Five-Year Plan Research Articles

The silent threat and countermeasures: Navigating the mixture risk of endocrine-disrupting chemicals on pregnancy loss in China

Currently, many countries and regions worldwide face the challenge of declining population growth due to persistently low rates of female reproduction. Since 2017, China's birth rate has hit historic lows and continued to decline, with the death rate now equaling the birth rate. Concerns have emerged regarding the potential impact of environmental contaminants on reproductive health, including pregnancy loss. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like phthalate esters (PAEs), bisphenol A (BPA), triclosan (TCS), and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have raised attention due to their adverse effects on biological systems. While China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025) for national economic and social development included the treatment of emerging pollutants, including EDCs, there are currently no national appraisal standards or regulatory frameworks for EDCs and their mixtures. Addressing the risk of EDC mixtures is an urgent matter that needs consideration from China's perspective in the near future. In this Perspective, we delve into the link between EDC mixture exposure and pregnancy loss in China. Our focus areas include establishing a comprehensive national plan targeting reproductive-aged women across diverse urban and rural areas, understanding common EDC combinations in women and their surrounding environment, exploring the relationship between EDCs and pregnancy loss via epidemiology, and reconsidering the safety of EDCs, particularly in mixtures and low-dose scenarios. We envision that this study could aid in creating preventive strategies and interventions to alleviate potential risks induced by EDC exposure during pregnancy in China.

Research on the mechanism and policies of polycentric agglomeration for promoting the upgrading of China's position in the global production value chain

Recently, with the increasing trend of anti-globalization, China's manufacturing industry has encountered instability in the supply of upstream products in international trade, a challenge that has given rise to an urgent demand for ways to improve China's position in the global production chain. In response to this challenge, the 14th Five-Year Plan puts forward the strategic goal of building multi-level, multi-node, networked city clusters and trade powerhouses, which provides new development opportunities for China to strengthen its position in the global production chain through the model of polycentric agglomeration. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of polycentric agglomeration on the position of enterprises in the global production chain, this project will use the instrumental variable estimation method to conduct an empirical study. This method can help us accurately identify the causal relationship between polycentric agglomeration and global production chain position and assess the differential impact of different agglomeration patterns on firms' production chain position. Through this study, we expect to reveal how polycentric agglomeration can enhance firms' global production chain positions through mechanisms such as optimizing resource allocation, promoting technological innovation, and strengthening industrial chain synergies. In addition, we plan to explore the impact of polycentric agglomeration on the evolution of firms' roles in global value chains and on international trade competitiveness. The objective of this study is to provide targeted recommendations for policymakers and enterprises to help them achieve high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry by optimizing the structure of polycentric agglomeration in the context of global production chain restructuring. Through this comprehensive study, we expect to provide scientific decision support and action guidelines for China's sustainable upgrading and competitiveness enhancement in global production chains.

The Impact of Digital Economy on Corporate Green Technology Innovation

In the context of high-tech innovation, digital technology, as an important driver of China's comprehensive deepening of reforms and the completion of the "14th Five-Year Plan", plays an important role in China's future industrial structure upgrade and social development. As a new form of economy, the digital economy is based on high-tech information technology and digital industry. With the development of the digital economy in recent years, it now occupies an important position in the global economic ecology, especially in China. In recent years, the central government has continuously The development of digital economy was mentioned in all four economic work conferences. The development of the digital economy further deepens corporate green technology innovation.

Livestock Farming in Bashkiria in 1946-1950: Dynamics of Production of Main Types of Products

The article examines the dynamics of livestock production in the individual and collective sectors in the Bashkir ASSR during the first postwar five-year period (1946-1950). Archival data is introduced into scientific circulation. Emphasis is placed on the fact that throughout the studied period, the recovery of livestock farming in the republic faced significant challenges. Information is provided on the production of main types of livestock products during the fourth five-year plan by specific categories in natural and monetary terms. It is noted that the pre-war level of production volume was never reached in various indicators: the number of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses, gross production of eggs, wool, honey, etc. Among the socio-economic reasons hindering the development of livestock farming in the republic are cited: consequences of World War II; low state investment in agriculture; low level of livestock technologies; deliberate policy by authorities viewing agriculture as an appendage to industry; low living standards of rural residents. The contribution of Bashkiria to the country’s food balance is determined. The conclusion is drawn that the individual sector of livestock farming, despite extremely unfavorable conditions and resistance from government authorities in the first post-war five-year period, overall maintained its positions and produced over 2/3 of the livestock products in the republic.

DECOMPOSING REVENUE SOURCES OF MUNICIPALITIES

Purpose: The study intends to examine the sources of ULBs’ revenue. It highlights various revenue sources available to municipalities in India, including funds recommended by Five Year Plans and Finance Commissions Methodology: This study was primarily based on various Central Finance Commissions’ Reports and Five-Year Plan documents. Results: Fund transfers, including central transfers and state transfers, are the main sources of funds for ULBs in India. Funds allocated for ULBs has been increasing in the Five-Year Plans since the beginning. These transfers have seen an increasing trend over the years, reflecting the realization of the importance of strengthening municipal governance and infrastructure. KEY WORDS: Municipal Finance, Fund Transfers for Urban Local Bodies.

Internal Causes, Challenges and Realization Paths of Regional Coordinated Development to Promote Common Prosperity

Realizing regional coordinated development is not only conducive to implementing the new development concept, but also conducive to building a new development pattern and realizing the goal of common prosperity. However, at present, there are some problems, such as the gap between the northeast and the east, middle and west, the gap between the north and the south and the internal gap of the "the belt and road initiative", the spatial layout of metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations is dense in the east and sparse in the west, and the cooperation process between regions is slow. During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period and in the future, we should focus on cultivating economic growth points, taking county towns and central villages (towns) as important nodes of urban-rural integration and development, and metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations as growth poles to promote the construction of cross-regional economic belts; Focus on the construction of major economic belts and build a criss-crossing regional coordinated development network; Take "the belt and road initiative" as the guide and accelerate the construction of a new development pattern.

The opposite innovation impacts of air and water pollution regulations: Evidence from the total emissions control policy in China

This paper uses a unique firm-level data set from China’s two most developed regions, the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Pearl River Delta (PRD), to examine the effects of environmental regulations on innovation. Variations in air and water pollution reduction plans under the Total Emissions Control Policy from the 10th to the 12th Five-Year Plans (2001–2015) are explored to measure the stringency of environmental regulations faced by industrial firms. To alleviate endogeneity concerns, we calculate city-level fair pollution reduction volumes which rely only on each city’s contribution to national pollution emissions in the base years and use them as instrumental variables of reduction plans. The two-stage least square estimations reveal that while air pollution regulation (APR) motivates industrial firms to innovate, water pollution regulation (WPR) hinders firm innovation. We confirm the opposite effects by estimating the impact on entrepreneurs’ perceptions of the importance of innovation in industrial firms’ development. Heterogeneity effect analysis shows that APR also hinders innovation in heavily air-polluting industries and state-owned firms, and WPR produces a decreasing innovation-hindering effect over time, which is larger in the YRD region than in the PRD region. We interpret the opposite impacts with the fact that water pollution discharges are more equally distributed across industries than air pollution emissions, resulting in more pervasive and stringent WPR.

Marcus Antonius ταμίας ἀντιστράτηγος: first known case of Roman quaestors being granted praetoral powers

The article analyzes the inscription from the Delos island (ID 2. 1603), in which the official status of Marcus Antonius Orator is designated as ταμίας ἀντιστράτηγος - quaestor-propraetor, which is the first known case of Roman republican quaestors being granted the powers of praetors (quaestor pro praetore). Other epigraphic and narrative sources are involved into analysis. The author of the article dates the empowerment of quaestor M. Antonius with the powers of propraetor to 113 BC and rejects his case as an evidence that the pro praetore proquaestors were officially called quaestors in inscriptions (as was accepted in the historiography of the issue).

The Application of Body Rhythm in Music Therapy - Taking the Experience of Autistic Children as An Example

According to the data of 2021, the number of autistic people in China exceeds 10 million, and the number of autistic children exceeds 2 million. However, there is no specialisation in autism rehabilitation and intervention in the domestic education system, and most practitioners receive training only after joining the profession. In the new period of the "14th Five-Year Plan", the state has put forward new guidance for the development of the autism industry, and the number of special education institutions and practitioners has increased rapidly, but at the same time, they are also facing the bottleneck of the application of diversified methods of rehabilitation therapy, and the insufficient construction of the accreditation system and standardisation, and other problems. Based on the concept of music therapy and the scientific theories required for the rehabilitation of children with special needs, the study explores the integration of the role of music and rehabilitation interventions, combining musical elements with the practice of somatic rhythms, and paving the way for medical rehabilitation after long-term planned training, promoting physical coordination, exercising imitation and observation skills. The assessment system for the application of body movement derived from the practice is summarised to provide reference for the service model and future development of children with special needs.

Novel Evaluation Method for Cleaner Production Audit in Industrial Parks: Case of a Park in Central China

With respect to peak carbon and carbon neutrality, China’s economic structure is developing towards low carbonization, circulation, and cleanliness. There is an urgent need to expand the scope of cleaner production audits, improve cleaner production efficiency, and promote cleaner production through regional coordination. The 14th Five-Year National Cleaner Production Implementation Plan proposed selecting 100 parks or industrial clusters to conduct an overall cleaner production audit innovation pilot. To promote the coordinated development of cleaner production areas, this study constructed a set of cleaner production index systems for industrial parks, established an evaluation model based on the binary semantic evaluation method, and selected an industrial park in central China as an audit pilot. The binary group θ1=(2, −0.1084) of the rating results was determined to be a cleaner production park. Based on the evaluation results, the clean production potential of the park was analyzed, and suggestions for clean production were put forward. Sixteen representative enterprises in the park were selected to build twenty-one ecological chains, providing reasonable suggestions for constructing a systematic and circular enterprise symbiosis network.

Using fs/QCA to explore the influencing factors of urban green infrastructure development and its combinational drivers: the case of the Yangtze River Delta region of China.

High levels of urban green infrastructure (UGI) development can help mitigate the climate, biodiversity, and habitat crises faced by cities and support the achievement of sustainable urban development. Based on the relevant data of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region obtained from 2011 to 2020, this study measured the development level of natural and geographic conditions, economic development, urban construction, social and cultural development, and eco-environment quality and urban green infrastructure (UGI); evaluated the development trend of UGI in the region during the 12th Five-Year Plan and 13th Five-Year Plan by using entropy TOPSIS; and used fs/QCA to explain the high-level development path of each city toward the achievement of a green infrastructure. The results showed that (1) the development level of UGI in the Yangtze River Delta region decreases from southeast to northwest, and gradually decreases from Shanghai, Hangzhou, and other central cities. (2) There were several different configurations of high levels and non-high levels of UGI development drivers across regions, confirming the existence of multiple causality and asymmetry indices in the drivers of UGI. (3) During the "12th Five-Year Plan" and the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the conditions needed to achieve a high level of UGI gradually became stricter, expanding from nature-social culture and urban construction-eco-environmental drivers to nature-urban construction, nature-social culture-eco-environmental, urban construction-economy-social culture-eco-environmental drivers. Research findings can provide greater guidance and implications for future sustainable urban development.

Assessment of CO2 Co-benefits of Air Pollution Control Policies in Taiyuan's 14th Five-Year Plan

To quantitatively evaluate the co-benefits of air pollution reduction and carbon dioxide reduction of Taiyuan's 14th Five-Year Plan air pollution prevention and control policies, this study used the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Greenhouse Gas-Air Pollution Interaction and Synergy Model (GAINS-JJJ) to simulate and evaluate the emission reduction potential and CO2 co-benefit of 13 air pollution control measures. The emission reductions of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NOx, VOCs, and NH3 in 2025 were 1.8 (5%, compared with that in the baseline scenario), 2.5 (2%), 3.7 (16%), 20.0 (27%), 13.6 (15%), and 0.0 kt (0%), respectively. The reduction in CO2 emissions was 9.0 Mt (13%), whereas CH4 emissions increased by 203.3 kt (25% increase relative to that in the baseline scenario). SO2, NOx, and VOCs emission reductions derived from the power, industrial combustion, and solvent use sectors. CO2 reduction occurred mainly in the industrial combustion sector, and CH4 emission increased mainly due to the increase in coal mining activity. The highest synergistic CO2 reductions were achieved by restricting energy consumption in the high energy-consuming and high-emitting sectors; prohibiting new capacity in the steel, coke, cement, and flat glass industries; and replacing coal-fired power generation with renewable energy. Furthermore, the CO2 reduction co-benefit was highest for VOCs. In addition, this study suggests that promoting the policy of terminal electrification and simultaneously increasing the share of clean energy and the ability to consume renewable energy generation in the power sector are the keys to decreasing the emissions in Taiyuan.

Coal Control and Carbon Reduction Path in Henan Province's Power Industry Under the Carbon Peak and Neutralization Target: A Medium- and Long-term Study

Achieving peak carbon dioxide emissions and accelerating decarbonization progress in the power industry is of paramount significance to Henan Province's objective of achieving carbon peak and neutrality. In this study, the Carbon Emission-Energy Integrated Model (iCEM) was employed to conduct scenario studies on the coal reduction and carbon reduction paths under the "dual-carbon" goal of Henan's power industry. The results indicated that, by considering measures such as optimizing the power source structure and technological progress, Henan Province's power industry carbon emissions will reach their peak between 2028-2033, with coal consumption in the power industry continuing to grow during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. With a peak range between 2027-2031, the peak value increased by 1881, 1592, and 11.48 million tce, respectively, compared with that in 2020. To control coal in Henan Province under the constraint of carbon peak goals, it is proposed to develop clean energy sources such as wind and solar power, use more low-carbon or zero-carbon heat sources, increase the proportion of external electricity supply, and enhance energy-saving transformation in coal-fired power plants. Accelerating the elimination of backward units and energy-saving transformation of existing units, accelerating non-fossil energy development, advanced planning for external electricity supply, improving market mechanisms for the exit of coal-fired power plants and peak regulation, increasing system flexibility, and accelerating external policies to ensure clean energy security are effective paths for controlling coal and reducing carbon emissions in Henan's power industry. Additionally, inland nuclear power layout is one of the crucial paths to alleviate coal control pressure in Henan Province and achieve "dual-carbon" goals during the carbon-neutral stage. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct research on demonstrations in advance. Henan Province is highly dependent on energy from other provinces, and the power supply and demand situation in Henan Province will become increasingly tense in the future. It is necessary to support Henan Province from the State Grid and coordinate the construction of inter-provincial and inter-regional power transmission channels.

Spatial differences, distribution dynamics and driving factors of the synergy between marine ecological security and high-quality development in three major marine economic circles of China

IntroductionIn China, the sustainable development of the marine is facing a prominent contradiction between ecological security and economic development, as well as unbalanced and non-coordinated regional development. Exploring the regional differences in the synergy between marine ecological security (MES) and high-quality development of the marine economy (MHQD) and its driving mechanism is the key to optimizing the spatial distribution of marine development, promoting the synergistic and balanced development of the regional marine composite system during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period.MethodsIn this article, we employed the Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition model and Kernel density estimation methods to reveal the evolution of regional differences, sources, and distributional dynamics of synergistic development of the composite system from 2009 to 2020. Meanwhile, spatial econometric analyses were applied to identify the influencing factors and spatial spillover effects.ResultsThe level of synergistic development of composite system has a fluctuating upward trend, with a significant positive spatial correlation and a significant “polarization effect”. Inter-regional differences in the synergistic development of the composite system are the main source of the overall differences. Factors such as innovation-driven, human capital, and opening up to the outside world are important driving factors for the synergistic development of the composite system.DiscussionThe MES-MHQD composite system exhibits a low level of synergistic development, with significant differences in the level of synergy both among the 3MMECs and within each circle. We infer that the expansion trend of overall difference will constrain the exploration of a sustainable development path for China’s coastal regions in the future. It is necessary to optimize the spatial layout of the composite system, establish robust mechanisms for regional cooperation and communication, accurately identify the development bottlenecks of the regional composite systems. This study provides a theoretical basis and decision-making reference for the promotion of the synergistic development of the composite system of the Three Major Marine Economic Circles (3MMECs) in China.

Research on the impact of carbon emission trading on GTFP

Faced with the serious environmental pollution caused by greenhouse gas emissions, the Chinese government has put forward the target of controlling greenhouse gas emissions in the 12th Five-Year Plan and adopted a series of measures. Among them, the pilot policy of carbon emission trading is an important market-oriented instrument, which aims to control carbon dioxide emissions through the market mechanism. This paper studies the impact of this policy on GTFP, using the DID model to analyze the data of 30 provinces from 2004 to 2020. The study finds that the pilot carbon emission trading policy has significantly promoted the improvement of GTFP in the pilot areas. Moreover, the impact of policies on GTFP can be realized through two mechanisms: technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading. The impact of this policy is particularly significant in the central and western regions. These conclusions are of great significance for promoting green and low-carbon transformation, reducing carbon emissions and improving relevant carbon trading policies.

Analysis of producer behavior towards organic vegetables in Vientiane capital, Lao PDR

The study investigated the behavior of producers towards organic vegetables to determine the main factors influencing households’ income and analyze the challenges of producing organic vegetables. Organic agriculture can bring benefits to sustainable production and be a major source of households’ income. The Lao government is promoting and supporting clean agriculture in potential areas where the conditions of production and marketing are proper. Organic agriculture can help farmers increase their incomes and help people improve their health conditions. Organic agriculture has significant potential in Laos since several conditions of a traditional farming system can easily adapt to the organic farming system. Organic vegetables can create a value chain with government certification. However, the Lao government has difficulty recommending organic agriculture to farmers. The study collected 272 individual farm households cultivating organic vegetables in six districts in Vientiane’s capital, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The analysis was considered for both descriptive statistics and an ordered logistic model. The results from the ordered logit model show that age, higher education level, organic vegetable area, and selling frequencies are positive and statistically significant. The study can contribute to the next five-year plan of clean agricultural programs for agriculture and forestry development.

Spatial pattern, and evolution of China’s urban agglomerations

China's urban agglomeration is not only crucial to tackle with the more and more contradiction between population, resources and environment, but also an important spatial actor to increase the global competitiveness and promote the transformation of China's economic development mode. In the national "14th Five-Year Plan" in 2021, it is proposed to "promote the coordinated and development of large, medium-sized and small cities and towns based on urban agglomeration and metropolitan area". Generally, 19 urban agglomerations designated in this Plan are heterogeneous in development level and national functions. To this end, from the nature of urban agglomerations, especially on agglomeration economy and functional urban region hypothesis, the research focuses on the spatial pattern and changes of these 19 areas mainly based on the 6th and 7th national census. The findings show that, China’s UAs are unique in driving forces, and spatial patterns as well. China’s UAs are more state-led, though now the marketing forces more and more crucial. The UAs have been evolved from the early planned economy period to the reform and opening up period, and then to the further development of the Socialist market economy until now. Unlike other typical UAs abroad, most of the developed UAs are more specialized in manufacture, not in producer services, though these regions show a remarkable high-end services oriented shift in 2010–2020.

How Culture Was Planned: Shanghai’s Troupe-Relocation Project in the 1950s

Abstract: This article examines Shanghai’s troupe-relocation project in the second half of the 1950s. I argue that this project, by its nature, represented the way of resource allocation in a “planned culture” system, in which the state sought to replace the market and dominate the allocation of cultural resources. Popular culture hence was to be transformed from a market-based business into a section of the “planned culture” system under the Party-state. In the “planned culture” system, Shanghai’s troupe-relocation project, on the one hand, was aiming at providing cultural facilities for the inland industrial cities under construction and state welfare for the working class; on the other hand, it was beneficial for balancing the supply and demand in the local theatre market. Since yueju (yue opera), a local theatrical genre performed in the Shaoxing dialect, played a significant role in the troupe-relocation project, this article focuses on the stories of two yueju troupes, Xinxin and Chunguang. Migrating from Shanghai to northwestern industrial cities during the First Five-Year Plan (1953–1957), their considerations and reactions to political mobilization, their lives in new environments, and their destiny in the post-Mao era reflected the connection between the “planned culture” and planned economy, as well as the interplay between state planning and the cultural market. Their stories expose the inherent flaws of the “planned culture” system: First, it was undeniable that the economic cost of the “planned culture” was enormous. Second, administrative orders made resource allocation inefficient and inflexible .

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAUDI WOMEN’S WORK AND ITS ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT A SOCIOHISTORICAL APPROACH

Sociologists have praised the importance of the historical, evolutionary study of social phenomena, as ignoring the historical dimension in social study means neglecting how these phenomena, problems, and ideas arose. Accordingly, the analysis in this study begins from a historical review of women’s work in Saudi society, and perhaps the basic basis is to invoke history as a reference for tracking women’s work. Saudi Arabia in this study is a tool for reading and understanding the development of human civilization, as an example and lesson, and for thinking and contemplating according to the Khaldunian perspective. It is also a solid cultural base for clarifying the facts. Accordingly, this study aimed to identify the role of education in the work of Saudi women, as well as to reveal the historical path of women’s work. In addition to identifying the role of the five-year development plans and Vision 2030 in supporting and empowering Saudi women, the researcher relied on the descriptive and analytical approaches as well as the historical approach by reviewing studies, previous literature, and books related to the subject of the study, and then analyzing them to reach results and propose recommendations. The study concluded The issue of women’s empowerment occupies an advanced position among the concerns of modern social and economic development thought, based on the belief in the importance of the role that they can play in serving their country and pushing its development process forward. The development that has occurred in the status and role of women has been an essential component in the social and economic development of the Kingdom of Arabia. Saudi Arabia in various sectors

Turkstroi: Soviet-Turkish Industrial Cooperation and the Dialectics of Divergence and Convergence in Interwar Statism, 1931–1941

Abstract Turkstroi was a Soviet trust that, in partnership with Turkey’s state-owned Sümerbank, constructed several industrial enterprises in the Turkish Republic in the 1930s. By situating the trust in the context of Soviet, Turkish, and multilateral economic development, this article argues that the trust was an expression of patterns of both convergence and divergence in Soviet and Turkish interwar statism. As one of the few transnational industrial enterprises to materialize during the first two Soviet Five-Year Plans, Turkstroi was an impressive feat. But the volume of industrial plant and expertise that the trust was able to send to Turkey was largely predetermined by the dynamics of Soviet hard-currency restraints, and the trust’s managerial staff was later annihilated during the Stalinist Purges. Still, Turkstroi necessitated the formulation of a transnational wing to the Soviet planned economy and showcased Soviet technical expertise outside the union. In comparison with their respective trading links with Western industrial powers, Soviet-Turkish industrial collaboration was of limited in scope. Nonetheless, to a degree disproportionate with its actual economic contribution, Turkstroi generated intellectual debate within Turkey about the character of Turkish development, Soviet boasts about the international dimensions of its industrial prowess, and a host of new Turkish state-owned and bilateral (Ankara-Moscow) institutions to ensure the running of the trust’s subsidiary operations.