Cooperation Zone Research Articles

China–Africa skills transfer through overseas economic and trade cooperation zones

AbstractThis paper investigates the employment patterns, training activities, and skills development outcomes of China's Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones (OETCZs) in Africa. Drawing upon ethnographic field research and a workers' opinion survey in Ethiopia's Eastern Industrial Zone (EIZ), it answers two questions: How well has intergovernmental collaboration on OETCZs been translated into training opportunities for local workers? What are local workers' perceptions and evaluations of the potentials and constraints of skills development in Chinese companies? Analyses based on field observations and regression models indicate that workers' demographic backgrounds, employment sector, and the peculiarities of Chinese workplaces are important factors to understand the skills development outcomes in Chinese OETCZs.

A review of China’s overseas economic and trade cooperation zones along the Belt and Road: Progress and prospects

A review of China’s overseas economic and trade cooperation zones along the Belt and Road: Progress and prospects

개성공단 보험규정에 대한 법적 고찰

All provisions of North Korea's 'Gaesong Industrial Zone Insurance Regulations' were critically reviewed according to the theory of insurance law. It was confirmed that there is a fundamental difference in the composition of insurance theory between North Korea's insurance law system, which is characterized by socialistic insurance, and South Korea's insurance law system based on liberal contracts. North Korea's insurance legislation is government-led, and the leading position of insurance companies is included in insurance regulations. This is a point of view that is in contrast to South Korea's insurance legislation that guarantees equal status. Recognizing these differences, mutual understanding, discussions, and negotiations between South and North Korean insurance experts are needed. This thesis is a basic study on the insurance legislation that can be applied by agreement between South and North Korea in the future inter-Korean economic cooperation zone through consideration of the 'Gaesong Industrial Zone Insurance Regulations'.

Islam and Maritime Security Cooperation Zone for Combating Terrorism: An Overview of Islamic Legal Thought

This article aims to examine the phenomenon of cooperation among Southeast Asian countries in dealing with the case of maritime security and counter-terrorism. The study uses the legal approach covering both international law and Islamic law perspectives. The finding of this article reveals that the implementation of the ASEAN Convention on Counter-Terrorism (ACCT) plays a crucial role in combating terrorism in the context of maritime security. Furthermore, relevant ASEAN member state authorities need follow-up support to enhance cooperation. The supports are important to counter, prevent, and suppress terrorism, terrorist organizations, associations, and networks' plans of the act. Yet, the implementation of ASEAN cooperation has faced the challenging reality of the paradox of maritime sovereignty among states in the region. The problem is likely encouraged by the factor of the internal political dynamics within each state involving the instrumentalization of the issue of national security. Instead of remaining as the problem on the surface, the conceptual initiation of the cooperation forged by religious doctrine such as ta'awun may be considered.

Городское и региональное сотрудничество и развитие. Проблемы и стратегии планирования и развития зоны интенсивного сотрудничества Гуандун-Макао на острове Хэнцинь, авторы Лонг Чжоу, Бин Ли, Сихонг Ли, Нган Ленг Лей, Кенгфонг Чеонг (2023): обзор основных идей. Часть 1

Challenges and Strategies for the Planning and Development of the Guangdong–Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin Island

The Timor Gap Treaty

1. On 11 December 1989, the Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade signed a treaty of historic significance regarding the mutual understanding to establish a Zone of Cooperation to explore and exploit the resources in the overlapping area claimed by Indonesia and Australia known as the Timor Gap. To add symbolism to the agreement, the signing ceremony of the Treaty took place on board an aircraft flying over the designated Zone of Cooperation at Timor Sea. 2. The content of the treaty and its annexes provide a glimpse of the complexities of the agreement. This paper discusses the provisions of the Timor Gap Treaty and provides a brief analysis on whether entering into a provisional arrangement pursuant to Article 83 of the UNCLOS by establishing a joint development mechanism in the overlapping area may accelerate maritime boundary negotiations.

China’s special economic zones and the industrialisation of Africa

Africa’s interest in the Chinese experience of industrialisation has led to the development of SEZs on the continent. The past two decades have witnessed an evolution of Africa from relying on traditional industrial zones to implementing numerous modern international SEZs, and from having only seven China–Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones to possessing modern African SEZs of various developers and operators. The African SEZs inspired by China are increasingly widespread. As a new strive for development, African industrialisation through SEZs is characterised by underlining export promotion and the preference for the labour-intensive manufacturing industry based on well-developed infrastructure and an active role of the state. China has been supporting African SEZs in the whole process from financing, construction, and management to industrial transfer and investments. Despite the significant opportunities that SEZs offer, African countries still face several limitations in implementing them successfully. African policy-makers and other actors involved in the SEZs can better adapt to the new approach of industrialisation by making relevant adjustments.

Empirical Research on The Impact of China’s Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on the Development of Host Countries in the Global Value Chain

China’s Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones (COCZs) have become representative platforms of regional cooperation. However, there are few empirical studies exploring their economic and trade effects on host countries. In this study, we comprehensively investigate the impact of COCZs on the host country’s GVC participation and positions by constructing a difference-in-difference specification on the industrial level. The main conclusions are: Firstly, COCZs are prominent in promoting the participation in GVCs for host countries while restricting the rise of their positions in GVCs to some extent. The reason lies within the fact that the impact of COCZs on the GVC positions is affected by the host country’s factor endowment, innovation level, and business environment. Secondly, for developing countries, the construction of COCZs has a more significant positive effect on their GVC participation. For developed countries, the construction of COCZs can significantly promote their GVC positions. Thirdly, the construction of COCZs has a greater impact on the GVC participation and positions for countries with smaller difference in industrial structure with China, the leading industries in COCZs, and the advantageous industries of host countries.

When defence drives foreign policy: Brazilian military agency in the revitalisation of the ZOPACAS

ABSTRACT The Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic (ZOPACAS) is a maritime zone of peace that was established, largely through Brazilian efforts, by the UN General Assembly in 1986. Since its establishment, ministerial meetings have been convened to discuss the zone’s evolving agenda, which has focused on maintaining peace, building diplomatic and defence cooperation between its twenty-four member states, and encouraging development in the South Atlantic region. This article examines Brazilian diplomatic and defence interests in the South Atlantic, providing an analysis of sections in Brazil’s official defence documents (1994–2020), pertaining to the ZOPACAS, South-South cooperation, development and regional security. It ultimately seeks to address how efforts behind a new revitalisation of the ZOPACAS are being driven by the Brazilian military with the aim of expanding Brazil’s defence framework in the South Atlantic.

How Do Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones along the Belt and Road Affect the Economic Growth of Host Countries?

Based on the data of countries along the “One Belt and One Road” from 1998 to 2017, this paper uses the progressive Difference-in-Difference to analyze the impact of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones on the economic growth of host countries, which shows that the establishment of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones significantly promotes the economic development of host countries. Additionally, the specific mechanism of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones to promote the economic growth of the host country is analyzed using the mediating effect model, and the study shows that the overseas economic and trade cooperation zones can encourage the economic development of the host countries by attracting foreign investment inflows. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have stronger economic boosting effects on countries with lower income levels and poorer business systems. Different types of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones have other economic boosting effects on host countries. Among them, the economic impact of industrial, agricultural, and high-tech zones is significant, while the influence of logistics and comprehensive industrial zones is not yet significant. Finally, the paper carries out further discussion based on the above findings.

Research on the Impact of the Construction of Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones on the Innovation Level of Countries along the “the Belt and Road”

From the perspective of the host country, this paper studies the impact of the construction of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones on the innovation level of countries along “the Belt and Road” based on the national level panel data of 42 countries from 2003 to 2019. The research finds that the construction of cooperation zones has significantly improved the innovation level of countries along “the Belt and Road”, and the national cooperation zones passing the assessment of the Ministry of Commerce have a stronger role in improving the innovation level of the host country. This conclusion is still valid after a variety of robustness tests. The conclusions of this study provide empirical evidence that the overseas economic and trade cooperation zone is a win-win “China” model, and has important reference significance for China to improve the function of the opening platform through the cooperation zone and promote the high-quality development of the “the Belt and Road”.

The role of Macao's universities in the education and training development of Hengqin

PurposeThis study intends to explore the opportunities and roles of Macao's universities in the education and training development of Hengqin under the General Plan of the Development of the Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin promulgated in August 2021.Design/methodology/approachThis study is intended to analyze the role of Macao’ universities in Hengqin development, based on data collected through interviewing with dozens of scholars and government officials from Macao and Hengqin, and government reports, news reports and other relevant data.FindingsThe General Plan provides Macao's universities with opportunities to develop education and training in Hengqin. On the one hand, Hengqin can be the locus of Macao's tertiary education diversification; Macao's universities can jointly establish technological research institutions and set up postdoctoral research centers and university branches to enroll master's and doctoral students from Mainland China. On the other hand, Macao's universities can set up a branch of professional training and open training courses in Hengqin. These efforts are designed to promote technological innovation and cultural diffusion in Macao.Originality/valueThis study analyses the potential role of Macao's universities in developing education and training in Hengqin since the central policy was announced last August. This study will be of interest to scholars as well as policymakers.

Impervious surface expansion in the China-Laos border area under the context of geo-economic cooperation: a case study of the Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone

ABSTRACT Geo-economic cooperation among neighboring countries has promoted landscape changes across their borders, including impervious surface expansion and/or agriculture-forest conversion, which are often presented but usually ignored. Short-revisit multispectral imagery lays a foundation for delineating these gradual or seasonal landscape changes in border regions. China-Laos Mohan-Boten Economic Cooperation Zone (ECZ), which has been launched in March 2016, has recently witnessed a rapid expansion of impervious surfaces. In this study, Sentinel-2 A/B 10 m images over the Mohan-Boten ECZ from 2017 to 2021, and the Continuous Change Detection and Classification algorithm, which combines spatial filtering and temporal consistency check, have been utilized to identify, correct and reconstruct monthly time-series of impervious surface area (ISA). In addition, the patterns and characteristics of impervious surface expansion under the context of China-Laos geo-economic cooperation have been analyzed and the response of impervious surface expansion to geo-economic cooperation has been evaluated. The results show that Mohan-Boten ECZ and China-Laos Railway are two geo-economic contributors to the expansion of impervious surface in both sides of the border. ISA in the ECZ nearly doubled in only five years. ISA in the Boten side expanded much faster than that of the Mohan side in the first half of the study period and exceeded its counterpart for the first time in February 2019. Moreover, the scale and rates of expansion in the dry seasons were much larger in both sides. Three expansion patterns were recognized in the ECZ. This study highlights the potentials of time-series stack of land cover products in quantifying the impacts of geo-economic cooperation on land use change in border areas and in clarifying how border land use change responds to geo-economic cooperation and/or competition.

Study on the construction of overseas economic and trade cooperation Zone under production capacity cooperation in Jiangsu Province

Jiangsu is a big province in foreign trade and foreign direct investment, and its total volume ranks among the top among provincial administrative units in China. "Park economy" is an important name card of economic development in Jiangsu Province, and overseas economic and trade cooperation zone is one of the important and effective ways of production capacity cooperation. With the development of The Times, Jiangsu Province has made a series of achievements in the construction of overseas economic and trade cooperation zone, but it is followed by the emergence of various problems. This paper expounds the status quo of the overseas economic and trade cooperation zone and its advantages, analyzes the existing problems, and puts forward suggestions for the government to establish investment service institutions, promote the sustainable development of the overseas economic and trade cooperation zone, and improve the added value of the products of the overseas economic and trade cooperation zone.

Micro-scale habitability evaluation of Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city based on multi-source data

Quantitative assessment of livability within a city facilitates the identification of urban problems and targeted improvements to the environment. Available studies are mostly limited to static analysis of a particular phase. It is difficult to reveal the dynamic development state of cities at the micro level. Taking Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city as an example, we established an evaluation index system for the livability of the eco-city from five dimensions, including environmental health, transportation convenience, urban security, facility convenience, and economic prosperity. Multi-source data from 2016 to 2020, including the remote sensing images, points of interest, and planning data, combined with the entropy method and the TOPSIS method were used to dynamically monitor the livability of the eco-city in a long-term series. The results showed that during the study period, the livability levels of different areas in the eco-city had strong spatial and temporal variations. Spatially, with the southern part of the Sino-Singapore Eco-city Cooperation Zone as the core, the overall livability was characterized by a high center and a low edge. The convenience of facilities, traffic convenience, and economic prosperity were characterized by a high center and a low edge. Urban security and environmental health showed the characteristics of low center and high edge. From 2016 to 2020, the livability improvement rate of the eco-city had gradually accelerated, with the the most obvious improvement in the southern part of the China-Singapore Cooperation Zone.

Explore the theoretical basis and implementation strategy of low-carbon Urban Community Planning

Cities carry out various human production and living activities, consume a lot of carbon energy, become the main source of greenhouse gas emissions, and have an increasing impact on the climate. Therefore, as the main battlefield of carbon emission management, cities have become the focus of low-carbon research. The concept of a “low-carbon city” appears in dealing with global climate change. In order to further study the application of low carbon cities, this research discusses how to achieve the goal of low carbon cities from low carbon communities by introducing the concept of low carbon cities and the planning views of experts and scholars on low carbon cities, and based on the theoretical research and practical experience of low carbon cities. In the course of the study, Qianhai Cooperation Zone and Bao’an Central District in Shenzhen are introduced as case studies to analyze the practical application of low-carbon city construction. Through this study, we found that the purpose of low-carbon cities is to provide physical space for resource savings, low waste emissions, high operating efficiency, green and sustainable urban activities. For the completely dispersed urban structure in some regions of China, the polycentric network structure is a favorable urban structure for these regions to achieve low carbon and efficient development. The polycentric network cities have high urban density and activity intensity, so corresponding low-carbon strategies can be effectively implemented according to different functional positioning, density and activity density. On the other hand, in order to achieve efficient and low-carbon urban development, the community should be the basic unit. Only when low carbon is realized in the community can the basic low carbon of urban life be guaranteed and the low carbon of the whole city be realized.

A Study on The Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of Land Use Types and Population Density in Urban Areas

At present, China is experiencing a rapid urbanization phase, with a continuous outward expansion of urban land, which in turn puts enormous pressure on the city and its surrounding ecological environment and seriously hinders the sustainable development of the region. Therefore, this article takes Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin as a research case to study the relationship between the spatial evolution of urban land and changes in population density, expecting to provide a basis for scientific planning of urban spatial development, which is of great significance for achieving sustainable urban development.

Investigating the multidimensional relative poverty in China: Evidence from Nanling Yao ethnic group area.

China has made remarkable achievements in solving absolute poverty and entered into the stage of solving relative poverty which takes on multidimensional characteristics. Solving multidimensional relative poverty is the key to promoting social equity and achieving coordinated development. Based on the data of ten counties in the Nanling Yao ethnic group area in China from 2011 to 2018, we used the entropy weight method to study the degree, main influencing dimensions and distribution of multidimensional relative poverty. We found that external risk contributed the most to multidimensional relative poverty, followed by internal risk, economic development opportunity and potential development opportunity. Counties with moderate multidimensional relative poverty accounted for the largest proportion, multidimensional relative poverty was not significantly alleviated from 2011 to 2018, but some counties have different multidimensional relative poverty levels. In order to solve the multidimensional relative poverty, it is necessary to establish a Nanling economic cooperation zone, develop characteristic industries and focus on supporting counties with deep multidimensional relative poverty.

Rescaling of the land regime in the making of city-regions: A case study of China’s Pearl River Delta

Ubiquitous in fast-urbanising China, land-driven urban growth is increasingly inter-urban in nature – a trend that is underexplored in the literature. Grounded in a conceptual framework concerning the rescaling of the land regime, this study probes the unfolding land development processes of city-regionalism. Key findings of an examination of the Shenzhen–Shanwei Special Cooperation Zone in the Pearl River Delta are as follows: land regime rescaling is an emergent driving force for city-region making in China; the rescaled land regime centres on uneven capacities among the states of cooperating cities and benefit sharing (immediate land-related profit and potential long-term profit); provincial government engagement is fundamental to legitimatising this contested process; the rescaled land regime has been orchestrated by state interests in land development, rather than business interests released by marketisation, spawning a ‘stretching’ state territoriality of the central city. This article furthers the field’s understanding of a ‘world of city-regionalisms’ through a situated account of emerging city-regionalism characterised by land development in the Chinese context.

Macau's sustainability and diversification.

We analyze the socio-economic development of Macau after the return to Chinese sovereignty from the three dimensions of sustainability (economy, society, and environment). Macau's economy has both high growth and high volatility, mainly due to its unbalanced industrial structure and vulnerability to external shocks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer confidence declined, due to the rising and high unemployment rate, while the environment has been relatively good since air quality became better. The overall assessment of sustainable city competitiveness of Macau has slipped gradually. This suggests that Macau's factor endowment structure has reached its upper limit and needs to be changed through internal industrial pluralism and external regional deepening (e.g., Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin) to promote the moderately diversified and sustainable development of the economy.