The Evolution and Differentiation of Economic Convergence of Resource-based Cities in Northeast China

A key target of the overall strategy implementation for regional development since the 18th Party Congress of China has involved taking measures to narrow regional disparities. This is because resource-based cities' economic development has fallen below general levels due to resource exhaustion and an unbalanced industrial structure, among other factors. Further, an economic gap has long existed between Northeast China's large number of resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities. This article comprehensively studies the economic convergence of Northeast China's resource-based cities and non-resource-based cities from 1996 to 2015 by using a dynamic panel to analyze not only the economic development of different industries and types of cities, but also the main factors that influence economic development. The empirical results demonstrate that economic convergence exists in both resource-based and non-resource-based cities, but the economic gap between them has clearly narrowed since the implementation of a strategy to revitalize the Northeast's old industrial base. Shrinking cities are the fastest to converge, as mature cities are slower and regenerating cities are the slowest; regarding industry structure, the secondary industry dominates the economy in mature and shrinking cities, and the tertiary industry in regenerating cities. The primary stimulus in resource-based cities' economic development involves upgrading the industrial structure and investing in human capital. As China faces a ‘new normal' economy, resource-based cities in Northeast China should restructure the economy and perfect their market system to avoid again widening the economic gap.

Analysis on Influential Factors of Peasants' Willingness to Exit Homestead in Regions with Different Economy Development Levels——Taihe Village,Chaohu County-Level City,and Ancang Village,Taihu County as Examples

The research concluded peasants＇ willingness on homestead exiting and influential factors by questionnaire survey and interviewing in two villages with varied levels of economic development in Anhui Province.Comparisons were performed on subjective factors and objective factors were explored by Logistic regression.The results showed that both of education background and homestead use have positive correlation with peasants＇ willingness on homestead exit;the number of family members has negative effects on peasants in advanced village but the number of migrant workers or members living in cities has positive effects;the area of homestead has positive effects on peasants in underdeveloped village.Therefore,the emphasis should be varied on homestead exit upon village economy and it is necessary to reinforce homestead exit promotion at improving immigrants＇ reception work,social security,employment,and education.

The Impact of English Immersion on Children

This article does some researches on the impact of English Immersion on children. Through the practice and observation of children in the immersion program, we find that English Immersion has the following impacts on children： 1） The English language learning is immersed into the process of thematic activities, Children in the Immersion learn English naturally, joyfully and systematically. They tend to cooperate well. 2） The language immersion is an integrated model in which children feel no cultural barriers. 3） English learning enhances the learning of Pingying, and vice versa. 4） There is little gap between genders. 5） Social and economic difference does not influence their learning. 6） English rhyming, chanting and songs arouse great interest in them. 7） Drama makes children very confident in their performance. They learn to think and settle problems through the performance. English immersion gives children cognitive development and enforces the language they are learning.

The spatio-temporal heterogeneity of county-level economic development and primary drivers across the Loess Plateau,China

Unbalanced economic growth is a ubiquitous phenomenon while investigating the regional development at a large spatial scale.Therefore,it is of great significance to analyze the spatio-temporal pattern of regional economic growth and the drivers to understand and facilitate the economic development of low development areas.Taking a county as a fundamental study unit,we used the county-level per capita GDP data on the Loess Plateau from 2005 to 2017,and geographic variables such as slope,elevation,and population density to analyze the spatio-temporal differences and the driving factors of the county-level economic development in the Loess Plateau by employing both conventional and advanced quantitative methods including Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis(ESDA)and the geographic detector model.Our results suggested that:(1)The selected indicators,including absolute difference,the fluctuation of relative difference and total difference of economic development on the Loess Plateau,all show steady increasing trends,respectively.(2)There are 64.5%of the counties with economic development being below the average level of the whole Loss Plateau region.The relatively high developed counties are distributed in the"A"-shaped regions in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,Shaanxi,and Henan provinces,however,the low development counties are mainly located in the"V"-shaped regions in Gansu and Shanxi provinces.(3)GDP,investment in fixed assets and urbanization rate are the major driving factors influencing the regional economic development,and the combined effects are far greater than that of any individual factor.

Comparison and Measurement of Economic Growth in Coastal Areas and Inland Provinces of China

This study aims to measure the regional difference in economic growth and the driving effect of export of coastal areas for inland provinces in China from the perspective of labor division.Embedded input and output data are adopted on the basis of the input-output theory for economic growth and trade accounting.Since China’s accession to WTO,vertical specialization across areas has been improved in general,but the areas differ widely in their participation in labor division in the global value chain(GVC)and national value chain(NVC).Different areas in China mainly rely on local production for economic growth,but engagement in GVC and NVC labor division is the major driver for the country’s rapid economic growth.Under the external impact,local economic growth has relied less on the outside,but more on local production since 2008.The driving effect of export of coastal areas for inland provinces is mainly reflected in agriculture,indicating that inland provinces and cities indirectly participate in international division of labor mainly by providing raw materials for production for eastern areas.This study,based on GVC and NVC integration and interaction,conducts in-depth research on the driving effect of export of coastal areas for the economic development of inland provinces,and offers a new perspective for studying the regional difference in economic growth in China.