Protection In China Research Articles

Ecological Effects of Local Materials in Landscape Design based on Machine Learning

The local characteristic landscape is a way of adapting to nature, land, and land space pattern chosen by local people due to their living needs. With the in-depth development of the concept of ecological protection in China, great progress has been made in the cause of ecological environmental protection within the current urban area. This study mainly discusses the ecological effects of local materials in landscape design. It integrates geography, historical literature, landscape ecology, architectural aesthetics, and many other related disciplines. The basic knowledge of rural landscape elements is analyzed and summarized from all levels and angles. However, due to factors such as the contradiction between the urban and rural dual system, the large base of the rural population and construction land, the expansion of cities and the great changes in rural production and lifestyle, the rural living environment is faced with more ecological contradictions, which has become the bottleneck of the country’s overall ecological civilization construction. It comprehensively discusses and analyzes related concepts and theories, and optimizes the concept of rural landscape elements and the relationship between rural landscape elements and modern rural landscape design. It clarifies its classification and exemplifies the application methods of rural landscape elements. The second is to integrate and analyze the application of rural landscape elements through the investigation and analysis of excellent cases. It also compares the rural locality and studies the application of rural landscape elements and their shortcomings. Finally, the construction methods and application strategies of rural landscape elements in modern villages are proposed. Through the reasonable planning and configuration of the traditional village landscape, it creates a living landscape that can meet the actual needs of local people and an ornamental and experiential landscape that can meet the multilevel emotional needs of foreign tourists. This pushes traditional villages toward a benign path of sustainable development. The evaluation index of conformity between vernacular architecture and the environment reached 94%. On the basis of sorting out the problems of ecological planning and construction of rural human settlements, the article constructs the ecological adaptability theory of rural human settlement planning at the theoretical level. This study fully combines the advantages of local materials to build a beautiful village with regional cultural characteristics and ecological type, in order to open up new ideas for future rural planning and design.

Analysis of the legal consequences of fetal civil rights

With the increasing heat of fetal rights protection, the supporting measures of fetal civil rights protection in China have been gradually improved.But from the perspective of civil law, the legal consequences of the fetus is not in place, and the experience of related affairs in practice is also missing. This paper will analyze and discuss the legal consequences of stillbirth after donation or inheritance.

Analysis of the legal consequences of fetal civil rights

With the increasing heat of fetal rights protection, the supporting measures of fetal civil rights protection in China have been gradually improved.But from the perspective of civil law, the legal consequences of the fetus is not in place, and the experience of related affairs in practice is also missing. This paper will analyze and discuss the legal consequences of stillbirth after donation or inheritance.

Integrating synergistic control of pollutants and carbon dioxide into “Three Lines and One Permit” in China

In recent years, the impact of climate change on human society has become a popular research topic worldwide. To mitigate climate change, China established carbon emission peak and neutrality targets. Therefore, the synergistic control of pollutants and carbon dioxide has become a key objective for ecological and environmental protection in China. The “Three Lines and One Permit” (TLOP) system is an important policy that aims to increase environmental protection at the source and to integrate the advancement of high-quality development and high-level environmental protection. By integrating the synergetic control of pollutants and carbon dioxide into TLOP, planners and decision-makers may be better able to highlight the importance of carbon emission reduction and environmental quality management during the policy and planning stages. Therefore, by approaching the challenges associated with synergistic control of pollutants and carbon dioxide, this study explored the technical framework by combining the technical route and working basis of TLOP and clarified the appropriate technical methods and indicators. This study proposed a concrete path to achieving synergistic efficiency of pollution and carbon reduction in terms of ecological space, the Bottom Line of Atmospheric Environment Quality (BLAEQ), the Upper-limit Line for Energy Use (ULEU), the Integrated Environmental Unit (IEU) and the List of Environmental Permits for human activities (LEP). To promote the application of the technical framework, the research suggested that application should be performed from the following aspects: incorporating the TLOP into relevant laws, strengthening application between departments, and establishing a regional system.

Spatial-temporal pattern evolution and influencing factors of coupled coordination between carbon emission and economic development along the Pearl River Basin in China.

The Pearl River Basin (PRB) is a significant area for economic development (ED) and ecological protection in China. Studying the relationship between carbon emission (CE) and ED is crucial for China and the world to cope with climate change and achieve CO2 reduction. For 48 cities in the PRB, we used the coupling coordination model and geographically weighted regression model to analyze the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between CE and ED and investigate the main influencing factors. The results suggested that (1) the CCD presents spatial heterogeneity, with the Pearl River Delta having the highest value and the middle reaches having the lowest value; (2) the coupling coordination type between CE and ED changes from incoordination to coordination in general; and (3) the resident income and population size have a positive influence on the CCD of the cities in the lower reaches, while the secondary industry scale has a beneficial impact on the upstream. Finally, we put forward corresponding policy suggestions to achieve sustainable development in terms of reducing economic inequities, enhancing public expenditure and innovation capability, and streamlining the industrial structure.

Analysis and Prediction of the Coupling and Coordinated Development of Green Finance–Environmental Protection in China

Green finance is an important tool to help China accelerate the process of environmental protection, but the level of coupling and coordinated development between it and environmental protection has not yet been explored. This study measures the coupling and coordinated level of the green finance–environmental protection system (GE system) in 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020 and uses the improved GM (1,1) model based on background value optimization to predict the future development trend of the coupling and coordinated level of the green finance–environmental protection system. The results show that: (1) the national average coupling and coordinated level of the green finance–environmental protection system has been in mild disharmony from 2011 to 2020 all the time, and only Guangdong Province and Zhejiang Province among them have reached the coordination level. (2) The coupling and coordinated level of the green finance–environmental protection system based on regional differences has a large gap, ranking in order: Eastern region > Central region > Western region > Northeast region, where the first-ranked Eastern region leads the rise, while the last-ranked Northeast region even shows a decreasing trend year by year. (3) The national average coupling and coordinated level will reach the coordination level in 2077, which fails to get ahead of the “2060 carbon neutrality” goal. Additionally, from the regional division, the Eastern region will be the first to reach the coordination level (2040), the Central region will reach the coordination level in 2043, the Western region is difficult to reach the coordination level, and the Northeast region shows the deterioration of coupling and coordinated degree, and the regional differences are still obvious. This study aims to reduce regional disparities, improve the coupling and coordinated development level of the green finance–environmental protection system nationwide, and implement the process of green development in China.

Decoding China's COVID-19 Health Code Apps: The Legal Challenges.

Heath code apps, along with robust testing, isolation, and the care of cases, are a vital strategy for containing the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. They have remained stable and consistent, allowing China to extensively restore its social and economic development. However, the ethical and legal boundaries of deploying health code apps for disease surveillance and control purposes are unclear, and a rapidly evolving debate has emerged around the promises and risks of their fast promotion. The article outlines the legal challenges by applying the core values of the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), the fundamental law for personal information protection in China, into the context of the nationwide use of health code apps. It elaborates on the balance between the demands for upholding individuals’ rights to the security of their personal information and those for public access to such information to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. It identifies the current gaps in addressing personal information harms during the use of the apps, particularly with regard to user consent, transparency, necessity, storage duration, and security safeguards.

Exploring the Dilemmas of Copyright Protection in China in the Context of the Marrakesh Treaty

Exploring the Dilemmas of Copyright Protection in China in the Context of the Marrakesh Treaty

Reflect on the Past or on the Present? The root cause of the difficulties in advancing animal protection in China. Review of Peter J. Li’s latest work: Animal Welfare in China, Culture, Politics and Crisis, Sydney University Press 2021

Animal Welfare in China, Culture, Politics and Crisis, Sydney University Press 2021, mainly introduces the problems and prospects of animal welfare in contemporary China; it is perhaps the first book worldwide on this topic. Animal cruelty in contemporary China is a reality and it is rewarding to explore its root cause. There has been a misconception for a long time that the origin of animal cruelty in China is traditional Chinese culture, which has a core of cruelty. The author, Peter J. Li, responds to this stereotype by deeply analysing ancient Chinese political thoughts. Ancient Chinese culture and values were rich in benevolence and care for animals. Thus, contemporary animal cruelty in China is irrelevant to ancient Chinese culture and it is unreasonable to deny this Asian wisdom. The main reason for contemporary animal cruelty in China is the intensive animal husbandry practices. Since the economic reform in 1978, China has adopted its goal as a developmental state by creating policies including introducing massive technologies from the western world and encouraging and developing intensive husbandry industries. This modern economic development model focuses on economic profits but not social justice, which is why hundreds of billions of animals suffer greatly in China. The emerging progress of China’s animal advocacy is creating a positive prospect for animal cruelty.

Cultivated hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida var. major) genome sheds light on the evolution of Maleae (apple tribe).

Cultivated hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida var. major) is an important medicinal and edible plant with a long history of use for health protection in China. Herein, we provide a de novo chromosome-level genome sequence of the hawthorn cultivar "Qiu Jinxing." We assembled an 823.41 Mb genome encoding 40 571 genes and further anchored the 779.24 Mb sequence into 17 pseudo-chromosomes, which account for 94.64% of the assembled genome. Phylogenomic analyses revealed that cultivated hawthorn diverged from other species within the Maleae (apple tribe) at approximately 35.4 Mya. Notably, genes involved in the flavonoid and triterpenoid biosynthetic pathways have been significantly amplified in the hawthorn genome. In addition, our results indicated that the Maleae share a unique ancient tetraploidization event; however, no recent independent whole-genome duplication event was specifically detected in hawthorn. The amplification of non-specific long terminal repeat retrotransposons contributed the most to the expansion of the hawthorn genome. Furthermore, we identified two paleo-sub-genomes in extant species of Maleae and found that these two sub-genomes showed different rearrangement mechanisms. We also reconstructed the ancestral chromosomes of Rosaceae and discussed two possible paleo-polyploid origin patterns (autopolyploidization or allopolyploidization) of Maleae. Overall, our study provides an improved context for understanding the evolution of Maleae species, and this new high-quality reference genome provides a useful resource for the horticultural improvement of hawthorn.

Protective Effects of Three Flavonoids from Dendrobium huoshanense Flowers on Alcohol‐Induced Hepatocyte Injury via Activating Nrf2 and Inhibiting NF‐κB Pathways

AbstractDendrobium huoshanense flowers have been widely used for liver protection in China. This work was aimed to discover the natural products with activity of mitigating alcoholic hepatocyte injury from Dendrobium huoshanense flowers via bioactivity‐guided isolation, and to clarify the underlying mechanisms of these natural products. As a result, three flavonoids, 3′‐O‐methylquercetin‐3‐O‐β‐D‐galactopyranoside (1), 3′‐O‐methylquercetin‐3‐O‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside (2) and quercetin‐3‐O‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside (3), were firstly isolated from D. huoshanense flowers. Results exhibited that flavonoids 1–3 could enhance the cell viability, decrease the expression of ALT and AST, inhibit the cell apoptosis, alleviate the oxidative stress, and mitigate the inflammatory response of alcohol‐induced L02 cells. Mechanism study exhibited that flavonoids 1–3 could increase the expression of Nrf2 as well as its downstream antioxidation genes of alcohol‐induced L02 cells, while ML‐385 (Nrf2 inhibitor) could abolish the inhibitory effects of 1–3 on alcohol‐induced hepatocyte injury. Flavonoids 1–3 could also reduce the phosphorylation levels of IκBα and NF‐κB p65 of alcohol‐induced L02 cells, while SC75741 (NF‐κB inhibitor) could not enhance the inhibitory effects of 1–3 on alcohol‐induced L02 cells injury. The data above indicated that flavonoids 1–3 could inhibit alcohol‐induced hepatocyte injury, which might be attributed to alleviating oxidative stress and mitigating inflammatory response by activating Nrf2 and inhibiting NF‐κB pathways.

Does direct settlement of intra-province medical reimbursements improve financial protection among middle-aged and elderly population in China? Evidence based on CHARLS data

In low- and middle-income countries, social health insurance schemes are the main focus of efforts to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by promoting access to health care and financial protection. Problems with financial protection in China are caused mainly by health insurance fragmentation and a rapid rise in medical expenditure. In this context, China implemented a policy of direct settlement of intra-provincial medical reimbursement in 2014. We evaluated the impact of the policy on financial protection with a population aged 45 and above based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study from 2011 to 2018. We estimated the policy effects using the difference-in-differences method, based on coarsened exact matching. We found that the policy significantly reduced the catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) rate by approximately 10% in the population, whether middle-aged or elderly. Subgroup analyses indicated that middle-aged and elderly people living in western China and with lower household incomes received greater protection from the policy. The CHEs rate for the two age groups in western China was reduced by 16.26% and 20.12%, respectively. The CHEs rate was reduced by 24.51% and 17.32% for middle-aged individuals in the lowest and second household income quartiles, respectively, and by 21.31% for older adults in the second household income quartile. The new rural cooperative medical scheme exerted a smaller protective effect than urban medical insurance among the participants aged 60 and older. We found that in addition to optimizing health insurance schemes, more health care reform measures, such as adopting more efficient payment methods and rationalizing medical expenditures, should be combined to help reduce health inequities and accelerate progress toward achieving UHC and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Social health insurance consolidation and urban-rural inequality in utilization and financial risk protection in China

Universal health care is a long-term policy goal for health care reform in China. In 2016, China consolidated its urban and rural resident social health insurance programs into one program with a goal to reduce disparities between rural and urban populations. Using a nationally-representative sample of 14,967 individuals from the China Family Panel Studies surveys (2012–2018), we investigate whether the consolidation reduced gaps in total and out-of-pocket medical expenditure, and reimbursement between rural and urban residents. Our identification approach relies on an augmented difference-in-differences analysis whereby we compare the two programs that were consolidated to a different program that was not consolidated, before and after the consolidation. We find no evidence that the urban-rural gaps in these measures have narrowed as a result of the consolidation, at least in the near term. This surprising result may be partly explained by urban-rural inequality in access to care and provincial fiscal spending on health care. While these findings need to be confirmed with additional data and research, we call for continued efforts on addressing supply-side challenges, particularly in under-served areas.

Domestic water pollution cost of shale gas exploitation in China: An empirical study with Averting Behavior Theory

Shale gas development in China helps to improve the structure of energy supply and reduce energy dependence on foreign countries. However, the environmental risks of shale gas development, especially groundwater pollution, are non-negligible. The external cost of such groundwater pollution can be estimated by quantifying the increased domestic water consumption before and after shale gas extraction. We implemented a Difference-in-Difference estimation in Fuling, Chongqing of China to obtain the monetary cost of domestic water pollution of shale gas development with the survey data of household water consumption. We found that shale gas exploitation increased the expenditure of domestic water consumption by 16.43–17.00 yuan per household per month, aggregated to 203.94 yuan per household for the annual averting cost and accounting for 2.17% of household annual income in poverty-stricken areas in 2017. The paper contributes to the literature by estimating residents’ preference for shale gas development in China with Averting Behavior Theory, thus enriching the literature on evaluating the environmental cost of shale gas exploitation in a region where per capita income and environmental awareness is relatively low. Our estimated results have great policy implications for ecological compensating for the residents adversely affected by shale gas wells and also have profound implications for environmental regulation and protection in China.

Sales Scale, Non-Pastoral Employment and Herders’ Technology Adoption: Evidence from Pastoral China

The adoption of livestock husbandry technologies has been an important factor affecting the welfare of herders and the efficiency of grazing-based livestock production and grassland protection in China’s pastoral areas. The small-scale herder is the main body of grassland-based grazing husbandry, and so technology adoption is particularly important, though it is currently scarce. To identify the factors influencing technology adoption behavior by Chinese herders, especially its effect on the scale of livestock sales and non-pastoral employment (NPE), we conducted a survey in the Gansu and Qinghai provinces of China with a sample of 296 herder households. The results show that the scale of livestock sale promotes the adoption of technology, while non-pastoral employment has a generally negative effect. In detail, the substitution effect of NPE is positive, but the wealth effect is negative. In addition, NPE and its wealth effect have moderating effects that can enhance the effect of the sales scale on the adoption of herders’ technology. After distinguishing the technologies into profit-seeking technology and pro-environmental technology, we found that NPE and its substitution effect have a significant influence on pro-environmental technology, while the wealth effect has a significant impact on both profit-seeking and pro-environmental technology. Environmental awareness and altruism also have significant positive impacts on pro-environmental technology. These findings are relevant to policy implications dealing with technology adoption in pastoral areas.

Finding equity without the law of equity: asset management, fiduciary duty and financial consumer protection in China

ABSTRACT Asset or wealth management is a booming business in Mainland China. In a civil law system, how do Chinese law and Chinese courts deal with disputes arising out of an asset management relationship, in the absence of the branch of law of equity and trusts? The Chinese lawmakers, regulatory bodies, judges and asset management institutions are faced with challenging legal issues. Who is the owner of the assets under management? What is the nature of the relationship between the investor and the asset manager? Is an investor of an asset management product a consumer? This paper investigates the developments, the current position and the possible future of the law and practice concerning the legal issues that may arise out of the investor-manager relationship in the asset management businesses in Mainland China. The paper would also shed light on how Chinese law and courts deal with issues that would call for the intervention of the principles of equity and trusts in common law jurisdictions.

Structural Contradictions Between Energy Production and Consumption Along With Economic Development and Environmental Protection in China: Evidence and Policy Implications

This paper empirically describes and analyzes the structural contradictions between energy production and consumption in the Chinese local economy. Alongside rapid economic growth, energy usage in China increased gradually and exceeded energy production for a long time. For some particular energy sources such as petroleum, the gap between supply and demand is relatively larger than that of the whole energy sector in the economy. The process of turning fossil fuels into final energy products for use causes a great deal of pollution, especially emitting industrial waste gases, such as particulate matter emission, into the atmospheric environment. Increasing energy production directly and greatly to solve the gap between energy supply and demand in the economy may impact environmental quality and not meet sustainable development needs. It is difficult to coordinate energy production and consumption when considering economic development and environmental protection in economic operation. Importing energy could meet the excess energy consumption in a short period but often fluctuates from foreign energy market changes and global political events. For policy recommendations, some policies which directly lower energy consumption may impact economic development since industry is the main consumer of energy, and industrial production is an important component of GDP in China. Declining the role of the industry sector in the economy and reducing industrial product exports, including some energy-intensive products, could solve the structural contradictions between energy production and consumption under the condition of maintaining economic development and protecting the environment in China, but this is a long-term adjustment process.

Restricted Anthropogenic Activities and Improved Urban Air Quality in China: Evidence from Real-Time and Remotely Sensed Datasets Using Air Quality Zonal Modeling

The study aims to examine the major atmospheric air pollutants such as NO2, CO, O3, PM2.5, PM10, and SO2 to assess the overall air quality using air quality zonal modeling of 15 major cities of China before and after the COVID-19 pandemic period. The spatio-temporal changes in NO2 and other atmospheric pollutants exhibited enormous reduction due to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown. The present study used a 10-day as well as 60-day tropospheric column time-average map of NO2 with spatial resolution 0.25 × 0.25° obtained from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA. The air quality zonal model was employed to assess the total NO2 load and its change during the pandemic period for each specific region. Ground surface monitoring data for CO, NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 including Air Quality Index (AQI) were collected from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEPC). The results from both datasets demonstrated that NO2 has drastically dropped in all the major cities across China. The concentration of CO, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 demonstrated a decreasing trend whereas the concentration of O3 increased substantially in all cities after the lockdown effect as observed from real-time monitoring data. Because of the complete shutdown of all industrial activities and vehicular movements, the atmosphere experienced a lower concentration of major pollutants that improves the overall air quality. The regulation of anthropogenic activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic has not only contained the spread of the virus but also facilitated the improvement of the overall air quality. Guangzhou (43%), Harbin (42%), Jinan (33%), and Chengdu (32%) have experienced maximum air quality improving rates, whereas Anshan (7%), Lanzhou (17%), and Xian (25%) exhibited less improved AQI among 15 cities of China during the study period. The government needs to establish an environmental policy framework involving central, provincial, and local governments with stringent laws for environmental protection.

A Comparative Analysis on the Protection of Property Rights and the Intellectual Property Rights: a Pak-Chinese Legal Perspective

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) always drive invention and creativeness. It also creates new employment and makes you more competitive. Intellectual property rights protect and benefit the work of writers, artists, designers, discoverers, and other IPR users while they are being used by others. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) help protect ideas and creative works developed by inventors, designers, developers, and writers. After all, protecting intellectual property is one of the major challenges for both developed and developing nations. There are numerous international laws that protect intellectual property. International law employs several guidelines and recommendations to confirm the protection of intellectual property. In addition, most countries have intellectual property laws. Maximum countries have their own legislative powers to protect their intellectual property rights. But if not done properly, all these international and domestic intellectual property laws will be valueless. The legal system that China and Pakistan follow to protect their intellectual property is very similar to the legal system of developed countries but also has some main variances. This research paper attempts to examine the assessment of IPR protection in China and Pakistan. This research paper also describes IPR protection procedures in China and Pakistan. In addition, this article initiates a comparison of international IPR indexes to demonstrate and describe the variances in IPR protection assessments. This article also lists and describes the various factors that influence the lack of proper protection of property and intellectual property rights in both countries.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Cycas ferruginea, a vulnerable species

Cycas ferruginea F. N. Wei (1994) is recorded in the list of wild plant protection in China as a national first-class protected plant. The complete chloroplast genome of C. ferruginea was analyzed for the first time in this article. The genome is 162,045 bp in length, which contains a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,048 bp each, a large single-copy (LSC) region of 88,827 bp, and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 23,122 bp. The genome comprises a total of 130 encoded genes, including 85 protein-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNA genes, and 37 transfer RNA genes. The total GC content is 39.44%, and the corresponding values of the LSC, SSC, and IRs are 38.73%, 36.56%, and 42.02%, respectively. The phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed based on the complete chloroplast genome sequences of 16 species. Results showed that C. ferruginea is close to C. debaoensis, C. bifida, and C. szechuanensis.