Reform In China Research Articles

Soldiering in the Special Zone: The People's Liberation Army Engineering Corps in Shenzhen

Abstract Between 1979 and 1982, 20,000 troops from the People's Liberation Army Engineering Corps travelled from military-industrial sites in the interior to Shenzhen, China's first Special Economic Zone (SEZ). They were the first batch of state-sponsored migrants to the SEZ and the pioneer builders of the city's urban infrastructure. This article uses the case of military workers in the SEZ to examine state–market relations during the early phase of China's post-socialist transition. On one hand, the Deng administration strategically repurposed a disciplined labour force from Mao's command economy to jump-start marketization. On the other hand, the Mao-era power structure of the Engineering Corps not only persisted but became even more entrenched in the SEZ at the forefront of China's reform. The higher one's military rank was before demobilization, the more easily one could monetize socialist-era political credentials, particularly by taking advantage of the rising value of land in Shenzhen's urbanization process. Academic credentials served as a moderate booster of status within the public sector and a more powerful ingredient leading to success for private entrepreneurs. The lower the military rank before demobilization, the less meaningful the agency to obtain material rewards commensurate with past contributions.

Decentralization of land development approval and economic impacts: A study on China's urban construction land reform

This paper explores how China's reform of the urban construction land approval system, which decentralized authority to provincial governments, affects enterprise total factor productivity (TFP) using a quasi-natural experiment approach. The reform streamlined processes, reduced legal ambiguities, and enhanced resource efficiency. Our findings indicate significant TFP gains primarily due to lower administrative costs and improved legal frameworks, emphasizing the pivotal role of regional governance and legal enforcement in economic outcomes. Additionally, the analysis highlights substantial TFP enhancements from reduced inefficient investments and financing constraints, with notable regional and enterprise-specific variations in the impact of legal reform.

Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between Debt Level and Business Performance of List Companies in the A-share Real Estate Industry

Since China's reform and opening, the real estate industry has moved towards marketization, with rapid development with the help of market opportunities and financial leverage. However, in recent years, China has continued to promote industrial structure transformation and deleveraging, and affected by the world economy, the epidemic, and other factors, the market has continued to cool, and the past development situation is no longer applicable to the present, and the change in the real estate industry is imminent. Taking the real estate enterprises listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares as the analysis object, this paper uses the data from three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, uses the Stata data analysis tool to conduct empirical analysis, and analyzes the relationship between the debt level and business performance of enterprises in the real estate industry in different regions through descriptive statistical analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. The results show that the results vary in different regions, and there is a significant positive correlation between the operating performance and debt level of real estate enterprises in other regions, while the north, Shanghai, and Guangzhou regions do not. The state should strengthen supervision, encourage new financing channels, promote the transformation of enterprise asset structure, optimize the level of assets and liabilities, and then reduce financial risks and ensure the benign development of the market.

Analyze the Causes of Income Gap Between Urban and Rural Residents: Take Guangdong Province in China as an Example

In nearly 40 years since China's reform and opening-up, Guangdong province has experienced continuous economic growth, reaching high levels of production. Urban and rural development has also seen gradual growth, but the income gap between urban and rural residents has gradually increased. In the initial phase of reform and opening-up, rural and urban development was not adequately supported through limited policies and financial assistance for farmers. As Restructuring and liberalizing policies continued, China's economic reconstruction made significant progress, and the income gap between urban and rural areas deepened. With the advancement of China's economic level, Guangdong province has experienced increased economic development, but the income disparity between urban and rural areas has continued to grow gradually. However, in recent years, the income gap between rural inhabitant and countryside resident in Guangdong province has not increased at the same rate as in the past, although this gap persists. This paper analyzes the per individual expendable income for urban and countryside inhabitant in Guangdong province from 2010 to 2020 as an indicator.

In Search of Marginalized Womens Tragedy in Urbanization: A Brief Analysis of Supporting Role Narrative in Li Yus Lost in Beijing

Post-millennium Beijing experienced rapid economic growth as a result of Chinas reform policies, fostering burgeoning urbanization and intensifying materialism and societal stratification. Witnessing this metropolitan backdrop, Chinese auteur Li Yu adopted a documentary style in her cinematic narrative in the feature film Pingguo (Lost in Beijing, 2007), which premiered in the same year. Under the influence of Western feminist filmmakers, Lis notable call for social attention to marginalized female workers in the film demonstrated her distinctive ways of amplifying womens voices in Chinese cinema. Through an intertextual analysis of masseuse Xiao Mei, a "Northern Drifter" who tragically descends into a sexualized worker, this thesis would argue how by portraying the gradual psychic and physical alienation of Xiao Mei under the pressure of urbanization and economic competition, Li condenses the existential and spiritual dilemmas of contemporary underclass women into a supporting figure. While advocating for metropolises like Beijing to consider these "neglected majorities" in their development, this endeavor contributes to the study of productions from the late period of China's reform and opening up, as well as to the examination of contemporary Chinese feminist cinema.

Spatial and temporal characteristic of PM2.5 and influence factors in the Yellow River Basin.

The Yellow River Basin has been instrumental in advancing ecological preservation and fostering national high-quality development. However, since the advent of China's reform and opening-up policies, the basin has faced severe environmental pollution issues. This study leverages remote sensing data from 1998 to 2019. As per the "Basin Scope and Its Historical Changes" published by the Yellow River Conservancy Commission of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Yellow River Basin is categorized into upstream, midstream, and downstream regions for analysis of their spatial and temporal distribution traits using spatial autocorrelation methods. Additionally, we employed probes to study the effects of 10 factors, including mean surface temperature and air pressure, on PM2.5. The study findings reveal that (1) the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in the Yellow River Basin exhibited a fluctuating trend from 1998 to 2019, initially increasing, then decreasing, followed by another increase before ultimately declining. (2) The air quality in the Yellow River Basin is relatively poor, making it challenging for large-scale areas with low PM2.5 levels to occur. (3) The PM2.5 concentration in the Yellow River Basin exhibits distinct high and low-value concentration areas indicative of air pollution. Low-value areas are predominantly found in the sparsely populated central and southwestern plateau regions of Inner Mongolia, characterized by a better ecological environment. In contrast, high-value areas are prevalent in the inland areas of Northwest China, with poorer natural conditions, as well as densely populated zones with high energy demand and a relatively developed economy. (4) The overall population density in the Yellow River Basin, as well as in the upstream, midstream, and downstream regions, serves as a primary driving factor. (5) The primary drivers in the middle reaches and the entire Yellow River Basin remain consistent, whereas those in the upper and lower reaches have shifted. In the upstream, air pressure emerges as a primary driver of PM2.5, while in the downstream, NDVI and precipitation become the main influencing factors.

Analysis of the reform of the petroleum industry management system and the construction of market mechanisms

With China's reform and opening up, the marketing process of the petroleum industry is still lower than our national economy. Which the market mechanism in the oil industry plays a very important role, at the same time to the national economic development also laid the foundation. Under the background development of globalization, how to improve the oil supply capacity and the enterprise's own competitiveness become the the main research topics and directions, based on this, this paper analyses the management system and market mechanism in the petroleum industry by standing in the petroleum market in China. Laying the foundation for the improvement of the system.

Centennial Records of Microplastics in Lake Cores in Huguangyan Maar Lake, China.

Microplastic records from lake cores can reconstruct the plastic pollution history. However, the associations between anthropogenic activities and microplastic accumulation are not well understood. Huguangyan Maar Lake (HML) is a deep-enclosed lake without inlets and outlets, where the sedimentary environment is ideal for preserving a stable and historical microplastic record. Microplastic (size: 10-500 μm) characteristics in the HML core were identified using the Laser Direct Infrared Imaging system. The earliest detectable microplastics appeared unit in 1955 (1.1 items g-1). The microplastic abundance ranged from n.d. to 615.2 items g-1 in 1955-2019 with an average of 134.9 items g-1. The abundance declined slightly during the 1970s and then increased rapidly after China's Reform and Opening Up in 1978. Sixteen polymer types were detectable, with polyethylene and polypropylene dominating, accounting for 23.5 and 23.3% of the total abundance, and the size at 10-100 μm accounted for 80%. Socioeconomic factors dominated the microplastic accumulation based on the random forest modeling, and the contributions of GDP per capita, plastic-related industry yield, and total crop yield were, respectively, 13.9, 35.1, and 9.3% between 1955-2019. The total crop yield contribution further increased by 1.7% after 1978. Coarse sediment particles increased with soil erosion exacerbated microplastics discharging into the sediment.

Analyzing the Impact of Hainan Free Trade Port on the Development of the Financial Services Industry and Prospects

The construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port is one of the significant measures in China's reform and opening-up policy, holding crucial implications for promoting the development of the financial services industry. This paper explores the impact of the Hainan Free Trade Port on the development of the financial services industry, coupled with future prospects, aiming to provide theoretical support and practical references for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.

Study on the Image Construction of Shenzhen in Foreign Media

As China's special economic zone and technological innovation center, Shenzhen enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. This study aims to observe overseas media reports on Shenzhen in recent years and explore its image construction through the method of combining corpus and critical discourse analysis. Based on the NOW corpus created by Brigham Young University in the United States, we find that the discourse construction of overseas media around Shenzhen stems from the image of its special economic zone and technological innovation. As a microcosm of China's reform and opening up, Shenzhen is portrayed as a modern, innovative and dynamic city. By analyzing the reports in the corpus, we find that overseas media mainly focus on Shenzhen's technology industry, innovation and entrepreneurship environment, and economic development mode. Shenzhen's status as China's technological innovation hub and its importance in global value chains are frequently mentioned in the reports. In addition, overseas media have also paid attention to Shenzhen's urban planning, environmental protection and international cooperation. Overall, overseas media coverage of Shenzhen presents a positive, modern image, emphasizing its importance and influence on the global stage. As a successful model of China's reform and opening up, Shenzhen is gradually becoming the focus of international attention, showing its charm and vitality as a modern city.

The Role and Impact of the Combination of New Media Technology and E-Commerce

With the continuous promotion of China's reform. and opening up, China's social and economic levels have achieved significant improvements, the rate of economic growth is very rapid and the people's material living standards have also achieved a substantial increase. People's lives are more affluent and comfortable life. During this period, the e-commerce environment has been continuously optimized and improved, laying a solid foundation for the vigorous development of e-commerce. With the support of new media, the development trend of new media e-commerce has risen rapidly, becoming an important opportunity for many small and medium-sized enterprises to seek development. In order to understand the main problems of new media e-commerce, the author combines the current development status of new media and e-commerce platforms, uses observation method, experience summary method, and literature research methods to carry out an in-depth research and analysis of the actual situation of new media e-commerce. Through the generalization and summary of a large amount of data and information, the main problems of new media e-commerce are revealed. On this basis, the author further explores the role and influence of combining new media with e-commerce, and proposes a series of targeted solutions and countermeasures, aiming at providing some useful references and suggestions for the development of new media ecommerce.

Targeted Liberalization: China's foreign investment regulation reform and its post‐WTO‐accession export surge

AbstractTo gain membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China substantially modified its regulation of foreign direct investment. These reforms coincided with rapid changes in the composition of capital inflows, as the dominant entry mode shifted from joint venture to wholly foreign owned affiliate. Foreign‐invested enterprises contributed a rising share of China's rapidly growing exports. We investigate how much China's foreign ownership liberalization contributed to these observed trends in foreign investment flows and Chinese exports. Accounting for both the set of activities from which it removed foreign equity caps and those into which it newly encouraged investment, we estimate the impact of China's reforms on firm entry and exports using a difference‐in‐differences estimator. To eliminate bias resulting from heterogeneous and dynamic treatment effects, we also apply novel dynamic difference‐in‐differences estimators. We find that removal of foreign equity caps induced entry of wholly foreign owned firms, while having no significant effect on entry of new joint ventures. Concurrently, the designation of new activities for investment incentives induced foreign entry, particularly in the form of joint ventures. Reduced‐form calculations imply that FDI policy changes explain almost 9% of the increase in exports from foreign‐invested firms over the decade studied. The effect was larger in sectors identified as “high‐tech industries” by the Chinese government, as they contribute most of the estimated policy‐driven export growth from foreign‐invested firms. Thus, China's FDI regulation reform following WTO entry was targeted liberalization: elimination of equity share limits induced new foreign entry, while investment incentives encouraged formation of joint ventures.

Application of Building Intelligent Design in Energy Saving and Sustainable Development

With the rapid development of social and economic development, people's living standards to a certain extent has been continuously improved, building energy consumption further shows a trend of sustained growth, the apparent contradiction in the supply of energy resources in our country further aggravated. In order to the sustainable development of mankind, we must effectively reduce the energy consumption, and further implement the building energy conservation measures into practice. To a certain extent, effective control of building energy consumption, and further alleviate the contradiction between China's energy supply and economic and social development. Let building energy-saving design in China's energy saving and emission reduction to make the necessary contribution. China is a populous country, per capita resources are poor, people's overall average standard of living is low. With the deepening of China's reform and opening up, the Chinese people are gradually getting richer and richer, the Chinese people began to continuously improve their material life, especially the living environment, so China's construction business is also rapidly developing, with the increase of a large number of new buildings, the building energy consumption is growing rapidly. However, China's large population, the energy situation is not optimistic, reduce building energy consumption is the implementation of the scientific concept of development, to achieve sustainable development of the major strategic initiatives.

Foreign Direct Investment on China's Balance of Payments

With the acceleration of China's reform and opening-up process, the macro-economy is also developing rapidly, but in recent years, changes in the internal and external situation have all been seen as factors affecting the macro-economy, how to see the situation, how to formulate a reasonable policy to cope with the problem, has become the main task of the macro-economy. The balance of payments is an essential link in determining macroeconomic development. It is related to the balance and stability of domestic and foreign wealth, of which foreign investment is an essential part of China's opening up to the outside world, and most foreign investment is direct investment. The study of the impact of foreign direct investment on the balance of payments is of practical significance. Its main strategies of a trade conflict between China and the United States and the expansion of domestic demand in recent years can put forward valuable opinions, as well as guiding significance for stabilizing the exchange rate and guaranteeing the healthy development of the macroeconomy. This paper firstly summarizes and combs the research and theories on the impact of foreign direct investment on the balance of payments; secondly, it analyzes and summarizes the data on the status of FDI in China and China's balance of payments; then it conducts the theoretical, empirical analysis based on the theory; and finally, it draws the conclusions and realistic recommendations based on the above contents.

Response of hydrological ecosystem services to land-use change and risk assessment in Jiangxi Province, China

Water bodies provide humans with important hydrological ecosystem services (HESs), directly or indirectly. Water yield, water conservation, and soil conservation are essential to HESs. Since China's reform and opening up, and with its rapid socio-economic development, land use in Jiangxi Province has undergone drastic change, resulting in threats to the ecological environment. This paper evaluates three HESs, water yield, water conservation, and soil conservation, in Jiangxi Province based on land use and rainfall data, quantifies the impacts of different land classes on each ecosystem, predicts future land use using the patch-generating land use simulation (PLUS) model, and finally, discusses the ecological risks in the study area. The following results were obtained: (1) The HESs in the basin increased and then decreased from 2000 to 2020, and the spatial distribution of water yield and water conservation was greatly influenced by rainfall. Soil conservation was mostly consistent with the elevation distribution. (2) Over time, the overall aggregation of HESs in the study area increased. There were small differences in the effects of various land uses on water yield and water conservation, and large differences in the effects on soil conservation. (3) The distribution of ecological risks was not affected by different land use strategies, with the lower ecological risk level 1 dominating. Most risk areas were present in Ganzhou, Ji'an, Shangrao, and Jiujiang. The ecological risk from urban sprawl (US) accounted for the most significant proportion, and that from the ecological protection (EP) strategy accounted for the lowest proportion. This study provides reference for sustainable land use development and ecological risk prevention in the study area.

Analysis of Western Apparel Brands Localization in China

With China's reform and opening up, this market with huge consumer potential has attracted the attention of thousands of capital brands from other parts of the world over the past four decades, and more and more international brands are facing the same problem when entering the Chinese market - how to make their brands take root in China. This paper examines the localization of international brands in China from the perspectives of the international apparel market and the local Chinese culture. Through questionnaire analysis, this paper concludes that in the Chinese market, the more closely Chinese traditional culture is adhered to, the more it will win the favor of local consumers and so on. This study provides a reference value for the present and future survival of apparel brands in China in terms of profit growth, as well as a reference value for the future entry of international brands into other emerging markets.

A Brief Analysis of the Historical Change Process and Characteristics of Hu Yaobang's Political Character

The development of character profoundly influences an individual's life, and in the realm of politics, it shapes a person's political trajectory, encompassing a series of decisions and choices. Hu Yaobang, as a prominent political figure within the Chinese Communist Party, was influenced by the cultural milieu of Hunan Province during his formative years, the era he lived in, and the people and events around him. Through a series of challenges and experiences, he evolved into a paramount figure within the CCP, with his political character maturing over time. Hu Yaobang's political character is multifaceted, marked by his dedication to public service, unwavering courage, and steadfast beliefs. These traits not only earned him acclaim as an exemplary Communist Party member but also bestowed enduring contributions upon China's reform and opening-up endeavors. This study aims to explore Hu Yaobang's political character, offering insights into China's unique historical development through individual analysis, holding positive implications for furthering China's reform and opening-up and its contemporary populace.

Institutional Rebound: Why Reforming China's State-Owned Enterprises Is so Difficult

Why are perennially entrenched institutions so hard to reform? This article proposes a theory of institutional rebound based on China's reforms to break the three "ironinstitutions" in state-owned enterprises (SOEs). I argue that reforms triggered the rise of informal institutions, which impeded further reforms and made old rules rebound. When SOE cadres had denser political connections, they actively manipulated the rules to maintain privileges. When managers and workers had fewer political resources, they used performative resistance to delay reforms and penalize reform advocates. The pressure to complete reforms drove cadres to first target the powerless, replacing them with cronies, before having to move to the more powerful. The article combines in-depth interviews, secondary sources, and topical modeling of newspaper and journal articles across three decades.

The Special Role of the "Plan Four-Three" in the History of New China's Reform and Opening up

The Special Role of the "Plan Four-Three" in the History of New China's Reform and Opening up

Integrating Regional Culture into Public Art within the Metro Public Space

Chinese artists with the development of China's economy and the accelerated construction of urbanization, public art expresses the collective consciousness and mainstream emotions in the process of China's social development. Seeking to express the revival and mutation of traditional culture in a proper artistic language, people hope to express their aspirations for the times through public art. China's urban subway public art is a typical manifestation of public art in the current stage of China's development, and has traveled with every important period of China's reform process, recording the traces of the times with works of art. China's subway public art has been diversified from the initial single form of expression, but there are still many shortcomings and problems, waiting for our artists and art workers to explore, China's subway public art to the world. China's urban subway public art has a successful case, but there is also the phenomenon of serious commercialization. China's urban subway public art has become an important platform for the historical heritage of the Chinese nation. The development of urban subway makes our urban public art more and more recognized by the public.