A Comparative Study for the Development of Coal-to-Liquids Industries in China, South Africa and United States

Many energy consuming countries have carried out research, development, demonstration, planning and deployment of coal-to-liquids (CTL) because of its ability to replace oil imports by converting coal resources into fuel. Among them, China and South Africa successfully had their CTL technology industrialized, while the United States did not. To understand the differences in the industrial development level, a comparative study is necessary. This paper compares the history, driver and policy of CTL industry in China, South Africa and United States, collates and discloses numbers of industry details for the first time. We figure out that the motivation, top level planning and policy consistency are the key indicators of the difference on the industrial development level. Among them, the key to the success of CTL industrialization in China and South Africa is the government’s strong and stable determination to improve energy security, which provides a stable top-level planning and robust policy support. The failure of CTL in United States is caused by the shift of policy attention after its energy security situation improved.

Comparison of water resources management between China and the United States

As the world’s top two economies,the United States(U.S.)and China face a number of similar water resources problems.Yet,few studies have been done to systematically compare policies and approaches on water resources management between China and the U.S.This study compares water resources policies of China and the U.S.in the areas of national authority,water supply,water quality,and ecosystem use of the water to draw lessons learned and shed light on water resources management in China,the U.S.,and the rest of the world.The lessons learned from the comparison include six aspects.1)New paradigms of people-water harmony and a water-saving society are urgently needed to address the pressing water crisis and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(UN SDGs).2)A comprehensive,consistent,forward-looking national policy is necessary to achieve sustainable use of water resources.3)Empowerment of river basin commissions with comprehensive authority over the integrative management of air,land,water,and biological resources in the river basin could significantly enhance the benefits and effectiveness of economic development and environmental protection.4)Expansion of water exchange through market mechanisms among water users promotes efficient and beneficial water uses.5)Use of water for ecosystem services should be an integral part of water resources management.China has set up a national blueprint for achieving ecological civilization;maintaining appropriate amounts of flow in rivers and lakes for maintenance of wildlife and fisheries and ecosystems should be institutionalized as part of this national strategy as well.6)By sharing their rich experiences and lessons in water resources management,economic development,and ecological protection with other countries,China and the U.S.can help the world to achieve global human-water harmony and the UN SDGs.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dairy industry: Lessons from China and the United States and policy implications

The purposes of this study are to assess the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on the dairy industries in China and the United States and to derive policy recommendations for enhancing the diary industries’resilience to pandemics and other market shocks.Specifically,data from the two nations are used to analyze and compare the mechanisms through which the pandemic has affected their dairy industries and to discuss potential lessons from their experiences.The findings suggest that this pandemic has heavily affected the dairy industries in both China and the United States through similar mechanisms,such as decreased farmgate milk prices,disruption and difficulties of moving milk within the supply chains,worker shortages,increased production costs,and lack of operating capital.There were also significant differences in the affecting mechanisms between the two nations,including transportation difficulties from widespread road closures and significant reduction in holiday sales of dairy products in China,and the shutdown of many dairy processors in the United States due to the closing of schools,restaurants,and hotels.While government financial reliefs are highly needed to help many dairy farms and processors survive this pandemic in the short term,the dairy industries and governments need to work together to develop long-term strategies and policies to balance the industries’efficiency and flexibility,product specialization and diversification,supply chain integration and local food systems,and market mechanisms and policy regulations and interventions.

A Comparison of Shale Gas Fracturing Based on Deep and Shallow Shale Reservoirs in the United States and China

China began to build its national shale gas demonstration area in 2012.The central exploration,drilling,and development technologies for medium and shallow marine shale reservoirs with less than 3,500m of buried depth in Changning-Weiyuan,Zhaotong,and other regions had matured.In this study,we macroscopically investigated the development history of shale gas in the United States and China and compared the physical and mechanical conditions of deep and shallow reservoirs.The comparative results revealed that themain reasons for the order-ofmagnitude difference between China’s annual shale gas output and the United States could be attributed to three aspects:reservoir buried depth,reservoir physical and mechanical properties,and engineering technology level.The current engineering technology level of China could not meet the requirements of increasing production and reducing costs for deep shale gas reservoirs;they had reached the beneficial threshold development stage and lacked the capacity for large-scale commercial production.We identified several physical and mechanical reasons for this threshold development stage.Deep shale reservoirs were affected by the bedding fracture,low brittleness index,low clay mineral content,and significant areal differences,as well as by the transformation from elasticity to plasticity,difficulty in sanding,and high mechanical and strength parameters.Simultaneously,they were accompanied by six high values of formation temperature,horizontal principal stress difference,pore pressure,fracture pressure,extension pressure,and closure pressure.The key to deep shale gas horizontal well fracturing was to improve the complexity of the hydraulic fracture network,formadequate proppant support of fracture surface,and increase the practical stimulated reservoir volume(SRV),which accompanied visual hydraulic discrete network monitoring.On this basis,we proposed several ideas to improve China’s deep shale gas development involving advanced technology systems,developing tools,and supporting technologies in shale gas exploration and development in the United States.These ideas primarily involved stimulation technologies,such as vertically integrated dessert identification and optimization,horizontal well multistage/multicluster fracturing,staged tools development for horizontal wells,fractures network morphology monitoring by microseismic and distributed optical fiber,shale hydration expansion,soak well,and fracturing fluid flow back.China initially developed the critical technology of horizontal well large-scale and high-strength volume fracturing with a core of“staged fracturing with dense cutting+shorter cluster spacing+fracture reorientation by pitching+forced-sand addition+increasing diameter perforating+proppant combination by high strength and small particle size particles”.We concluded that China should continue to conduct critical research on theories and technical methods of horizontal well fracturing,suitable for domestic deep and ultra-deep marine and marine-continental sedimentary shale,to support and promote the efficient development of shale gas in China in the future.It is essential to balance the relationship between the overall utilization degree of the gas reservoir and associated economic benefits and to localize some essential tools and supporting technologies.These findings can contribute to the flourishing developments of China’s deep shale gas.

Challenges of agriculture and food systems issues in China and the United States

China and the United States are the two most significant nations in the contemporary global food and agricultural network.In addition,they are two of the most important innovators with respect to the development of new crop varieties,agro-technologies,farm products,markets and consumer issues,such as consumer resistance to genetically modified foods,among others.In the face of an ever-complex web of interactions,technologies and products among producers and consumers in both nations,there are far more structural similarities than differences in the food and agriculture sectors of these two nations.This essay,adopting some of the themes of the Sino-American Symposium on Future Issues Affecting Quality of Life,presents a limited but representative comparative assessment of three of the most important shared challenges impacting the agricultural sectors of China and the United States for the period from 2000 to the present including 1)environmental challenges related to agricultural water supply,2)declines in farm labor and rural population,and 3)growing food-related concerns and challenges.For both nations,excessive and unsustainable groundwater consumption has lowered water tables and limited crop production.Rural populations and farm workforces in both nations are also declining,leading to labor challenges in both nations.Finally,concerns regarding food safety are also very similar with major challenges to the farm sector associated with consumer resistance to genetically modified food crops and sanitation issues linked to lengthening supply chains.All of these issues threaten the development of sustainable agricultural production systems.

The journey,gain,and thought from engaging in the research of Chinese herbal medicines in China,Japan,and United States

<正>Since early 80s of last century,Chinese herbal medicines focused on the isolation and structural identification of active/chemical compounds have being investigated,started the journey from Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.After one year(1985~1986) advanced study in Prof.Jingxi Xie's laboratory in the

Comparative Analysis of Higher Education Between China and the United States

It is well-known that the United States,a highly developed country whether in high-tech.or higher education,is in a leading position in the world.Based on the comparison and analysis of higher education between China and the U.S.,this article highly affirms the advantages of American higher education,offers an objective comment on China's higher education reform in recent years,and earnestly indicates that China's higher education needs to be improved in order to facilitate greater development.

Do people really support conservation?Evidence from China and the United States

Survey studies have consistently shown strong public support for biodiversity conservation,even though conservation regulations often face strong local resistance when they are implemented.This seemingly contradictory phenomenon is due to the fact that previous polls have sought opinion only in the abstract,yet many conservation measures are implemented at the expense of local economic development,and policymakers often face a‘Conservation-Development Tradeoff’-a policy dilemma that remains understudied by social scientists.To fill this gap,this study conducts one of the first comparative surveys on public support for biodiversity conservation in China and the United States.I measure public support for conservation using two separate question versions online.The‘regular version’asks directly about individual support for biodiversity conservation,and the“tradeoff version”asks the same question but in the context of the policy tradeoff.The results show that both American and Chinese citizens are highly supportive of conservation in the abstract.But after they learn about the tradeoff effect,the aggregate support falls sharply,and the Chinese citizens show significantly less support compared to their American counterparts.The survey findings expanded on existing academic research on public attitudes toward conservation policies and can encourage future conservation policymakers to understand the significance of the tradeoff issue,as conventional wisdom may have overestimated public support for biodiversity conservation.Moreover,as China has become a crucial player in global conservation governance,understanding the Chinese public sentiment on the real-world policy dilemma can have important implications for conservation policymaking in the world.

The Trend of U.S.-China Relations: Is a Conflict Between the United States and China Inevitable?

International relations theory can serve as a guide to understanding national behaviour,especially those that are strained by ideological misunderstandings.Realism basically believes that state behaviour reflects the state’s pursuit of power.Constructivism believes that thought drives behaviour.Therefore,in order to better understand the behaviour between states,this essay suggests that constructivism and realism can interact rather than repel each other,because constructivism can play a complementary role in realism.This combination can promote behavioural understanding between countries without compromising the interests of countries,thereby reducing the possibility of conflict and war.Finally,the ups and downs of Sino-US relations reflect the participation of ideology.In other words,based on this method to analyse the current relationship between China and the United States,it can be predicted that the two countries can basically avoid the war between them.

Secular trends of asthma mortality in China and the United States from 1990 to 2019

Background:Asthma imposes a large healthcare burden in China and the United States(US).However,the trends of asthma mortality and the relative risk factors have not been comparatively analyzed between the countries.The aim of this study was to compare the mortality and risk factors between China and the US.Methods:The deaths,and mortality rates of asthma in China and the US during 1990–2019 were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.The age–period–cohort model was used to estimate these mortality rates based on a log-linear scale with additive age,period,and cohort effects.The population attributable fractions of risk factors for asthma were estimated.Results:In 1990–2019,the asthma mortality rate was higher in China than in the US.The crude and age-standardized asthma mortality rates trended downward in both China and the US from 1990 to 2019.The decline in mortality was more obvious in China.Mortality gap between the two countries was narrowing.A sex difference in asthma mortality was observed with higher mortality in males in China and females in the US.The age effects showed that mortality increased with age in adults older than 20 years,particularly in the elderly.Downward trends were generally observed in the period and cohort rate ratios in both countries,with China experiencing a more obvious decrease.Smoking and high body mass index(BMI)were the leading risk factors for asthma mortality in China and the US,respectively.Mortality attributable to occupational asthmagens and smoking decreased the most in China and the US,respectively.Conclusions:In 1990–2019,the asthma mortality rate was higher in China than in the US;however,the mortality gap has narrowed.Mortality increased with age in adults.The improvements in asthma death risk with period and birth cohort were more obvious in China than in the US.Smoking,high BMI,and aging are major health problems associated with asthma control.The role of occupational asthmagens in asthma mortality underscores the importance of management and prevention of occupational asthma.

The Analysis of NGOs' Organizational Ecosystem in Participating in Climate Change Issues in the United States

How many NGOs were there in the climate change field in the United States？ Who were they？ And what was the relationship between them？ In the United States,climate change was only a branch of environmental issues at the beginning; therefore there were no specific quantitative statistics and network analysis of NGOs in climate change. Diversity was an important feature of NGOs in American climate change fields,and it showed a complex organizational ecology through varieties of networks and interaction among organizations. In order to make a difference in climate field,Chinese NGOs firstly needed to improve and enhance their own abilities.

The Rising,Recession and Revitalization of the Traditional Industrial Base in the Northeastern United States

The distribution of American industries has been unbalanced and most of the early industrial regions were centered in northeastern America.The northeastern traditional industrial base once was called"manufacturing belt".Since the 1950s,old industrial bases in the United States have been under recession.The northeastern region was then even called"rust belt".Some issues and measures of policy were set up by the government to adjust and restructure the old industrial bases,and some are useful experience and inspirations for our country,such as setting up special branches and organizations,establishing and implementing strategic planning for the adjustment and restructure of old industrial bases,adjusting the industrial branch and system,emphasizing on environment control and preservation and so on was achieved.Learning the successful experience from America,effective countermeasures and steps must be taken to accelerate the revival of the old industrial base in Northeastern China.

Comparison and Analysis of Agricultural and Forest Land Changes in Typical Agricultural Regions of Northern Mid-latitudes

The northeastern China, the United States, and the western Europe are important agricultural regions both on the global and regional scales. The western Europe has a longer history of agricultural land development than the eastern United States. These two regions have changed from the deforestation and reclamation phase in the past to the current land abandonment and reforestation phase. Compared with the two regions, large-scale land exploitation has only been practiced in the northeastern China during the last century. After a short high-intensity deforestation and reclamation period, agricultural and forest lands are basically in a dynamic steady state. By comparing domestic and international agro-forestry development and considering the ecological environment and socio-economic benefits that can be derived from agro-forestry, this paper suggests that large area of reforestation would be inevitable in future though persistent and large agricultural demand in coming decades even more. And local reforestation at slope farmland with ecological vulnerability should be imperative at present to avoid severer damage. At the same time, from the perspective of Land Change Science, the results demonstrate that the research on land use change in the agro-forestry ecotone is typical and critical, particularly those dealing with the analysis of spatial and temporal characteristics and the simulation of climate, hydrology, and other environmental effects.

Three Pillars in the Biden Administration’s China Strategy:Allies,Values,and High-Tech

The Biden Administration has inherited its predecessor’s strategic perception about the growing competition among great powers.As a result,its policy toward China has been largely an extension of its predecessor’s,retaining the elements of competition and revising the instruments to outcompete China.The Biden Administration’s China policy has revolved around three pillars-allies,values,and high-tech,which it believes are America’s strengths in its relations with China.Since Biden took office,the United States has spent most of its diplomatic resources consolidating and building smaller security,economic,and tech alliances with membership restricted to democratic allies only,in an attempt to delink from China and consolidate its hegemonic status in the world.This policy carries the pernicious effect of plunging the world into Cold War-like confrontations.

Incidence and survival of neuroendocrine neoplasms in China with comparison to the United States

Background:Neuroendocrine neoplasms(NENs)are rare tumors characterized by variable biology and delayed diagnosis.However,the nationwide epidemiology of NENs has never been reported in China.We aimed to estimate the incidence and survival statistics of NENs in China,in comparison to those in the United States during the same period.Methods:Based on the data from 246 population-based cancer registries covering 272.5 million people of China,we calculated age-specific incidence on NENs in 2017 and multiplied by corresponding national population to estimate the nationwide incidence in China.The data of 22 population-based cancer registries were used to estimate the trends of NENs incidence from 2000 to 2017 through the Joinpoint regression model.We used the cohort approach to analyze the 5-year age-standardized relative survival by sex,age group,and urban-rural area between 2008 and 2013,based on data from 176 high-quality cancer registries.We used data from the Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results(SEER)18 program to estimate the comparable incidence and survival of NENs in the United States.Results:The overall age-standardized rate(ASR)of NENs incidence was lower in China(1.14 per 100,000)than in the United States(6.26 per 100,000).The most common primary sites were lungs,pancreas,stomach,and rectum in China.The ASRs of NENs incidence increased by 9.8%and 3.6%per year in China and the United States,respectively.The overall 5-year relative survival in China(36.2%)was lower than in the United States(63.9%).The 5-year relative survival was higher for female patients than male patients,and was higher in urban areas than in rural areas.Conclusions:The disparities in burden of NENs persist across sex,area,age group,and site in China and the United States.These findings may provide a scientific basis on prevention and control of NENs in the two countries.