Road Countries Research Articles

The impact of natural resource abundance on green economic growth in the belt and road countries: The role of institutional quality

Institutional quality is critical to explain differences in the economic benefits of natural resources. To achieve the green development in the Belt and Road countries (BRI countries), it is worth thinking about the role of institutional quality in preventing resource curse. Based on new institutional economics theory, this paper first proposed the affecting mechanism of institutional quality in the relationship between natural resource abundance and green economic growth. Then combined with SBM model and GML index, the level of green economic growth in 48 BRI countries was calculated and further analyzed. Furthermore, panel threshold models were adopted to investigate the role of institutional quality in preventing resource curse and conduct heterogeneous analysis of different income levels. The results indicated that, for BRI countries the resource curse on green economic growth could be eliminated as the institutional quality went above the threshold value. For high-income countries, the promotion effect of natural resource abundance increased significantly when institutional quality was above the threshold value, while for low- and middle-income countries, natural resource curse did significantly exist and turned to be a blessing only when institutional quality was above certain threshold. Therefore, improving institutional quality would be an active way in green economic growth of BRI countries.

EU - China relations and data governance policies: the role of civil societies in overcoming geopolitical challenges in cyberspace

EU and China are the global powers that can affect and alter international relations at the political, economic, and societal levels. While the EU shapes the foreign policy in Europe, China has a critical role in Asian politics. In Asia-Europe interregionalism and interregional relations, the EU-China relations are essential in consolidating global and regional stability. However, in the current political conjuncture, the security issues in cyberspace challenge both actors. Hence, cybersecurity and digitalization policies are a potential conflict area in EU-China relations. As the impact of technological and digital developments increases on the global political economy, global powers are developing policies to breast the tape in technological development. The European Commission has set “A Europe fit for the digital age” as one of its priorities for the 2019-2024 term. Meanwhile, since 2015 China has been promoting the Digital Belt and Road Initiative to foster digital connectivity among the Belt and Road countries. However, big data analytics are important in developing new technologies, especially in digital connectivity, automation, and robotics. In this context, data governance has become a geopolitical concept in international relations. Consequently, differences between China’s and the EU’s approach to data – access, process, and collection – may result in geopolitical confrontations. In this paper, we argue that both actors should involve civil society in the policymaking process to address the dynamics of information technologies, cooperate on adapting a global approach and avoid geopolitical confrontations. Civil society organizations can help the actors understand the underlying risks in cybersecurity and form a non-conflicting approach in data governance frameworks. Furthermore, while investigating the EU and China’s data governance models, we shed light upon the role of civil society organizations in addressing the potential risks and opportunities in cyberspace. Finally, we conclude our paper with policy recommendations for China and the EU to cooperate in cyberspace by involving civil society organizations.
 Received: 18 May 2022Accepted: 25 July 2022

Investment Suitability Assessment Based on B&R Symbiotic System Theory: Location Choice of China’s OFDI

Achieving mutualistic symbiosis is the core concept of China’s promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Therefore, how to guide China’s OFDI location decision-making in the Belt and Road (B&R) countries from the perspective of mutualistic symbiosis is of great significance. This paper constructs the B&R symbiotic system based on symbiotic system theory, to establish the investment suitability index from three dimensions: stability, coordination, and sustainability, then uses the entropy weight, TOPSIS, and GIS method to assess and analyze the investment suitability index of 60 major countries in B&R’s six economic corridors. The findings indicate that Russia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia have the highest investment suitability and are China’s most favorable OFDI destinations for achieving mutualistic symbiosis. Conversely, Syria, Lebanon, Jordon, and Yemen have the lowest investment suitability. Based on these results, policymakers can formulate more scientific and reasonable policies to guide China’s OFDI to make location decisions in B&R countries with high investment suitability, so as to promote the high-quality and sustainable development of B&R construction. However, due to data acquisition and technical reasons, this study does not analyze investment suitability from time trends. The analysis of investment suitability from more B&R countries or different types of industries is an important direction for further research in the future.

Catalyst or barrier? Heterogeneous effects of standards on agricultural trade between China and the Belt and Road countries

AbstractThere is an ongoing debate about whether standards act as trade catalysts or barriers. This article uses a gravity model to analyze the effects of national standards on the trade of agricultural products between China and the 64 Belt and Road (B&R) countries from 1990 to 2019. Mandatory country‐specific standards have positive and significant effects on total trade, exports, and imports. Mandatory international harmonization standards have positive and significant effects on total trade and exports. Voluntary country‐specific standards positively (and significantly) affect exports, while voluntary internationally harmonized standards positively (and significantly) affect total trade, exports, and imports. The magnitude of coefficients of mandatory country‐specific standards is the highest, followed by mandatory internationally harmonized standards and voluntary internationally harmonized standards. It is beneficial for China and the B&R countries to strengthen standards cooperation, actively adopt international standards, and evaluate the implementation effect of standards over time.

Dynamic association between socio-economic, environmental and logistic operations: Evidence from SSA BRI host countries

This study examines the connection among green logistic operations, countries-level economic, environmental, and social indicators in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Belt and Road Countries. Using the system generalized method of moments (S-GMM) estimator, this study analyses annual data from 2008 to 2018 and offers three key findings. First, economic indicators China’s foreign direct investment (FDI), trade openness and economic output) are positively associated with green logistic operations. Second, logistics are positively correlated with renewable energy while inversely correlated with carbon emissions. Third, social indicators are also directly associated with green logistic operations measured through health expenditure and institutional quality. Lastly, information communication technology also spurs green logistic operations. Manifestly, Chinese outbound FDI in SSA substantially improved the quality of their logistics in terms of infrastructure, cost, time, customs services, tracking, and the consistency of international shipments. These findings show that green logistics provide adequate infrastructure, and supply chain partners share information more frequently, increasing trade volume, growth potential, and environmental sustainability. Similar results are also endorsed using a feasible generalized least square (FGLS) estimator and suggest that SSA should take effective measures to improve their logistics operation.

Development and validation of a real-time and non-destructive method for direct measurement of solid mixture based on reflection spectra

The Belt and Road countries are facing low resource exploitation efficiency and environmental pollution problems in the field of industrialization and production. Real-time and accurate determination of solid composition is urgently required. Herein, a new quantitative model and method were developed based on the mass conservation law, the elementary reaction and interaction between light and substance. Charge-coupled Device receiver was used to directly measure the solids and quickly obtain the spectral reflectance. According to the difference of spectral reflectance, partial least squares mathematical iterative fitting is utilized to optimize the model parameters based on the relationship between concentration and reflectance at 380–740 nm. It is applied to three typical mineral systems: I. Fe2O3 and Fe3O4 system with different metal valence states; II. ZnO and ZnS system with different anions; and III. Fe2O3 and ZnS system with different element compositions. The best characteristic wavelengths are 560 nm, 720 nm and 680 nm. The goodness of fit is 0.97–0.99 with root mean square less than 0.04, standard recoveries 98%–108%, and relative error of blind sample less than 5%. Compared with some conventional solid analysis methods, this method has the advantages of real-time, non-destructive, no pretreatment and no secondary pollution.

Embodied carbon transfer between China and the Belt and Road Initiative countries

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by China in 2013 to promote the interconnected development and prosperity of all participating countries. In the context of global response to climate change, understanding the embodied carbon transfer change along economic trade before and after the Belt and Road Initiative is essential to reduce carbon overall emission. In this paper, we used a multi-regional input-output model to study the embodied carbon transfer in trade between the Belt and Road countries that have signed cooperation documents with China from 2004 to 2017. The results showed that from 2004 to 2017, the growth rate that China's carbon emissions imported from other Belt and Road Initiative countries was about 1.9 times that of its exports. From 2004 to 2017, the proportion of China's carbon imports from other Belt and Road countries in China's total carbon imports increased from 3.41% to 3.73%, and exports decreased from 6.52% to 6.03%. In both 2004 and 2017, Electricity, Gas and Water sector, Heavy Industry sector, Transport sector were the three largest carbon transfer sectors in China's multilateral trade. In 2017, the embodied carbon transfer by multilateral trade among other Belt and Road countries except China increased by 15.53% compared with 2004. By comparing the characteristics of carbon transfer between China and the Belt and Road countries from 2004 to 2017, this study will provide insights for carbon emission reduction policy setting of Belt and Road Initiative countries.

Effects of Host-Country Corruption on China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investments: Expert Knowledge Versus Public Awareness

Corruption in the host nation is a key issue influencing foreign direct investment. Most existing studies use the expert-knowledge-based corruption index as a proxy for corruption. However, the validity of these published corruption indexes is often questioned by scholars and experts. By introducing Internet data to evaluate public corruption awareness levels, this paper uses two different corruption proxy variables to investigate the relationship between host country corruption and China’s OFDI. In addition, these relationships are further compared between the Belt and Road (B&R) countries and non-B&R countries. The empirical results show that there are negative correlations between host country corruption and China’s OFDI flow for the whole sample, B&R countries and non-B&R countries. The empirical results of this paper serve as a reference for Chinese enterprises to make overseas investment decisions.

Nexus between globalization, energy consumption and globalization in belt and road countries

Nexus between globalization, energy consumption and globalization in belt and road countries

Nexus between globalization, energy consumption and globalization in belt and road countries

This research evaluates the effects of FDI, economic growth, and globalization on E.D. in a sample of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries from 2000 to 2020. Various techniques, including the Westerlund cointegration test, the Dynamic seemingly unrelated regression (DSUR) long-run panel estimate methodology, and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test, are used to collect data for the investigation. After initial difference and long-run association documents have been analyzed using conventional and error-correcting techniques, panel unit root tests indicate which variables are hidden where and why. DSUR revealed a positive correlation between long-term energy use and environmental degradation, meaning that increased energy consumption and production will aggravate the existing state of environmental deterioration. Foreign direct investment (FDI), financial growth, and globalization are more beneficial to the global economy than detrimental to the environment. In addition to the unidirectional effects of financial development, globalization, and economic growth on environmental degradation, directional causality investigations reveal the existence of a feedback hypothesis that helps to explain these causal links. This study highlights the need of Belt and Road (B.R.) energy measures to enhance energy efficiency.

Carbon neutrality challenges in Belt and Road countries: what factors can contribute to CO2 emissions mitigation?

As climate warming is intensifying, CO2 emission reduction has aroused the great attention of many governments and scholars. Compared with traditional industrial times, the influencing system of CO2 emission in modern society has taken great changes due to technological advancement, improvement in energy efficiency, and the popularity of the internet. But the current literature has not reached a consensus on this theme. Our study tends to investigate the nexus between international trade, international trade taxes, energy intensity, internet usage, renewable energy, and CO2 emission while incorporating income levels by using the data from Belt and Road countries in the 2008–2020 period. For this purpose, we applied the unit root test, CSD, Granger causality test, AMG, CCMG, and CS-ARDL methods. The results show that energy efficiency, GDP, and internet use have significantly negative effects on CO2 emission, while GDP has significant positive impacts on CO2 emission. By classifying 65 countries along Belt and Road into four groups of low-income level, low-middle income level, upper-middle income level, and a high-income level, the regional heterogeneities of influencing factors of CO2 emission is confirmed. Furthermore, this empirical study provides new insights to policymakers to reduce CO2 emissions through technology innovation, international cooperation, and human capital investment without deteriorating economic growth.

The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the National Governance Level--Evidence from the Countries along the Belt and Road

The Belt and Road Initiative is the Chinese approach to improving global governance. Based on country-level panel data, the paper analyzes the promoting effect of the Belt and Road Initiative on the governance of countries along the route by using difference in difference method. First, our study finds that the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative has significantly improved the governance level of the countries along the route, and this finding remains robust after a series of tests. Second, the mechanism study finds that the Belt and Road Initiative improves governance in Belt and Road countries by influencing Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and Internet penetration in the countries along the route. Finally, the moderating effect suggests that the Belt and Road Initiative has a more significant impact on governance in countries that are closer to China and receive more official development assistance. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the governance promotion effect of the policy is more pronounced for countries with lower levels of economic development, population density, merchandise trade, and FDI.

The Impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the National Governance Level--Evidence from the Countries along the Belt and Road

The Belt and Road Initiative is the Chinese approach to improving global governance. Based on country-level panel data, the paper analyzes the promoting effect of the Belt and Road Initiative on the governance of countries along the route by using difference in difference method. First, our study finds that the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative has significantly improved the governance level of the countries along the route, and this finding remains robust after a series of tests. Second, the mechanism study finds that the Belt and Road Initiative improves governance in Belt and Road countries by influencing Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) and Internet penetration in the countries along the route. Finally, the moderating effect suggests that the Belt and Road Initiative has a more significant impact on governance in countries that are closer to China and receive more official development assistance. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the governance promotion effect of the policy is more pronounced for countries with lower levels of economic development, population density, merchandise trade, and FDI.

Exploration of the arsenic removal performance fluctuation using H2S from highly acidic wastewater in copper smelting

With continuous impelling of the Belt and Road Initiative, China has been cooperating with Belt and Road (B&R) countries in copper smelting. The large amount of highly acidic wastewater generated in copper smelter that is rich in arsenic (As) should be removed prior to recovery. The sparged H2S is used for As precipitation in the actual treatment, but is among the first found to be defective in performance fluctuation. This phenomenon is evidenced in this study that As concentrations of 60% samples obtained from the sulfuration tank are above the enterprise upper limit of 20 mg/l. Consistent with the performance fluctuation, our laboratorial investigation shows that the maximum As removal efficiency is only about 50%. Based on this issue that existed in the actual copper smelting, the inherent mechanism is explored. Experiments show that the H2S escape and As2S3 re-dissolution are two main reasons, which are other meaningful findings of this study. The limited height of sulfuration tank leads to the incomplete utilization of sparged H2S. The existing Cu2+ causes up to 21.5% of the generated As2S3 to be re-dissolved. Strategies are put forward from two aspects to favor the As removal, namely increasing the height of sulfuration tank to extend the contact between H2S and wastewater, and timely discharge of precipitated sludge to prevent As2S3 re-dissolution. This study provides China's solution to promote cleaner production in copper smelters, which benefits the copper smelting industry in both China and B&R countries.

Dynamic Influence of Urbanization on Inclusive Green Growth in Belt and Road Countries: The Moderating Role of Governance

The strategic objective of this study was to determine the influence of urbanization on inclusive green growth (IGG) with the moderating impact of governance while considering household consumption, exchange rate, per capita income, and the unemployment rate as control variables. The data set consisted of the years 2004–2019 for 64 countries along the Belt and Road (BRI) region. The outcomes of the two-step system of generalized method of moments (GMM) robust with D-K regression methodology confirmed the significantly positive dynamic nature of inclusive green growth. Urbanization showed a significant but negative influence on inclusive green growth, indicating environmental degradation due to unplanned urban growth. The moderating role of governance also depicted a significant negative impact, emphasizing the need for a transparent governance framework for BRI countries to utilize resources effectively. Moreover, the interaction term of urbanization and governance showed a significantly positive improvement toward inclusive green growth. Besides this, per capita income played a significantly positive role, while unemployment and household consumption had a negative but significant influence on inclusive green growth. Further, the exchange rate impacted insignificantly on inclusive green growth. Hence, it is evident that urbanization, good governance, and employment opportunities are required to promote sustainable green growth in BRI countries. The research identifies the factors that are required for sustainability/IGG.

Comparison and Suggestions of Logistics Performance Index of Main Countries of Belt and Road Strategy Based on Bootstrap DEA Model

As an important economic sector, logistics is becoming more important, if not crucial, in economic growth. In our nation, the logistics industry is booming, and it's just getting better. However, in addition to focusing on the positive aspects of our country's logistics industry's development, we should also analyze and address the negative aspects of our country's logistics industry's development. The overall logistics pattern has not yet been formed, and there is an urgent need for systematic construction. The regional development is extremely unbalanced. By comparing the logistics performance indices of various Belt and Road countries, this research aims to examine the major elements influencing overall logistics performance. Second, we introduce the Moran index to explore the geographical association of the subdivision indicators of the logistics performance index using the spatial econometric model. The bootstrap DEA analysis method examines and ranks the countries' logistics performance indexes, determines our country's advantages and disadvantages in comparison to other Belt and Road countries, and executes specific improvement strategies that will enhance logistics and boost the overall growth of our country's logistics sector.

Production- and consumption-based carbon emission decoupling and decomposition of the Belt and Road countries

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides a platform for developing countries with huge growth potentials, which may also face huge carbon emission pressure while achieving rapid economic growth. Given certain similarities in economic patterns and resource endowments, this study aims to trace carbon emission decoupling and decomposition of different countries/regions within the Belt and Road area and provide new insights into the drivers of carbon emission decoupling from both production- and consumption-based perspectives. Based on the multi-regional input-output modelling and Tapio decoupling decomposition, this study quantitatively analyzes the decoupling evolution and decomposition drivers of economic activities and carbon emissions in countries along the Belt and Road. From the results, the production-based carbon emissions of the Belt and Road countries was significantly higher than the consumption-based carbon emissions. The increasing rate in the production-based carbon emissions was also faster than the consumption-based one, with an increasing huge gap between the two sides. Regarding the spatial distribution of carbon emissions, the regions with huge amounts of carbon emissions mainly distributed in Russia, Iran, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia. When compared, the consumption-based carbon emissions of China and Russia were the highest, followed by those of the countries in Central Asia and West Asia. Compared with the production-based side, the decoupling rate of the Belt and Road countries was slower than the consumption-based one. The Belt and Road countries mainly maintained in the weak decoupling status, with the economic effect as the main driver in carbon emission growth, and the energy intensity effect as the dominated contributor in carbon emission reduction. Through exploring the decoupling and decomposition of production- and consumption-based carbon emissions within the Belt and Road countries, this study attempts to provide certain implications for the low-carbon transition and sustainable development within the countries along the Belt and Road.

TRANSNATIONAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA: A REVIEW

The emergence of China as one of the biggest host countries of TNE in the past decades has been indispensable to the progressive TNE policies in China. This paper systematically reviews Chinese TNE policy changes and conceptually analyses six distinctive phases of TNE policy development. It suggests a changing pattern of cautious TNE relationship with western countries to the enthusiastic establishment of TNE institutions and programs across China, followed by tightened TNE review and targeted development of TNE disciplines and models, leading to a guided TNE promotion with the Belt and Road countries in recent years and temporary expansion of TNE recruitments in the current pandemic China. The paper argues that TNE policy changes always keep pace with the strategic development of China as evidenced in the current focus of a dual-way TNE of ‘draw-in’ and ‘going-out’.

P5.01: Belt & Road Organ Donation Capacity Improvement Cooperation Training Project (BROAOD)

Background: The lack of awareness and knowledge about organ donation (OD) and transplantation (OT) among health professionals is one of the main reasons contributing to donor shortage. Seeing the need to improve the donation activities in China and Belt and Road countries, China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation and Donation (COTDF) and Transplantation Institute (DTI) Foundation jointly initiated the Belt and Road Organ Donation Capacity Improvement Cooperation Training Project to provide intensive training in OD and OT to health professionals from these regions. Methods: The program used an interactive and dynamic online modality consisting of round table discussion, presentation of clinical cases, gaming, and workgroup interaction. The bilingual training (Chinese and English) adopted the best practices in OT and OD and was delivered by international experts. A questionnaire to evaluate changes in perception, confidence, and capability towards essential components of organ donation was administered pre-and post-course. Results: Three editions of the 3-day course were conducted in May, August, and December of 2021. A total of 182 participants were trained, of which 23% (n=42) were international participants from the B & R countries. The participants consist of majority intensive care doctors and other health professionals involved in OT and OD such as donor coordinators, emergency physicians, and nephrologists from more than 60 different hospitals. Seventy-four matched pairs of responses from the pre-and post-course survey were available for analysis. Whilst 16% of the participants showed positive change in their perception towards organ donation, majority (77%) expressed that their perception remained unchanged. Increased confidence was observed among the participants in effective donor maintenance (19/74; 26%), communication with coordinator (17/74; 23%), initial family communication (16/74; 22%). There was 24% (18/74) showed decreased confidence in detection of potential donor. Large proportion (55 – 78%) of the participants stated no changes of confidence in these areas. Nearly all the participants showed above average improvement of capability in various processes of organ donation. Conclusion: This program improved the capability of the participants to perform donation activities. Continuous and in-depth training with more simulations is needed to further enhance confidence of the health care professionals especially in donor detection. The course served as a platform for the participants to exchange opinions and differences in practices with international experts. This international cooperation initiative promoted by the COTDF and DTI Foundation is an excellent example of leading international engagement and supporting the global community to reach self-sufficiency in OD and OT.

Using the gravitational mixed models to analyze the impact of China's foreign direct investment along with The Belt and Road countries on trade flows.

Since the “The Belt and Road” initiative was put forward in 2013, China's foreign investment growth rate has been greatly accelerated. In The Belt and Road context, many scholars used models to analyze the relationship between foreign direct investment, trade flows, and import and export trade. From literature reviews, it is found that previous scholars do not conform to reality and cannot be studied dynamically. Therefore, this study used the panel data of China's foreign direct investment and import and export trade in 40 countries along “The Belt and Road” from 2010 to 2019 to focuses on the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on trade flows, import trade and export trade. Regression analysis was carried out with the trade gravity model and Tinbergen's trade gravity model. In addition to model variables and arguments, the following control variables were adopted: exchange rate, natural resource rents, labor force population, differences in consumer ability, trade openness, and trade agreement signing. The results found that: (1) Foreign direct investment has a positive correlation with trade flow and import and export trade. (2) The labor force population has a negative correlation with trade flow, and import and export trade. (3) The expansion of China's economic scale can increase the scale of China's import and export trade, at the same time, the gap in consumption levels between the two countries will restrict the degree of import and export trade. (4) The possession of natural resources can also promote the development of trade.