Flow In China Research Articles

Foundations as sustainability partners: climate philanthropy finance flows in China

ABSTRACT Despite substantial efforts being made through public and private sources, funding for climate change mitigation falls far short of what is needed. Meanwhile, philanthropic sources have begun to emerge as important sustainability partners by connecting multiple sectors and guiding funding flows. This study provides a comprehensive overview of climate-related philanthropic foundation financing and funding in China. Using a classification framework for climate change initiatives through co-word analysis and text segmentation techniques, we conduct visualization analysis to depict the changing pattern of climate philanthropy in China by analyzing donors, subfields, and flow of funds between 2008 and 2019. We conclude by providing suggestions for funders, charities, and policymakers seeking to enhance the value of collaborative governance in addressing climate change.

Wrought and cast aluminum flows in China in the context of electric vehicle diffusion and automotive lightweighting

Electrification and vehicle weight reduction (lightweighting) trends are driving demand for wrought aluminum alloys. Given that aluminum scrap is currently downgraded as it is recycled into cast aluminum alloys, an imbalance in aluminum cycles is predicted to occur. We identified secondary aluminum flows by distinguishing alloy type in China with material flow analysis. Considering the adoption of advanced recovery techniques and the trends towards greater use of electric vehicles and vehicle lightweighting, we also estimated changes in the automotive demand for wrought and cast alloys along with aluminum scrap generation, as well as the reduced amount of primary aluminum used in automobiles. The results revealed the potential to recycle about 87−183 kt of wrought alloys in 2019 and about 1,054−7,152 kt in 2050 within a well-managed vehicle recycling system, thereby reducing the amount of primary aluminum ingot required for automobile production by 10−37% between 2019 to 2050.

Scaling of Energy, Water, and Waste Flows in China's Prefecture-Level and Provincial Cities.

Cities have been envisioned as biological organisms as the integral part of nature's energy and material flows. Recent advances in urban scaling research have uncovered systematic changes in socioeconomic rates and infrastructural networks as urban population increases, providing predictive contents for the comparison between cities and organisms. However, it is still unclear how and why larger and smaller cities may differ in their per capita environmental impacts. Here, we study scaling patterns of urban energy, water, and waste flows as well as other relevant measures in Chinese cities. We divide cities into different groups using an algorithm that automatically assigns cities to clusters with distinct scaling patterns. Despite superlinear scaling of urban GDP, as predicted by urban scaling theories, resource consumption, such as the supply of electricity and water, and waste generation, such as wastewater and domestic waste, do not show significant deviations from linear scaling. The lengths of resource pipelines scale linearly in most cases, as opposed to sub-linearity predicted by theory. Furthermore, we show two competing forces underlying the overall observed effects of scale: a higher population density tends to decrease per capita resource consumption and infrastructure provisions, while intensified socioeconomic activities have the opposite effect.

Assessing gadolinium resource efficiency and criticality in China

Gadolinium (Gd) is one important non-renewable strategic element and has been widely used in many fields. This study investigates gadolinium flows in China by conducting dynamic material flow analysis and identifies key factors that affect gadolinium supply and demand. Results show that: (1) China's demand for Gd increased by 30% from 2011 to 2020; (2) Gd supply kept increasing and reached 1922 tons in 2020; (3) Gd resource was exported mainly in the form of intermediate and final products, in which 72% Gd embedded in intermediate products was used for export to meet the growing global demand for Gd. The criticality of gadolinium is not that severe. But it is necessary to prepare appropriate policies to meet with future demands from emerging fields, such as ensuring sustainable supply of gadolinium resources, upgrading China's role in the global gadolinium industrial chain, and improving gadolinium resources efficiency by all the means.

A dataset of a proxy variable for the poultry trade flows in China

Understanding the intercity poultry trading network is crucial for assessing the risk of avian influenza prevalence. Unfortunately, the poultry trading network in China has rarely been described. Here, with a modified radiation model, we obtain values for a proxy variable for poultry trade flows among 318 prefecture-level cities in China in 2015 utilizing the product capacity and demand quantity of poultry of the cities. The results are validated by comparing the proxy variable values with the trade volumes investigated in the literature, and it is found that the modified radiation model can accurately predict the main poultry trade flows among cities. This is the first dataset on China’s poultry trade pattern, and it can be used to analyze the production and consumption structure of poultry in prefecture-level cities within China. The dataset can be a tool for avian influenza epidemic risk assessment as well as a basis to develop prevention and control measures during an epidemic.

Environmental regulation and outward foreign direct investment: Evidence from China

This paper explores the impact of environmental regulation (ER) on outward foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in China. During the period from 2013 to 2015, all Chinese cities were required to join a nationwide automatic air quality monitoring network in batches, and this policy exogenously raised local environmental regulation. This unique policy implemented full coverage through a staggered adoption, which motivates this paper to apply an event study approach to identify the treatment effect of stringent environmental regulation. Based on a city-year level capital outflows dataset constructed from the fDi Markets database, we obtain three main findings: (1) environmental regulation significantly stimulates outward FDI flows; (2) this promoting effect centers on polluting industries; and (3) these ER-induced FDI outflows are mainly directed toward countries with weaker environmental protection and with a closer geographic and cultural distance to the home country. These results together provide a snapshot confirming the classical “pollution haven hypothesis”.

An Overview of the Research Status of Dance Flow in China

This article uses Dance Flow as the keyword to search in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), selects eight articles with high correlation, and analyzes the research status of China’s Dance Flow. Master the download, citation, publication time, article type, article source and research method of the article by using the basic analysis method. Master the main research angle and research core of the article by using the content analysis method. Through the basic analysis and content analysis, the characteristics of Dance Flow in China are reflected. Firstly, China’s research on Dance Flow is in its initial stage, and there are few studies that can combine dance status and Flow factors, which lack pertinence and detailed analysis, and there are many fields that can be filled. Secondly, in applying Flow theory to interdisciplinary research on dance, there are few research institutions, so more universities are needed to expand the research perspective and accelerate the integration with the international community. Thirdly, the research methods show diversity. Some studies use statistical analysis methods, and the measurement tools used have the characteristics of international application. However, compared with the empirical studies that generally use statistical analysis in the world, there is still a huge room for expansion. Fourthly, China’s research on Dance Flow has strong practicability, which can lay a foundation for subsequent research and provide a research paradigm.

Uncovering the features of nickel flows in China

Nickel is a critical metal due to its importance in social development with major applications in both low- and high-tech aspects. Several studies have focused on nickel production and consumption in China, but the end uses, international trade, and recycling perspectives remain unknown. This study aims to quantify China's annual nickel flows from 2000 to 2019 by applying dynamic material flow analysis. Results show that a large amount of nickel, including 1.65 mega-tons (Mt) in minerals from domestic mining, 12 Mt in various imported products, had been consumed in China from 2000 to 2019, with 2.65 Mt exported to other countries. However, only 0.84 Mt of nickel was recycled, while 4 Mt of nickel was lost in several life stages. The surge of nickel consumption during this period was mainly caused by the rise of stainless-steel industry. Such a consumption trend will continue in the stainless-steel sector and electric vehicles sector, leading to high reliance on import and corresponding carbon emission. Several recommendations are raised from policy, technology, and capacity-building perspectives so that nickel industry can achieve sustainable development.

Regional income redistribution and stabilization: evidence from China

ABSTRACT We estimate the effect of vertical fiscal flows in China using Bayoumi and Masson method. The results show that vertical fiscal flows have a redistribution effect on regional economy and reduce regional differences for about 30.8%. But there is no evidence shows that fiscal flows automatically stabilize the inter-regional economy. Both effects increase in recent years. Compared with other fiscal-federal countries, China has a stronger redistribution effect and weaker stability effect.

Exploring potential opportunities for the efficient development of the cobalt industry in China by quantitatively tracking cobalt flows during the entire life cycle from 2000 to 2021.

Owing to its key role in high-tech industry and clean energy technology, cobalt has been regarded as a critical material in many countries. In this paper, material flow analysis was used to quantitatively track cobalt material flows in China throughout the entire life cycle from 2000 to 2021. Based on data pertaining to cobalt commodity trade, cobalt loss during raw material processing, and recovered cobalt, we analysed the actual cobalt consumption in China. During the study period from 2000 to 2021, the main findings were as follows: (1) China's cobalt raw material imports accounted for 84.7% of the total raw materials acquired, while the export of cobalt-containing end products amounted to 32.6% of the total production. (2) China's cumulative net import of all cobalt commodities reached 561kt, and battery products accounted for 73.3% of the total cobalt consumption. (3) China recovered 77kt of cobalt from end-of-life products, while 327kt of cobalt was not recovered. (4) The cumulative cobalt loss during raw material processing reached 288kt, with the highest loss occurring in refining (51.0%), followed by manufacturing and fabrication (26.5%), beneficiation (12.3%), and ore mining (10.2%). The overall utilization efficiency of cobalt was 73.8% throughout the entire life cycle. (5) China's actual cobalt consumption reached 497kt, accounting for 51.9% of the apparent cobalt consumption. Moreover, 61.1% of the cobalt products produced in China was consumed domestically, while 38.9% was exported. The massive export of cobalt commodities resulted in China bearing a disproportionate responsibility for carbon emission reduction. The research results can provide a scientific reference for the reasonable adjustment of the trade structure of cobalt commodities and realization of the economic and efficient utilization of cobalt resources in China.

The spatial heterogeneity of the impact of PM2.5 on domestic tourism flows in China.

As haze pollution intensifies, its impact on tourism is becoming increasingly obvious. However, limited studies have analyzed the impacts of haze pollution on tourism. To explore the contribution rate and impact of PM2.5 pollution on tourism flows, panel data on 341 prefecture-level cities in China from 2001 to 2015 were used. The results illustrated that the changes in PM2.5 pollution and domestic tourism flows showed a similar partial-most anti-phase main spatial pattern in space, as well as other spatial patterns of PM2.5. From a regional perspective, the contribution rate of PM2.5 to domestic tourism flows was less than that of traditional factors, such as GDP, GDP_500, and 45A, but larger than that of the Airport factor. The contribution rate of the interaction between PM2.5 and 45A on domestic tourism flows was the largest. From a local perspective, PM2.5 pollution had a negative impact on domestic tourism flows in northern China, while it had a positive impact in other regions. The classic environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis showed applicability to the Chinese tourism industry, and the is of great significance for comprehensively understanding the impact of PM2.5 pollution on tourism flows and for promoting the sustainable development of domestic tourism.

Sectoral and Country-Origin Dynamics of FDI in China in 1997-2020

FDI flows in China have increased for decades, but the sectoral and country-origin distribution change over times. Chinese FDI inflows have experienced a shift from manufacturing to real estate and service sectors. A series of factors including labor cost increase, currency appreciation, overcapacity of production, domestic competition rise and US trade war cause negative effects on manufacturing FDI flows. However, rising purchasing power, consumer demand and market capacity create new opportunities for foreign business in China. The government makes efforts to nurture service trade as an engine of economic growth alongside trade in goods. Many incentive policies have been launched for numerous service industries. These are the push hand behind the rapid rise in service FDI. The neighboring countries or regions in Asia and free trade ports with taxation advantages contribute vast majority of the FDI in China. Hong Kong's status as the largest supplier of FDI to the mainland has become increasingly prominent over the past 20 years, partially due to so called “round-trip” FDI. Chinese economic diplomacy promotes regional integration in East and Southeast Asia, and creates conditions for the liberalization of intra-regional investment. Closer trade connections with European countries boost the EU investment in China over recent years. Our studies of FDI's structural changes in China can generate policy implications widely for the government, foreign companies and investors, as well as developing countries committed to FDI attraction.

Analysis of iron composite flow in China.

Iron is an important metal material that is crucial to social and national economic development. In order to understand iron’s material flow, energy flow, and value flow in China, a composite flow framework is here established. Based on this framework, the concept of price is introduced, and China is taken as an example to study the composite flow of iron in 2018. The results showed the following. First, as iron moved down the industrial chain, its material flow decreased gradually, while the price continued to rise. Second, the annual loss of raw materials from iron processing was 150–200 million tons, and scrap iron had great potential for secondary utilization. Third, China had a trade deficit in terms of importing raw materials and exporting products, but it also had a trade surplus in trade volume. Finally, China imported iron-containing goods at high prices but exported iron-containing goods at low prices. This was due to the lack of high-end science and technology, which made China less competitive in the international market.

Environmental preference, air pollution, and fund flows in China

This study investigates how air pollution affects investor behavior using Chinese environmental mutual funds (Green funds) over 2014–2019. We find that an increase in air pollution measured by the Air Quality Index (AQI) is accompanied by increases in Green fund flows. We also find that the positive flow-AQI association remains robust under various measures of AQI, greener fund names, or difference-in-difference tests on the air-pollution prevention law enactment. However, we do not find such evidence that the alternative fund manager channel can affect the flow-AQI relationship. Combined evidence supports the proposition that environmentally conscious investors derive their utility primarily from non-pecuniary considerations. We suggest that air pollution is a crucial determinant of Chinese environmental fund flows, an important finding for emerging economies globally.

Uncovering the patterns and driving forces of virtual forestland flows in China

Nowadays, virtual land use related to consumption and trade flows has become an important part of land use. However, there has been little discussion about virtual forestland use. Therefore, this study performs the multi-regional input-output model on virtual forestland use and its changes in thirty provinces in China. And the influencing factors behind the dynamics of virtual forestland have been explored through the structural decomposition analysis. The results show that the area of virtual forestland embodied in trade was 673,277 km2 and 566,791 km2 in 2007 and 2012, equivalent to 32.14% and 27.03% of the total forestland area in China, respectively. There was north to east coast virtual forestland trade mode in China. The developed provinces or cities in China such as Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Guangdong have a disproportionate share of virtual forestland imports (over 90%) from least developed provinces and forest-rich provinces. In addition, 11.06% and 7.47% of China's total forestland in 2007 and 2012 was used to supply consumption of foreign countries and regions. In addition, forestland use intensity and consumption volume were the main reasons for the dynamic changes of virtual forestland in most provinces. Through the exploration of the virtual forestland flow pattern helps to develop forestland conservation and restoration policies from the consumer side and achieve sustainable development of China's forest land.

Wrought and Cast Aluminum Flows in China in the Context of Electric Vehicle Diffusion and Automotive Lightweighting

Wrought and Cast Aluminum Flows in China in the Context of Electric Vehicle Diffusion and Automotive Lightweighting

Evaluating grain virtual water flow in China: Patterns and drivers from a socio-hydrology perspective

To ensure regional grain security, the grain is transferred from grain surplus provinces to grain deficient provinces in China, then water embedded in grain (virtual water) flows accordingly, which promotes the spatial redistribution of water resources. To explore the influencing factors of virtual water flow, this study first obtained the inter-provincial virtual water flow pattern, and then constructed a virtual water flow trade gravity model based on socio-hydrology theory and estimated the model with multiple regression methods. And the impulse response function was used to analyze the response trajectory of virtual water flow under the shock of other endogenous variable fluctuation. The results show that from 1997 to 2014, the quantity of inter-provincial grain virtual water flow increased from 73 billion m3to 124.64 billion m3. The positive driving effect of the population and per capita GDP in virtual water inflow areas is significant, and the negative suppression effect of the grain output per unit in inflow-areas and the population in outflow-areas is significant. Heilongjiang is the province with the largest outflow of virtual water, and the outflow is more sensitive to the shock of local per capita water resources fluctuation. Guangdong is the province with the largest inflow, and the inflow is more sensitive to the local per capita GDP fluctuation. Chinese Mainland’s grain virtual water flow pattern and trend will continue to exist in the future. In addition to the endowment of water resources, social and economic factors also need to be considered during the process of water resources management.

Inter-Provincial Power Transmission and Its Embodied Carbon Flow in China: Uneven Green Energy Transition Road to East and West

Inter-provincial power transmission in China solved the problem of electricity production and consumption spatial mismatch, which also facilitated Chinese green energy transition and sustainable development. Aiming to understand the spatial patterns and main driving factors, this paper accounted the aggregate carbon intensity per electricity produced by each province, built the inter-provincial Out–Destination matrixes of carbon emission embodied in power transmission among 27 provincial areas of 2006 and 2019, and quantitatively analyzed the change in spatial patterns of carbon flow and carbon intensity difference between power inward and outward provinces. We found that the inter-provincial power transmission has led to the reduction in the national average carbon intensity per electricity produced from 0.855 kg/kWh in 2006 to 0.628 kg/kWh in 2019 and the green energy transition of all provinces. The spatial morphology characteristics of carbon flow show the ‘three corridors of West-East Power Transmission (WEPT)’ pattern, in which power is transmitted from some main thermal power-dominated provinces in central and north-west China to the eastern coastal provinces. Further, it resulted in the carbon leakage from electricity consumption of the coastal provinces and carbon overload of the hinterland provinces. Despite natural resource endowment, the location of the provinces in the national power grid, the national low-carbon energy transition strategy, as well as advances in long-distance ultra-high-voltage power transmission technologies were the main factors to the formation and evolution of Chinese electricity green transition.

The Relationship between CO2 Emissions, Air Pollution, and Tourism Flows in China: A Panel Data Analysis of Chinese Provinces

This study quantitatively investigated the relationship between climate change (proxied by CO2 emissions), air pollution (proxied by PM2.5 concentration levels and PM10 and SO2 emissions), and tourism flows (proxied by inbound and domestic tourist arrivals) using panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2010 to 2017. The results demonstrate a long-term equilibrium relationship between CO2 emissions, air pollution variables, and tourism flows (including the number of inbound and domestic tourists). The panel data model results show that CO2 emissions have an opposite effect on inbound and domestic tourist arrivals, while domestic and inbound tourists positively affect CO2 emissions. PM2.5 level and PM10 and SO2 emissions all have a negative effect on the number of tourists. There is bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions and domestic tourist arrivals, which means CO2 emissions and domestic tourist arrivals have a two-way effect. A one-way causality running from PM2.5 to inbound tourist arrivals and SO2 emissions to domestic tourist arrivals was found. Moreover, we also found bidirectional causality between PM10 and inbound tourist arrivals and PM10 and domestic tourist arrivals. Variance decomposition function results suggest that PM10 and SO2 emissions have stronger effects on inbound tourist arrivals in the long term, while CO2 emissions and PM10 have stronger power in explaining innovations in domestic tourist arrivals. The movements in the domestic tourist arrivals do significantly affect CO2 emissions in the long run. The study provides theoretical implications and guidance for achieving a healthy and sustainable tourism industry.

Evolution of China’s Interprovincial Water Flow Network

Traditionally, water governance focuses on water only. The emergence of virtual water breaks this limitation and integrates economic and social systems with the water resource system. This paper establishes an interprovincial complex network of virtual water flows in China, based on the theory on complex network, which has rarely been adopted to study the virtual water transfer network. Then, the authors analyzed the pattern and evolutionary features of China’s interprovincial virtual water flow network. In this way, the complex network theory was successfully applied to explore the virtual water flows across provinces in China.