and infrastructural development across Asia. The revitalization of the Silk Road through China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) presents a unique opportunity for Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, to leverage their rich cultural heritage for international engagement and economic development. This paper analyzes and compares the cultural diplomacy strategies employed by both countries on the New Silk Road, highlighting their distinct approaches and effectiveness in achieving their goals. Keywords: Cultural diplomacy, New Silk Road, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Belt and Road Initiative, soft power, tourism, regional cooperation.

The Chinese government is heavily investing in trade-related infrastructure with its One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR), a proposal to build a new Silk Road or network of trade routes. This infrastructure-driven innovation will have a large economic, spatial and environmental impact on China; it is also likely to transform entire regions throughout Asia, Africa, and Europe. In pursuing it, the Chinese government seeks to meaningfully combine a strong national interest in infrastructural and economic development with an equally strong national interest in environmental sustainability. This chapter explores how it might meet both goals. How do the initiative's many projects intersect with local interests and needs in China? Will these investments carry out the proclaimed desire of the Chinese government for environmentally sustainable development? This chapter examines these questions by looking at how various governmental players are translating these investments and proposals into spatial plans. It focuses on port city regions, using the Dalian region in Northeast China, one of the OBOR Initiative hubs, as an example. Port regions are key spatial components in the OBOR initiative: as infrastructural hubs and as centres for trade and innovation, as sites of national oil storage, or hubs for the development of new maritime technology. As places where the industrial production and long-distance infrastructure of OBOR encounters densely populated areas, they are also particularly at risk from climate change, including rising sea levels. Thus, the OBOR Initiative’s goals of economic improvement and environmental sustainability may well collide.

The unprecedented accomplishments reported from China and Cuba in providing health care to their populations question the assumption that economic development along the model of Western nations is a sine qua non for developing effective health care systems among nonaffluent developing nations. Equal distribution of resources, emphasis on preventive public health measures, and attention to improving overall quality of life have been concepts employed to great advantage by both countries. When it is realized that improved standards of living have far overshadowed modern medical technology in upgrading the health of populations, the policies employed in China and Cuba become especially relevant to other nations, both developed and developing.

The "Silk Road" is an international channel for human trade and cultural exchanges that spans the Eurasian continent and lasts for more than two thousand years. It has contributed to the social and economic development and cultural exchanges of Asian and European countries, especially ancient China. A huge contribution, it is like a geographical artery that flows the blood of human culture. The discovery of the Silk Road was a great initiative in the history of human civilization, and it was the longest international transport route between the East and the West in ancient times. This international transport route served as a bridge for political, economic and cultural communication among the countries along the Silk Road and facilitated the spread and exchange between the ancient Indian, Egyptian, Greek and Chinese civilizations. Throughout history, we can conclude that the Silk Road emerged in tandem with the opening of China. The prosperous period of the Silk Road was a period of great openness in Chinese history, as China's openness waned, the Silk Road gradually declined, and the Middle Ming Dynasty "closed" after interregional exchanges along the Silk Road largely stalled. With China's increasing openness in the 21st century, the Silk Road has experienced a renaissance.

Following the political changes in 2000, Serbia has rapidly started to catch up with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in various aspects of the transition process. One of these very important aspects were foreign investments, both ‘direct’ and ‘portfolio’ ones, that had a significant impact on the development of Serbian economy by recovering economic structure and raising competitiveness in world markets, followed by improving the balance of payments and technological, scientific and managerial base. Foreign investments as an “economic engine” enable accelerated realization of national economic goals which include re-industrialization and renewal of industrial capacity. The openness of the Serbian market and the lack of financial resources allow China and other states concerned under favourable conditions invest in the development of Serbian economy. In this way, Chinese investments have become a driving force for the promotion of economic and other relations between the two countries. On the other hand, however, Chinese investments have proven to be an ideal test for the realization of the objectives of the development strategy of the ‘New Silk Road’ which among other things include the improvement of China’s position on world markets, including the EU market. For the proper understanding of Sino-Serbian relations, this study first gives a short explanation of the Chinese strategy of the New Silk Road. Then, it includes an analysis of Serbia’s position towards China. Analysis of the development of Serbian-Chinese economic relations, especially in the field of foreign investment and within the framework of multilateral cooperation mechanism ‘16+1’, occupies the central part of the study. The study concludes with an evaluation of comparative advantages and certain disadvantages for the Chinese foreign investment in Serbian economy, which in itself has certain significance for the realization of the New Silk Road strategy.

The importance of heritage roads on the development of Western Anatolia and Izmir

The study is aimed at analyzing the content and main directions of the formation of the transit health economy on the example of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) and its most important component – the Silk Road of Health (SRH), as well as the measures of the Chinese authorities to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Goal. To identify and analyze the internal contradictions of the B&R Initiative, which the pandemic has clearly shown, to develop proposals for the mutual linking of the various directions of the Chinese project in relation to the development of the transit economy in Russia. Tasks. Description of the content and main directions of the SRH; analysis of measures to combat the spread of the pandemic carried out by the authorities of the People's Republic of China (PRC), its provinces, as well as Russia, other states involved in the B&R project, in the context of modes of transport and the transport and communication system as a whole in the form of restrictions on export-import and transit cargo and passenger flows, difficulties in crossing borders, ship calls at seaports and crew changes; analysis of the impact of the pandemic and measures to combat it on the development of the transit economy. Methodology. The research uses the methods of world system analysis, evolutionary and institutional theory, economic and mathematical modeling, expert and analytical assessments. Results. It is shown that the pandemic has revealed the relevance and importance of the formation and development of the transit economy of health as a key direction of the post-crisis recovery of the world economy and the Russian national economic system. It was determined that the reorientation of cargo flows to rail transport was particularly evident in the field of transportation, which before the pandemic was carried out by air, i.e., in the segment of expensive goods, for which it is important to reduce the delivery time. It is indicated that an important anti-epidemic measure is the growth and passage of containerized cargo. It was emphasized that the high degree of uncertainty with sanitary standards in China creates nervousness in the market of export and transit cargo transportation. The main directions of the formation of SRH in Russia are outlined. Conclusions. The pandemic has increased awareness of the critical importance of digital connectivity to enhance the adaptive capacity of the global community and the global economy to meet today's challenges. Of all the components of the B&R, the anti-pandemic areas of the Initiative, namely, the SRH, the Digital Silk Road (DSR) and the Green Silk Road (GSR), should have priority. Russia should actively promote its own initiatives and projects for the development of the transit economy of health.

When China introduced the strategy for the new Silk Road in 2013, it had once again affirmed its position as a global leader and defined future direction in its foreign policy and economic development. As one of the most ambitious projects ever, once fully implemented, the new Silk Road will connect markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe, strengthen cooperation between countries and boost international trade flows.This paper analyzes the importance of the new Silk Road for economies along its corridors, аs well as the impact on Serbia’s economic development. It examines China’s investment model in Serbia, sectors with the largest volume of investment and the potential risks that developing countries could face through the implementation of BRI projects. The review also evaluates the attractiveness of the Serbian market and its role in the BRI vision in the Western Balkans. Preliminary research indicates that investments from China in recent years have had a positive impact on Serbia’s economic development. It is anticipated that further enhancement of investment relations between Serbia and China may have a wider impact not only on the realization of BRI goals in Serbia, but also in Europe, considering Serbia’s geographical position and the potential to bring Chinese companies closer to the EU market.

In June 1938 China's Nationalist government breached a major Yellow River dike in a drastic attempt to use flooding to slow the Japanese invasion. The strategic breach caused the Yellow River to abandon the northern course it had followed since 1855, and its new southeastern course led to eight years of catastrophic flooding. After World War II, the Nationalists, with extensive aid from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), aimed to close the breach and divert the river back to its pre-1938 course. However, the Chinese Communists had taken control of much of that course, and local interests there opposed the plan to bring back the river. The Yellow River diversion project thus became intensely politicized. This article examines how the diversion plan became embroiled in the Chinese Civil War of 1946–49, how the river's return to its northern course in 1947 impacted communities in its path, and how the Communists and Nationalists imagined the river and made different tactical and rhetorical uses of it during the war. I find that the campaign to reroute the river was complicated not only by the civil war but also by tension between local and national interests within the Communist Party, and that UNRRA's attempts to mediate between the Nationalists and Communists at times put the organization at odds with both parties. Moreover, in 1946 and 1947 the intense struggle to tame, make strategic use of, or cross the Yellow River became an important metaphor for the battle to control China.

Environmental impact assessment of a combined bioprocess for hydrogen production from food waste

Special announcement on family planning and reproductive health in China

Afghanistan is an important country for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (the Belt and Road) proposed by China. Due to years of war, Afghanistan is not well-developed economically. However, Afghanistan has abundant mineral resources and unique geographical advantages that are of far-reaching significance for Chinese economic strategic development. To investigate the sustainability of the eco-economic system of Afghanistan, we completed a quantitative evaluation of the emergy of Afghanistan during the period 2008 to 2015 by establishing an indicator system based on an emergy analysis. Results showed that from 2008 to 2015, the total emergy used of Afghanistan increased from 5.56×1022 sej to 9.75×1022 sej, among which the proportion of non-renewable emergy was less than 25.7%. This indicates that local resources in Afghanistan have yet to be exploited and utilized effectively and that its economic development relied heavily on the input of external resources. Meanwhile, the Emergy Sustainability Index (ESI) of Afghanistan from 2008 to 2015 dropped from 3.00 to 0.72, the Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR) increased from 0.77 to 2.06, and the Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR) dropped from 2.31 to 1.49, reflecting the imbalanced utilization of resources and the low level of economic development in Afghanistan. As a result, the potential for sustainable development of Afghanistan is relatively great. Basic infrastructure construction and reasonable exploitation of natural resources are the urgent needs.

Modeling the exploitation of common oil and gas resources under different conditions of resource distribution and extraction power: A game theory approach

Global health efforts and opportunities related to the Belt and Road Initiative

The relationship between China and the Arab world is age-old. China and the Arabian nations have been linked with each other by both land and the maritime Silk Road since the last 2000 years. The long history of friendship, cooperation, peace, and openness has enabled the People’s Republic of China to establish cordial friendships and diplomatic ties with at least 22 Arab states. Nearly 75 years of diplomatic and political relations have further deepened China-Arab relations in other areas of cooperation also. Beijing has set up a strategic dialogue mechanism with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through its comprehensive strategic partnership with eight of the central Arab countries. Today, China is the biggest importer of crude oil from the Arab region and is the 7th biggest overall trading partner. China’s recent Belt and Road Initiative also known as the One Belt, One Road (OBOR), was presented as one of the most ambitious economic and foreign policy efforts of President Xi Jinping. It promised a vast network of infrastructure building, economic development, and constructions of connectivity facilities throughout China’s neighbourhood running from Beijing to Asia, Europe, and Africa, with the Arab world at the centre. In the process of pursuing the Silk Road in the Arab world, China has proposed an initiative of establishing a “1 + 2 + 3” cooperation pattern with the Arab countries by taking energy cooperation as the core, infrastructure construction, and trade and investment facilitation as the two wings, and three high and new technology fields of nuclear energy, space satellite capabilities and new forms of energy generation as the three breakthroughs, and industrial capacity cooperation serving as the foundation. Undoubtedly, the transcontinental and transoceanic Silk Road networks of China are steadily reshaping the world’s political and economic landscape by promoting each other's advantages and potentials, trade and investment to achieve common progress and development. In lieu of this, the larger question which this chapter would like to focus on is how the Arab world is seeing this Silk Road Project of China which many claim to be Beijing’s plan to redesign the underlying geopolitical structure. Whether China is likely to respond to the people’s needs and their cultural aspirations will also be called into question, with the chapter concluding with an examination of whether this will merely be an extension of the existing drive towards globalisation.