HAS THE PEARL RIVER DELTA BEEN AN EXPORT-ORIENTED ECONOMY?

Ever since the introduction of the Open Door Policy, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) has enjoyed very phenomenal export and economic growth. As a result, many scholars have tried to associate the two phenomena and described the region as an,'export-oriented economy'.However, these studies, mostly based on the rapid export growth of the PRD and its status as the most important exporting area of the country,have not paid any heed to the actual export-orientation of the regional economy and, hence, cannot prove that the PRD has been a 'truly'export-oriented economy. in view of these shortcomings. the present paper attempts to re-examine the issue from the viewpoint of the PRD's local economy, at both the regional and county levels. The study period is from 1981 to 1990. Judging from the export-dependency indices and the relative importance of exports in accounting for the economic growth and industrialization of the PRD, this paper concludes that the region, though having signs of increasing export-orientation, cannot be categorized as a 'truly' export-oriented economy. In addition, it also shows that most of the 'evidences' or 'common beliefs' behind the notion of an export-oriented economy in the RD are illusionary, if not erroneous. Finally, the paper explores into the reasons behind the low export-orientation of the PRD and tries to sugyst some ways for boosting the export-orientation of the PRD and tries to suggest some ways for boosting the export-orientation of the region.

Impetus for Export-Oriented Economy——Review of foreign capital utilization in Hunan during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period

Since its implementation of the openingpolicy,China has witnessed greatsuccess in foreign fund utilization.Hunan,situated in the hinterland,beganto introduce foreign capital a little later thanthe coastal areas.In 1979,Hunan began toconduct processing and assembling businessand compensation trade,but gained only afew million US dollars.A vast change wastook place in the Eighth Five-Year Planperiod,achieving a great quantitative andqualitative rise in foreign capital utilizationas compared with the sixth and seventh Five-Year Plan periods.In the past five years,Hunan has approved 4,001 foreign-fundedprojects,a 5,5-fold increase over the total forthe previous 12 years(1979-1990),including3,584 projects directly financed by

Export-Oriented Economy in Shenzhen

In the past 15 years Shenzhen has made great achievements in its export-oriented economy. According to customs’ statistics, the city’s export value stood at US $ 14.3 billion in 1993 and US $ 12.1 billion in the first three quarters of 1994. The total import and export value was US $ 23.8 billion in the first three quarters of 1994, a 1, 500-fold increase over 1979 and an average annual growth rate of 70%. Export trade held a small part in Shenzhen’s economy

Zhangjiagang's Strategies for the Export-oriented Economy

Following its fast development over the past dozen years, especially the past three years, Zhangjiagang, a coastal city in Jiangsu Province has established conditions for the further advance of its export-oriented economy. An official of the city announced to the press in Beijing recently that with the aim of building Zhangjiagang into a modern port city by the end of the century, the following three strategies have been adopted:

The coordinated evolution of ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt,using the Dual-Carbon Targets

Carbon peak and carbon neutrality(dual-carbon)are important targets for the international response to climate change.The Silk Road Economic Belt is a strategic resource region and is important for future ecological environment and tourism development.Based on the“dual-carbon”targets,the Single index quantification,Multiple index synthesis,and Poly-criteria integration evaluation model were used in this study to measure the coordinated development index of the ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt and to analyze its spatial and temporal evolution.Further,it explores the dynamic evolution and development trend of the three systems using the Kernel Density and Grey Markov Prediction Model.The results show that the coordinated development index along this region needs to be improved during the study period.Furthermore,the coordinated development index of the Southwest region is relatively higher than that of the Northwest region.From the development trend of the three systems,all of them develop in a stable manner;however,the tourism economy system is easily affected by external disturbances.The coordinated development index of the three systems changes dynamically and tends to be in a good state of coordination.There is a certain spatial and temporal heterogeneity.The gravity center of the coordinated development index has been in the Southwest region.During the forecast period,the coordinated development index along this region will improve significantly,while insufficient and unbalanced development will continue.

Research on the Digital Economy's Impact on China's Economic Growth:Based on the Variations in Urbanization Levels Across China's Eastern,Central,and Western Regions and Sectoral Heterogeneity

This paper uses inter-provincial panel data from 2011 to 2017,a linear regression model,and a threshold model to conduct empirical analyses of the impact of the digital economy on China's overall economic growth and the three main sectors of industry.The paper then investigates the impact and effects the digital economy has had on the economic growth of the three main sectors of industry in China's eastern,central,and western regions.Finally,the paper investigates the most significant differences among the various regions and the threshold effects of urbanization levels on the relationship between the digital economy and economic growth.The findings indicate a significantly positive correlation between the digital economy and regional economic growth.Moreover,geographical factors notably influence this correlation.The digital economy exerts a positive effect on all sectors of industry.It may not substantially impact industrial development in regions with highly developed infrastructure.Regarding the other regions,the digital economy exhibits varying degrees of impact due to the differences in the specific indicators.The conclusion drawn by the threshold model is that the magnitude of the threshold effect correlates with geographic factors.No threshold effect was observed in the eastern region,while the threshold effect occurred in the central region when the urbanization levels for the provinces were below 0.6645.Similarly,the threshold effect was noted in the western region when the urbanization level was below 0.3931.Considering all of this,the study also offers policy recommendations that will help balance the regional development of digital economies,accelerate the digital transformation of traditional industries,enhance digital infrastructure construction,refine the formulation and implementation of data policy,and establish relevant incentive mechanisms.

Research Progress of High-Quality and Equilibrium Economic Development of Ethnic Regions in the Context of Digital Economy

A new generation of information technology is driving the growth of digital economy across the world.In recent years,China has attached great importance to the development of digital economy and digital technology.With the support of a series of policies,the digital industry has been able to develop at an astounding rate,and at the same time the integration of other industries with digital technology has been strengthened.The profound changes in production factors,production methods,and production approaches have promoted high-quality regional economic development.Literature statistics have shown an increasing trend in digital economy research in recent years.In this paper,literature on digital economy development,digital economy and high-quality economic development,the current situation of economic development in ethnic regions,and digital economy and economic development in ethnic regions is recapitulated in an attempt to learn from existing studies.

Regional economic assessment of a novel place-based model for sustainable food systems

Several actions from both the environmental and human viewpoints have already been made to meet the sustainability goals targeted at food systems.Still,new place-based ideas to improve sustainability are needed.Agroecological symbiosis(AES),a novel food system model,is an example of a suggested system-level change to attain sustainability targets;it is a symbiosis of food production and processing using renewable energy that uses its own feedstock.AES has already been found advantageous from the ecological and biophysical viewpoints,but a regional economic evaluation of the model is still lacking.Thus,the aim of our paper is to assess the regional economic impact of a possible systemic change in the food system using the network of agroecological symbiosis(NAES)as an example.We applied scenarios representing different ways of moving towards envisioned NAES models in Mäntsälä,Finland,and a computable general equilibrium model to evaluate the regional economic impact.According to our results,both regional economy and employment would increase,and the regional production base would diversify with NAES implementation applied to the region,but the extent of the benefits varies between scenarios.The scenario that includes change in both public and private food demand,production of bioenergy and utilization of by-products would cause the largest impacts.However,realizing NAES requires investments that may influence the actual implementation of such models.Nonetheless,a change towards NAES can promote an economically and spatially just transition to sustainability,as NAES seems to be economically most beneficial for rural areas.

Data-Empowered High-Quality Economic Development: Mechanisms and Pathways

To achieve high-quality economic development,it is imperative to prioritize the real economy and foster new factors for economic growth.Data,as a new factor of production,plays a pivotal role in facilitating the seamless integration between digital technology and the real economy.It possesses inherent attributes and techno-economic characteristics that enable the extraction of value across various processes,including production,transaction,consumption,and regulatory supervision.The integration with digital technology enhances the productivity and efficiency of the real economy by facilitating service sector digitalization,accelerating the growth of the new real economy,and supporting the virtual economy in its role of serving the real economy.At present,unleashing the value of data is hindered by inadequate fundamental systems for the data,a lack of activity in the transaction market,and the underutilization of the data as a factor of production by enterprises in the real economy.Therefore,it is advised that data be fully utilized to develop the real economy through the four-pronged approach of“enhancing support for the high-quality provision of the data,expediting the integration of the data into the real economy,promoting the high-quality development of the real economy,and enhancing public service and governance systems”.

SAMR releases Sharing Economy Standardization Development Report 2023

The sharing economy prospers in China due to people’s awareness of resource conservation, and it is often conducted on online platforms.Recently, the Development Research Center of SAMR released the Sharing Economy Standardization Development Repor t 2023.

The Subscription Economy and Its Contribution to the Global Economy

The subscription economy has become a dominant influence in the current business environment,fundamentally transforming the manner in which organizations interact with customers and create income.This article examines the substantial influence of the subscription economy on the worldwide economy,evaluating its effects on different industries and marketplaces.The research examines relevant literature and case studies to identify the main factors,difficulties,and possibilities related to the subscription economy.Moreover,its objective is to examine the consequences for firms,customers,and economic expansion,elucidating the possibility of continuous value generation and innovation.

Analysis and Prospects of the World Economic Situation 2023-2024

At present,the growth momentum of the world economy is clearly insufficient,and faced with many unstable,uncertain and unpredictable factors,the world economy is generally on a downward path.From the perspective of trend changes,the world economy will still be in the process of reshaping its growth momentum in 2024,with positive factors accumulating but downward pressure remaining.

Innovation Analysis of Rural Agricultural Economic Management Model in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative

[Objectives]To explore innovative strategies for rural agricultural economic development in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.[Methods]This research adopts the method of literature review and field research,systematically combs the research results related to the Belt and Road Initiative and rural agricultural economic management,and deeply understands the actual situation of rural agricultural economic management.[Results]The research shows that in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative,the rural agricultural economy is facing new development opportunities and challenges,but there are also some problems.In the new period,we should accelerate the innovative development of rural agricultural economy by promoting market-oriented reform,strengthening scientific and technological innovation,optimizing the industrial structure,deepening international cooperation and other measures.The Belt and Road Initiative provides an important opportunity for the innovation of rural agricultural economic management.Rural agricultural economic management should be actively integrated into the Belt and Road construction to improve the level of rural agricultural economic management.[Conclusions]This study provides useful exploration and reference for the innovation of rural agricultural economic management models,which helps to promote the healthy development of rural agricultural economy and achieve the goal of rural revitalization.

The Impact of the Digital Economy on Financial Regulatory Costs: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Solow Growth Model

As a novel economic form,the digital economy is reshaping the financial regulatory landscape and significantly impacting regulatory costs.This paper incorporates the digital economy and financial regulatory costs into the classic Solow growth model,uncovering an inverted U-shaped relationship between them.A subsequent mechanism analysis explains the rationale behind this relationship.To empirically examine this relationship in China,the paper utilizes inter-provincial panel data from 2013 to 2021 and employs methodologies such as the two-way fixed effects and moderating effects models.These analyses have important implications for the sound and sustainable development of China’s financial industry.The findings indicate:(a)As China’s digital economy develops,its impact on financial regulatory costs follows an inverted U-shaped pattern,initially increasing and then declining.This conclusion remains valid after robustness tests.(b)The influence of the digital economy on regulatory costs depends on favorable external conditions.Specifically,the impact is more pronounced in regions and periods with better digital infrastructure and more abundant human capital.(c)Additionally,redundant resources moderate this impact,which can weaken the inverted U-shaped relationship.Our findings not only provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the impact of the digital economy on financial regulatory costs but also offer valuable policy insights for optimizing financial regulation in China.

China-Romania Economic Relations:Recent Developments and Prospects

The world economy is crossing the period of Great Transformations and transition towards a New World Order,dominated by the increasing role of China in the world,given the fast implementation of the technological progress(Digital and Artificial Intelligence Revolutions).This paper analyses the economic relations between China and Romania and estimates the dynamics of the potential GDP in these states by implementing standard econometric tools.The results point to the upward trend in terms of bilateral trade between China-Romania in the post-pandemic era and emphasize the potential of the development in the mid-run.

Spatial Differentiation and Convergence Trend of High-quality Development Level of China’s Tourism Economy

This paper aims to interpret the connotation of high-quality development of tourism economy(HQTE)from the perspective of the new development concepts of innovation,coordination,green,openness and sharing,and then to evaluate the spatial differenti-ation of China’s HQTE based on provincial panel data from 2009 to 2018.Specifically,we employ the spatial convergence model to ex-plore the absolute and conditionalβconvergence trends of HQTE in the whole country and the eastern,central and western regions of China.Our empirical results reveal that:1)within the decade,from 2009 to 2018,regions of China with the highest HQTE index is its eastern region followed by the central region and then the western region,but the fastest growing one is the western region of China fol-lowed by the central region and then the eastern region.2)Whether or not the spatial effect is included,there are absolute and condition-alβconvergence in HQTE in the whole country and aforementioned three regions.3)The degree of government attention as well as the level of economic development and location accessibility are the positive driving factors for the convergence of HQTE in the whole country and the three regions.The degree of marketization and human capital have not passed the significance test either in the whole country or in the three regions.The above conclusions could deepen the understanding of the regional imbalance and spatial conver-gence characteristics of HQTE,clarify the primary development objects,and accomplish the goal of China’s HQTE.

Promoting sustainable consumption and circular economy:the intention of Vietnamese youth consumers to purchase products made from recycled plastics

Recycling is viewed as a key component in a circular economy and serves as an ideal solution for promoting sustainability.During the global plastic crisis,plastic recycling practices have been adopted worldwide,leading to the production of various products made from recycled plastics(PRP).Nevertheless,a gap persists between consumption and demand for such products,which is primarily attributed to a lack of comprehension from the consumer perspective.Given the pivotal role consumers play in the adoption of these products,this study explores consumers’intentions to purchase PRP.This is particularly significant in Vietnam,which is an emerging economy aspiring to achieve the objectives of a circular economy and sustainable development.Utilizing an integrated cognitive-emotional framework comprising the Valence Theory and the Norm Activation Model,data from 564 Vietnamese students were gathered and analyzed using structural equation modeling.The results show that awareness of consequences is a major driver of consumer purchase intentions,followed by perceived ease of application and monetary incentives.The results also indicate that health concerns have the strongest effect on purchase intention and in the negative side,meaning that the health-related risk is the primary concern for consumers during the decision-making process.This research holds substantial value for academics and managers,as it aids in the theoretical exploration and the formulation of strategies to improve consumer acceptance of PRP.

A Study of the Impact of the Digital Economy on the Efficiency of Urban Green Economy--Based on the Yangtze River Delta City Cluster

This paper adopts the non-expected output-super-efficiency SBM(Slacks-Based Model)model and principal component analysis to calculate the green economy efficiency and the digital economy level of 27 prefecture-level cities in China’s Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration between 2011 and 2019,respectively,and examines the impact of the digital economy on the green economy efficiency by using benchmark regression and mechanism analysis.The findings show that,first,the digital economy has a significant contribution to the green economic efficiency of cities,and this conclusion still holds after robustness tests such as replacing explanatory and interpreted variables and introducing province-fixed effects.Second,through the mechanism test,it is found that the digital economy can indirectly promote urban green economic efficiency through the positive mechanism effect of promoting industrial structure upgrading.

Coupling coordinated development among digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment:A case study in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle,China

Coordinative development across various systems,particularly the economic,social,cultural,and human resources subsystems,is a key aspect of urban sustainability and has a direct impact on the quality of urbanization.The Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle,comprising Hangzhou City,Huzhou City,Jiaxing City,and Shaoxing City,was the first metropolitan circle approved by the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC)as a demonstration of economic transformation in China.To evaluate the coupling coordination degree of the four cities and analyze the coordinative development in three systems(including digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment),we collected panel data during 2015–2022 from these four cities.The development level of the three systems was evaluated by the standard deviation method and comprehensive development index.The results are as follows:(1)the level of coupling coordinated development of the three systems in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle was relatively low;(2)the coupling coordination degree of the four cities in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle showed significant regional differences,among which Hangzhou City was in the leading position,and Huzhou,Jiaxing,and Shaoxing cities made steady but slow progress in the coupling development of the three systems;and(3)the development of digital economy and talent employment needs to be strengthened.This study contributes to the coordinative development of Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle by innovatively focusing on the coupling coordination relationship among digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment,which also meets the industrial layout of Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle.In this way,the optimal allocation and sustainable development of digital economy,regional innovation,and talent employment in the Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle can be achieved.

China Continues to Bring Confidence to Global Economy Recovery

Looking forward to 2024,what opportunities and challenges will global development face?In particular,how can the global economy get rid of the“sequelae”of the pandemic?At the 170th“Monthly Talk on the Economy”held recently by the China Center for International Economic Exchange,experts analyzed the world’s economy since the outbreak of COVID-19,and made clear the context of and provided suggestions for global development in 2024.