Infrastructure Development In China Research Articles

From here to where: assessing the infrastructure financialization in urban China

PurposeInfrastructure financialization plays a critical role in infrastructure development and urban growth around the world. However, on the one hand, the existing research on the infrastructure financialization focuses on qualitative and lacks quantitative country-specific studies. On the other hand, the spatial heterogeneity and influencing factors of infrastructure financialization are ignored. This study takes China as a typical case to identify and analyze the spatial characteristics, development process and impact factors of infrastructure financialization.Design/methodology/approachTo assess the development and characteristics of infrastructure financialization in China, this study constructs an evaluation index of infrastructure financialization based on the infrastructure financialization ratio (IFR). This study then analyzes the evolution process and spatial pattern of China's infrastructure financialization through the spatial analysis method. Furthermore, this study identifies and quantitatively analyzes the influencing factors of infrastructure financialization based on the spatial Dubin model. Finally, this study offers a policy suggestion as a governance response.FindingsThe results demonstrate that infrastructure financialization effectively promotes the development of infrastructure in China. Second, there are significant spatial differences in China’s infrastructure financialization. Third, many factors affect infrastructure financialization, with government participation having the greatest impact. In addition, over-financialization of infrastructure has the potential to lead to government debt risks, which is a critical challenge the Chinese Government must address. Finally, this study suggests that infrastructure financialization requires more detailed, tailored,and place-specific policy interventions by the government.Originality/valueThis study not only contributes to enriching the knowledge body of global financialization theory but also helps optimize infrastructure investment and financing policies in China and provides peer reference for other developing countries.

Privatization Framework and Chinese Infrastructure: Sanya Phoenix Airport Case Study

This manuscript delves into the privatization paradigm within Chinese infrastructure, utilizing the Sanya Phoenix Airport as a pivotal case study. It scrutinizes the implications of privatization theory alongside the residual effects of the planned economy on the operational efficacy and challenges of infrastructure projects. Through an incisive literature review and a detailed examination of the airport's evolution under HNA Group's privatized stewardship, this study elucidates the enhancements in operational efficiency juxtaposed with enduring challenges, notably financial duress. The analysis furnishes nuanced insights into the ramifications of privatization for infrastructure development in China, proffering cogent policy and strategic recommendations to foster sustainable advancement.

The link between Chinese belt and road initiative and foreign direct investment inflows in Southern Africa

This study investigates the association between infrastructure development in China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to southern Africa, using a propensity score matching–difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) regression. The empirical examination is based on a sample of eight southern African countries selected based on data availability. We find that China's BRI has significantly positive effects on FDI inflows to southern Africa. Therefore, governments and development policy makers in southern African countries are recommended to devise supporting policies in order to ensure that the BRI leads to sustainable FDI inflows and sustainable economic growth. The study makes significant contributions to theory, policy, and practice. In policy and practice, our study is valuable for policy-making on driving FDI inflows. However, the context of the study is specifically southern Africa, hence, the results might not be generalizable to other African regions or Africa as a whole, so further research is needed to consider those areas.

Spatial Disparity of Sports Infrastructure Development and Urbanization Determinants in China: Evidence from the Sixth National Sports Venues Census

The improvement of well-being of residents is the core of the people-centred urbanization. Inhabitants’ emphasis on healthy lifestyle draws attention to the provision of sports infrastructure. However, the spatial pattern of sport infrastructure development and in particular the driving forces from urbanization across China have not been examined yet in the literature. This paper aims to explore how the national sports infrastructure in mainland China is driven and scaled by urbanization, using data from the sixth National Sports Venues Census and a multi-scale geographically weighted regression approach. The results revealed strong regional inequality in the development of sports infrastructure in the stage of accelerating urbanization in China, with better provision of sports infrastructure in eastern than in western regions. The three dimensions of urbanization (urban population, public financial expenditure and built-up area) significantly explained the spatial disparity between 289 cities at prefecture-city level. There should be a feedback loop between the accumulative developments of urbanization and sports infrastructure. The contributing driving forces and subsequent regional heterogeneity suggest that sports space theory, the inequality amplification model, and hysteresis effect are comparatively suitable for explaining the spatial inequality characteristics of sports infrastructure development in China. A Sport Inequality Alert was conceptualized as a policy instrument for monitoring regional inequality and governing the development of sports infrastructure. It is argued that sports infrastructure development should be integrated into the national strategy for sustainable New-type Urbanization.

Spatial evolution and determinants of new infrastructure development in China

Spatial evolution and determinants of new infrastructure development in China

Survey and Suggestions on the Current Situation of PPP Model in Henan, China

The public-private partnership model, also known as PPP, which means cooperation between government and social capital, is the model for project operation in public infrastructure and has become one of the most popular models in the Chinese construction industry today. The aim of this study is to understand the development of PPP projects in China's Henan province today, the challenges faced, and to try to give sound advice in light of the major studies on the operational process of the PPP model in Henan. This study conducted a literature review to understand the development of PPP projects in Henan, and through the study learned that PPP projects in Henan, China are currently in a transition phase. The questionnaire was used to understand the core steps and challenges in the actual operation of PPP projects. According to the questionnaire, respondents generally agreed that current infrastructure development in China's Henan province is very good, but PPP projects are only average. In the survey of the most prominent shortcomings of PPP projects in Henan, "widespread default", "irregular project operation" and "weak market supervision" ranked the top three. Overall, the development of PPP projects in Henan has not been good, but it has not been bad either, and there is still room for improvement. Finally, based on the results, literature was reviewed and experts were interviewed to give sound advice. By creating a special bill for PPP, while pooling talent to create a dedicated body for guidance and oversight to ensure that PPP projects deliver their full value, this could be the solution to the current challenges.

Understanding China's metro development: A comparative regional analysis

Economic growth and infrastructure development in China has appeared to be regionally imbalanced for many years during the post-reform period since 1978. The significant differences in transport infrastructure and facilities among various regions in China can be depicted as “stairs” descending gradually from the higher eastern coastal region to the lower west of China. Metro systems have been developed in both coastal and inland provinces, and they are now present in the four different economic regions of China. The findings in this paper show that the distribution of metro systems from the perspective of spatial and regional development in China tends to be mixed and diverse. Considering the length, numbers of lines and stations, there is a consistent pattern in the medians of the datasets for different regions, with no significant differences in the levels of metro development between coastal provinces and inland provinces, and among the four economic regions. However, the Eastern Region not only has the largest number of cities with extensive metro systems; it also has many prefecture-level cities and non-provincial capital cities with developed metro systems. The analysis also shows that economic and population factors are positively and significantly correlated with the scale of metro development in both coastal and inland regions, and these factors have stronger influence on the scale of metro systems in cities in the inland region compared with cities in the coastal region. In summary, the evidence suggests that the spatial and regional layouts of metro development in China are influenced by economic, population, and institutional and policy factors; the latter having an important role to play in reducing regional imbalances in metro infrastructure development.

Fuzzy-based multicriteria analysis of the driving factors and solution strategies for green infrastructure development in China

Global efforts are underway to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. Green infrastructure development (GID) has been a centre of attention for the policymakers, experts, and the governments as an indispensable development. Similarly, The Chinese government has also put forth serious policy initiatives to promote GID in the economy. However, there is immense potential to turn traditional infrastructure into green infrastructure. For this objective to achieve, the identification, analysis, and prioritization of driving factors and strategies for GID is imperious. The present study serves this purpose by identifying 10 driving factors, 38 sub-factors, and 5 alternative solution strategies to GID in China. The study uses a fuzzy-based multi-criteria decision support framework for the analysis. The Fuzzy AHP analysis revealed global drive to GID, environmental benefitting factors, and economic benefits as leading driving factors of GID.. The evaluation and prioritization of alternative solution strategies for GID through Fuzzy WASPAS concludes the strategy of green infrastructure (GI) in urban areas as the best strategy to develop GI. The study provides a comprehensive and more in-depth understanding of GID in China. The findings of the study would support the policymakers, managers, and governments to stimulate the GID process.

Oblique Crack Propagation of Brittle Rock under Uniaxial Compression and Its Influencing Factors

With the development of infrastructure in China, the slope rock mass is affected by external forces such as roads. Tunnel excavation will cause a series of engineering problems, which are essentially caused by the instability caused by the propagation of internal cracks in the rock mass. At the same time, in practical engineering, the rock mass is formed through long-term geological structure, and its internal cracks have a variety of properties. Based on granite samples as the research object, two different angles of sample shapes, cylindrical and circular, are prefabricated. The uniaxial compression test is studied to analyze the law of inclined crack propagation in rock under uniaxial compression. Combined with the theory of fracture mechanics, the influence mechanism of crack inclination and sample shape on crack propagation in rock mass is discussed. The test results show that under uniaxial compression, the stress-strain curves of granite samples can be divided into four stages: compaction, elasticity, plasticity, and residual deformation. For the cylindrical sample, the crack initiation occurs at the tip. The compressive strength of the sample decreases with the increase in the prefabricated crack angle, and the crack initiation angle increases with the increase in the prefabricated crack angle. The fracture of the sample changes from shear slip failure to split shear failure of the penetrating rock mass with the increase in the crack angle. For the disk sample, the crack initiation location gradually increases from the tip to the middle with the increase in the crack angle, and the crack initiation angle increases with the increase in the crack angle. The peak load of the sample decreases first and then increases with the increase in the crack angle and is the minimum at 60°. The fracture mode of the sample is mainly tensile failure. When the crack dip angle is between 30° and 60°, the tensile and shear composite failure of the sample occurs, and the influence mechanism of crack dip angle and sample shape on the crack propagation path is analyzed. The research results have important theoretical significance for engineering design, construction, and stability maintenance.

Has recentralisation improved equality? Primary care infrastructure development in China

AbstractSince the early 2000s, the Chinese Government has undertaken a series of recentralisation efforts. In social policy areas, such efforts are targeted at greater equalisation and inclusiveness. These developments raise a critical question: has recentralisation improved equality? This study explores this question through the lens of primary care infrastructure development, an essential aspect of healthcare reforms that has received limited attention in the academic literature. Based on an analysis of health yearbooks (2004–2016), other government documents and fieldwork interviews, we find that, despite recentralisation efforts, the financing for primary care infrastructure development has remained highly decentralised. Provincial governments act as important intermediaries, reflected by their discretionary power in managing central targets and fundraising behaviour to leverage available resources for outcomes that align with local priorities. Despite an overall capacity increase in primary care infrastructure, significant inequality has remained, which contradicts the central governmentʼs intent to improve equality through recentralisation.

Is China’s infrastructure development experience unique?

ABSTRACT The rapid development of infrastructure in China over the last four decades has drawn not only considerable international media coverage, but also research interest from the academic world. Few studies, however, ask the question if China’s infrastructure development experience is extraordinary. By comparing the level and pace of infrastructure development between China and other countries, we find that the case of China is not unique at the country level. What is unique is the heavy use of infrastructure investment as a policy instrument to stimulate the economy, both at the upturns and downturns. The paper further identifies the key weaknesses of China’s infrastructure sector, and highlights the effects of economic, technological, demographic, and climate trends on the future of infrastructure, and discusses the directions of infrastructure development in the next 20–30 years.

Major Obstacles to Public-Private Partnership (PPP)-Financed Infrastructure Development in China

Public-private partnership (PPP)-led infrastructure development has been crucial in China as it has in many other countries. However, several obstacles in the field tend to challenge its development. Based on survey responses from PPP practitioners and professionals in Hong Kong and mainland China, this study analyzes and ranks the key barriers to PPP projects. Our findings suggest that both groups classify the critical obstacles to PPP consistently, albeit with some divergences in ranking them. Reflecting mainly from the perspective of professionals, the study also proposes some suggestions for mitigating these obstacles, so it could contribute to the effective formulation of PPP and successful implementation of PPP-led infrastructure projects in China as well as elsewhere.

Effects of temperature and acid solution on the physical and tensile mechanical properties of red sandstones.

Recent infrastructure development in China and other developing countries has attracted global attention. As a control project of traffic engineering, tunnels also have rapidly increased. However, fire accidents induced by traffic accident or gas explosion frequently occur in tunnels, causing irreversible damage to the tunnel rocks. Moreover, the corrosive effects of acid rain or polluted groundwater have a long-term effect on the tunnel and surrounding rocks. In this paper, physical and thermophysical properties tests as well as Brazilian splitting test were conducted on red sandstone specimens after heating at a variety of different temperature and acidic solution erosion. The responses of surface features, mass, P wave velocity, porosity and thermal conductivity, and the tensile strength of the red sandstone were compared and analyzed. In addition, the effects of high temperature (25-1000°C) and acidic solution on microscopic structures, defect morphology, and mineral reaction of the red sandstone were observed and analyzed. The experimental results show that high temperature and acidic chemical solution significantly affects the physical and mechanical properties of the rock mass. The typical parameters, such as surface features, mass and P wave velocity, porosity, thermal conductivity, and tensile strength, are closely affected by acidity. In addition, we observed that the physical properties of red sandstones change with temperature and can be divided into three stages, and at 300-800°C stage, they significantly declined. The results provide a basis for rock damage and failure induced by fire and acidic groundwater seepage in tunnels.

Land contributions to the supernormal development of infrastructure in China

PurposeOver the past 20 years, China's infrastructure has developed at an extraordinary speed. The current literature mainly focuses on the effects of political incentives on the infrastructure. However, this paper indicates that the structural change of China's land regime is an important clue and that the supernormal development of China's infrastructure is an explicable result for that.Design/methodology/approachThis paper theoretically proves that in a politically centralized and economically decentralized economic entity with a public land-ownership regime, the self-financing mechanism formed by local officials through regulation of the land-grant price is the primary factor that influences the optimal supply volume of infrastructure in a region, in addition to political and economic incentives, and whether the self-financing mechanism can be formed or not depends on the structure of a country's land regime, which can help to explain the difference between the development of infrastructure in China and that in other developing countries from a theoretical angle.FindingsThe paper suggests that the mode is facing an important transformation toward land reform and new-type urbanization construction, and the replication and promotion of China's experience in infrastructure construction are of further significance under the Belt and Road Initiative as it provides a method for helping developing countries to eliminate infrastructure bottlenecks.Originality/valueThrough the test of multinational panel data, the paper indicates that the structural change of China's land regime around 1990 had an overall effect on the supernormal development of infrastructure in China. The paper indicates that the “land-based development mode” of China's infrastructure indeed contributed to the supernormal development of infrastructure in China, but there are still some shortcomings in this mode.

Material stocks and flows of power infrastructure development in China

As the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases with a dominant share of coal-fired power, China is expecting a continuous clean power transition in the next decades. However, the development of power generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure requires significant amount of construction materials, therefore an understanding of the corresponding materials demand and waste generation would be important. In this paper, we deployed a dynamic, bottom-up, and technology-specific material flow analysis approach to characterize the stocks and flows of four major construction materials (cement, steel, aluminum, and copper) associated with China's power infrastructure development from 1980 to 2050. We found that the material stocks of China's power infrastructure have increased from 30 ± 4 Mt in 1980 to 573 ± 91 Mt in 2018 (an annual growth rate of 7.7%) and will further increase to 1188 Mt and 1487 Mt in 2050, respectively, in the two energy development scenarios we constructed. While thermal and hydro power contributed the most to stocks growth in the past two decades, solar and wind power are expected to contribute more in the future. A more metal-intensive energy future is foreseen due to increasing use of steel and aluminum in renewable energy generation and use of copper and aluminum in power transmission and distribution. These patterns reflect the physical material basis of China's power transition and call for better understanding of the energy-material nexus for addressing the dual challenge of satisfying growing materials demand and addressing increasing amount of waste and environmental impacts in the next decades.

The Impact of Logistics Infrastructure Development in China on the Promotion of Sino-Korea Trade: The Case of Inland Port under the Belt and Road Initiative

Purpose - This study investigates the impact of inland port development in China on the promotion of bilateral trade flows between China and South Korea. Design/methodology - The probable association between the establishment of inland ports and SinoKorea trade was estimated using gravity models. In this regards, two sets of data were collected. The first dataset consists of the baseline variables of a gravity model, while the second one includes variables of logistics infrastructure development. The indicators of logistics infrastructure development include inland ports, the amount of government expenditure on transport infrastructure, the lengths of roads and railways, the number of trucks and the number of logistics industry workforce. Findings - The results show that inland port development has a positive impact on facilitating bilateral trade between China and South Korea. However, the positive association holds only for Chinese regions with a large trade volume and a proximity to seaports. In other regions, the impact of inland ports is not statistically significant. Originality/value - To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is the first attempt to explore the economic impact of inland ports in China. In addition, the findings in this paper provide both policy and managerial implications for the future development of inland ports, such as the strategic location of inland ports and integrated intermodal operations.

Swelling Characteristics of Red Sandstone Under Cyclic Wetting and Drying

The effect of repeated swelling of rock on tunnels and other structures becomes more apparent with the continuous development of the transportation infrastructure in China. Tests on the free swelling ratio, lateral constraint swelling ratio, and lateral constraint swelling stress were conducted for different dry–wet cycles and drying temperatures, with the samples taken from Zhuzhou in Hunan Province (China). The test results show that the free swelling ratio, lateral constraint swelling ratio, and swelling stress of rock are all dependent on time. The swelling phases can be characterized as rapid, moderate, and slow phases. The dry–wet cycle and drying temperature have a significant effect on the swelling behavior of red sandstone. At larger axial and radial free swelling ratios, the lateral constraint swelling ratio and swelling stress occur at a higher drying temperature. Furthermore, the lateral constraint swelling ratio and swelling stress first increase with an increasing number of cycles and then gradually decrease and reach maximum values in the second and third cycles, respectively. Based on the sigmoid and power functions, the time-history models for the lateral constraint swelling ratio and lateral constraint swelling stress are established, considering the effects of the cycle number and drying temperature. In addition, the results of this study are significant and may serve as an engineering guide for the swelling of rock during construction.

Public-Private Partnerships: The Role of Infrastructure Development in China and Russia

Given the need for accelerated development of the Chinese and Russian economies, infrastructure, being one of the key drivers of economic growth, is becoming an important asset for modernization. In this regard, the article analyzes the development of one of the fundamental tools for creating and modernizing the country's infrastructure facilities – Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The leverage of PPPs in recent years aims to bridge the infrastructure gap and alleviate budget constraints in both countries. The potential of PPPs can also be considered in the context of increasing the efficiency of managing state tangible assets and increasing the financial return on their operation without losing state property right.

Accountability Effects of Public Participation Practice in Chinese Public Projects: Partial Least-Squares Path Analysis

Public participation has become an indispensable approach for governments in meeting the various needs of accountability in delivering public projects, especially those concerning urbanization and infrastructure development in China. However, it is not known how, and how much, current public participation practice can enhance project-related and social accountability (SA). Based on this study's survey of 158 various stakeholders in public projects in South China, underlying relationships are revealed between project decision-making accountability (PDMA) and project implementation accountability (PIA) and their association with SA. Further, partial least-squares (PLS) path analysis indicates that PDMA has a long-run mediating role in the establishment of SA, while PIA does not. These results and findings not only enhance a deep understanding of the overall effects of public participation forms in the theoretical domain but also provide useful, practical guides to improve China's local government and practitioner practices.

Measuring the regional economic impacts of high-speed rail using a dynamic SCGE model: the case of China

ABSTRACTHigh-Speed Rail (HSR) has experienced a rapid development in many countries in the world, but how can planners and decision makers better understand the regional economic impact of the gigantic system remains a challenge. This paper introduces a comprehensive framework to assess the regional economic impacts of HSR using China as an example. The regional economic impacts of HSR are evaluated under a dynamic and spatial computable general equilibrium-modelling framework. Such a framework provides a comprehensive assessment of the impacts in terms of both temporal and spatial variations. The assessment provides an ex post evaluation of the impacts based on the actual data reflecting the infrastructure development and operation in the period 2002–2013. The research findings confirm that HSR infrastructure development in China has generated a positive regional economic impact. The growth rate of the real GDP stimulated by rail infrastructure investment were found particularly substantial in the southwest, but relatively small in the developed eastern regions. Conversely, the real GDP level change was found to be relatively large in the developed regions, such as the south and the east. The disaggregated analysis shows that the contributions to regional economic growth are primarily derived from the productivity increase in rail transport sector and the stimulus effect of rail infrastructure capital investment. The research findings provide implications for future HSR development in both Europe and China.