Greater Pearl River Delta Region Research Articles

Long-term temporal variations and source changes of halocarbons in the Greater Pearl River Delta region, China

Abstract Halocarbons are widely used in the Greater Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China. To study the long-term trends, source changes and emissions of major halocarbons, a total of 1505 canister air samples were collected in the Greater PRD region during 2001–2018. Mixing ratios of CFCs decreased significantly over the past 18 years except for CFC-114, which significantly increased in the Greater PRD, consistent with the recent observations of significant CFC-114 emissions in East Asia. Declines in CFCs in the Greater PRD region were faster than those at the background Mauna Loa (MLO) site, indicating effective control regulations. Source apportionment simulations showed that refrigeration applications, including refrigeration industry and CFCs replacement, were the main sources of halocarbons. During the study period, refrigeration industry experienced a progressive decline in both mixing ratio and percentage, while the contribution of CFCs replacement remained increasing. Contribution of solvent use in electronic industry traced by C2Cl4 dramatically decreased during the study period, and stayed at a low level in recent years. Based on the measured ratios of halocarbons to CO, the estimated total halocarbon emissions in 2016 were 46.5 ± 16.7 Gg for the Greater PRD region. This study provides useful information for examining the evolving emission status of halocarbons in the Greater PRD region in response to control strategies and changing usage.

Institutional obstacles and opportunities for policy entrepreneurship in cross-border environmental management: a case study in China’s Greater Pearl River Delta region

ABSTRACTAir pollution was placed very low on China's policy agenda in the 1990s. Sharing the PRD's Southern border, Hong Kong became increasingly concerned with the pollution originating from their rapidly developing neighbors. This paper offers an explanatory study for the implementation of a trans-boundary air quality monitoring network in 2005 which was, in many ways, considered a breakthrough in environmental cooperation in this region. Empirical evidence demonstrates that extended efforts from a Hong Kong official had eventually triggered the Guangdong provincial government and the Hong Kong government to undertake a range of collaborative measures to improve regional air quality, including the establishment of the Pearl River Delta regional air quality monitoring network in 2005. Building upon the concept of “policy entrepreneurship,” this study discovers that the policy entrepreneur's political rank endowed him with direct access to the formal cross-border institution, through which he was able to build a close professional relationship with his mainland counterparts and enables him to be a transfer agent. This case illustrates that state actors are well-placed in this region's trans-boundary platforms to initiate the transfer of policy innovations to neighboring governments, which prompts the formulation of cooperative projects. Nonetheless, this paper also cautions that effective cross-border collaboration is still largely dependent upon the contextual framework of the authoritarian governance regime whereby the interactions between policymakers and implementers are fundamentally shaped by institutional design and incentives.

Ground subsidence geo-hazards induced by rapid urbanization: implications from InSAR observation and geological analysis

Abstract. Due to the convenient transportation and construction, cities are prone to be situated in areas with flat terrain and unstable sediments, resulting in the concurrence of ground subsidence and urbanization. Here the interaction between geology, anthropogenic processes and ground subsidence geo-hazards were investigated in the Greater Pearl River Delta region of China. Geological evidences and 2006–2010 persistent scatterer data indicate that anthropogenic activities are dominant, although the distribution of river system and Quaternary sediments are also highly related to significant displacements (primarily at a rate of −15 to 15 mm a−1). The surface displacements derived by synthetic aperture radar interferometry suggest that the urbanization rhythm has to be routinely monitored. Considering analogous urbanization modes, particularly in developing countries, ground subsidence monitoring together with the analysis of its driving force are critical for geo-hazards early-warning, city planning as well as sustainable urbanization.

Impacts of business environment changes on global manufacturing in the Chinese Greater Pearl River Delta: a supply chain perspective

Business operating conditions have changed substantially in the Chinese Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) due to the Chinese currency appreciation, rising labour costs, highly volatile oil prices and new processing trade policies. Such changes have triggered manufacturers to rethink their global operations. This article studies potential global manufacturing trends from a supply chain perspective. A mixed integer programming model suggests that these changes have negatively affected the region's competitive advantages as its labour-intensive production mainly targets at the mass market and competes on low costs. Three production relocation trends are affirmed, i.e. the relocation to lower-cost areas within China, lower-cost Asian countries and areas near end markets. However, it is also discovered that the GPRD region still attracts businesses with its formation of industrial clusters, the enhanced comparative advantage against competing regions in inland China or Asian lower-cost countries under high oil prices, and Hong Kong's being a robust location choice to host trade operations.

Polyphase rifting of greater Pearl River Delta region (South China): Evidence for possible rapid changes in regional stress configuration

The greater Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region, consisting of several late Mesozoic–Cenozoic basins, has preserved information on the tectonic history of the coastal region of South China. An integrated morphological and structural study of the basins has revealed several phases of extension subsequent to the collapse of the Mesozoic arc magmatism. A N–S extension associated with the exhumation of the magmatic arc during the late Mesozoic–early Cenozoic was followed by an ENE–WSW extension producing NW-striking normal faults in the region. Paleo-stress analysis of fault slips measured at seven localities reveals stress configurations consistent with the field observation. The basin development during the Cenozoic was strongly controlled by relative motion of neighboring plates as well as pre-existing structures. The results suggest that stress configuration can change relatively rapidly in a continental margin undergoing a transition from an active-margin to passive-margin.

Source origins, modeled profiles, and apportionments of halogenated hydrocarbons in the greater Pearl River Delta region, southern China

We analyze 16‐month data of 13 major halocarbons measured at a southern China coastal site in the greater Pearl River Delta (PRD). A total of 188 canister air samples were collected from August 2001 to December 2002. Overall inspection indicated that CH2Cl2, C2Cl4, and C2HCl3 had similar temporal variations while CFC‐11, CFC‐12, and CFC‐113 showed the same emission patterns during the sampling period. Diurnal variations of halocarbons presented different patterns during ozone episode days, mainly related to emission strength, atmospheric dispersion, and photochemical lifetimes. For further statistics and source appointment, Lagrangian backward particle release simulations were conducted to help understand the potential source regions of all samples and classify them into different categories, including local Hong Kong, inner PRD, continental China, and marine air masses. With the exception of HCFC‐142b, the mixing ratios of all halocarbons in marine air were significantly lower than those in urban and regional air (p < 0.01), whereas no significant difference was found between urban Hong Kong and inner PRD regional air, reflecting the dominant impact of the greater PRD regional air on the halocarbon levels. The halocarbon levels in this region were significantly influenced by anthropogenic sources, causing the halocarbon mixing ratios in South China Sea air to be higher than the corresponding background levels, as measured by global surface networks and by airborne missions such as Transport and Chemical Evolution Over the Pacific. Interspecies correlation analysis suggests that CHCl3 is mainly used as a solvent in Hong Kong but mostly as a feedstock for HCFC‐22 in the inner PRD. Furthermore, CH3Cl is often used as a refrigerant and emitted from biomass/biofuel burning in the inner PRD. A positive matrix factorization receptor model was applied to the classified halocarbon samples in the greater PRD for source profiles and apportionments. Seven major sources were identified and quantified. Emissions from solvent use were the most significant source of halocarbons (71 ± 9%), while refrigeration was the second largest contributor (18 ± 2%). By further looking at samples from the inner PRD and from urban Hong Kong separately, we found that more solvent was used in the dry cleaning industry in Hong Kong, whereas the contribution of cleaning solvent in the electronic industry was higher in the inner PRD. Besides the two common sources of solvent use and refrigeration, the contributions of biomass/biofuel burning and feedstock in chemical manufacturing was remarkable in the inner PRD but negligible in Hong Kong. These findings are of help to effectively control and phase out the emissions of halocarbons in the greater PRD region of southern China.

FDI and Industrial Restructuring in Post‐WTO Greater PRD: Implications on Regional Growth in China

This paper aims at studying the investment flows in the Greater Pearl River Delta region (Hong Kong‐PRD) in China and its impacts on industrial restructuring at the firm‐level using a business survey with the Hong Kong‐PRD entity acted as a core‐periphery economy. The critical effects of gravity distance on transaction costs in the determination of investment flows are examined statistically by a gravity model by incorporating a hypothetical infrastructural construction project. Survey findings show that the evolution of the cross‐border operations at the main core has directed the outward FDI flows and the subsequent industrial structural adjustments of the core‐periphery economy. This paper has presented a typical illustrative case for further studies of investment flows and its impacts upon industrial adjustments and performance in other regions in China especially after the WTO accession. Its implication on regional economic growth is also discussed.