Basic Characteristics,Spatial Disparity and Its Major Influencing Factors of Service Industry in China

Based on the analysis of its basic characteristics, this article investigated the disparities of Chinese service industry among the three regions （the eastern China, the western China and the middle China） and inter-provincial disparities of that in the three regions by Theil coefficient and cluster analysis. Then, major factors influencing its spatial disparity were explored by correlation analysis and regression analysis. The conclusions could be drawn as follows. 1） The development of Chinese service industry experienced three phases since the 1980s： rapid growth period, slow growth period, and recovery period. From the proportion of value-added and employment, its development was obviously on the low level. From the composition of industrial structure, traditional service sectors were dominant, but modem service sectors were lagged. Moreover, its spatial disparity was distinct. 2） The level of Chinese service industry was divided into five basic regional ranks： well-developed, developed, relatively-developed, underdeveloped and undeveloped regions, As a whole, the overall structure of spatial disparity was steady in 1990-2005. But there was notable gradient disparity in the interior structure of service industry among different provinces. Furthermore, the overall disparity expanded rapidly in 1990-2005. The inter-provincial disparity of service industry in the three regions, especially in the eastern China, was bigger than the disparity among the three regions. And 3） the level of economic development, the level of urban development, the scale of market capacity, the level of transportation and telecommunication, and the abundance of human resources were major factors influencing the development of Chinese service industry.

Spatial Disparity of Slope Farmland and Food Security in Three Gorges Area

As an important measure of eco-environmental construction, the process ofde-farming in slope farmland is being undertakengradually in the whole China. Meanwhile, theproblem of reducing in food yield in de-farming areas can not be neglected any more. It is especially the case in areas with concentrated slope farmland andinconvenient transportation. In this paper, we analyze the causes of hidden troubles in food security, and the spatial relationship between farmland and slopefarmland in the reservoir area of Three Gorges, and unveil the spatial disparity of contradictions between food supply and demand. Finally, combining the accessibility of areas, three different spatial types offood security, food security area, food alert area, and food crisis area, are divided.

Assessing the Spatial Equality of COVID Testing Sites Maintaining Zero COVID Policy

Rapid and timely testing is essential to minimize the COVID-19 spread. Decision makers and policy planners need to determine the equal distribution and accessibility of testing sites. This study mainly examines the spatial equality of COVID-19 testing sites that maintain a zero COVID policy in Guangzhou City. The study has identified the spatial disparities of COVID testing sites, characteristics of testing locations, and accessibility. The study has obtained information on COVID testing sites in Guangzhou City and population data. Point pattern analyses, Euclidian distance and allocation, and network analyses are the main methods used to achieve the research objectives, and 1183 total COVID testing sites can be recognized in Guangzhou City. Results revealed that spatial disparities could be noticed over the study area. Testing locations of Guangzhou City are highly clustered. The most significant testing sites are located in Haizhu District, which has the third largest population. The highest population density can be identified in Yuexiu District. However, only 94 testing sites are located there. According to all the results, higher disparities can be identified, and a lack of testing sites is located in the north part of the study area. Some people in the northern part have to travel more than 10 km to reach a testing site. Finally, this paper suggests increasing the number of testing sites in the north and south parts of the study area and keeping the same distribution, considering the area, total population, and population density. This kind of research will be helpful to decision-makers in making proper decisions to maintain a zero COVID policy.

Evolution of the Spatial Distribution of Basic Infrastructures and Services in the Niakhar Area (Fatick), Senegal

Basic infrastructures and services present an important socio-economic and territorial equity issue, because the availability of these makes it possible to improve the living conditions of populations, makes territories attractive and stimulates their development. The objective of our study has been achieved, so our results provided information on the rate of propagation of basic infrastructures and services, as well as the evolution of the forms of spatial distribution of the latter. The data used comes from the census and geolocation of basic infrastructures and services in the Niakhar area, carried out by the IRD in 2018. Centrographic measurements were used to describe the overall spatial distribution and the use of chi-square statistics confirmed the existence of a preferential direction of distribution. To verify the existence of a spatial structure of infrastructure and service seeding, the Ripley statistic is used. Our results can be useful for land use planning and spatial resource allocation policies. Indeed, the identification of different types of spatial aggregates and the highlighting of the preferred directions of the distribution of basic infrastructures and services, make it possible to correct disparities in the spatial distribution of basic resources.

Geographical Accessibility to Basic Infrastructures and Services in Rural Senegal: The Case of the Niakhar Area

Access to basic infrastructure and services is a factor in economic development and an important aspect in combatting social and spatial disparities. But this access is often subject to several constraints, including geographical accessibility. In this article, we aim to analyze the geographical accessibility to basic infrastructure and services in the Niakhar area, using the improved two step floating catchment area method and local spatial association indicators. The results reveal that the areas with high accessibility to health and education infrastructures and services are mainly located along the south-east and north-west gradient, while those with low accessibility are found in the south-west and north-east center. They also show high accessibility to trade services in the center of the study area.

The Increasing Role of Synergistic Effects in Carbon Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement, and Its Associated Health Benefits in China

A synergistic pathway is regarded as a critical measure for tackling the intertwined challenges of climate change and air pollution in China. However, there is as yet no indicator that can comprehensively reflect such synergistic effects;hence, existing studies lack a consistent framework for comparison. Here, we introduce a new synergistic indicator defined as the pollutant generation per gross domestic product (GDP) and adopt an integrated analysis framework by linking the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, response surface model (RSM), and global exposure mortality model (GEMM) to evaluate the synergistic effects of carbon mitigation on both air pollutant reduction and public health in China. The results show that synergistic effects played an increasingly important role in the emissions mitigation of SO_(2), NOx, and primary particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter no greater than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and the synergistic mitigation of pollutants respectively increase from 3.1, 1.4, and 0.3 Mt during the 11th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2006–2010) to 5.6, 3.7, and 1.9 Mt during the 12th FYP (2011–2015). Against the non-control scenario, synergistic effects alone contributed to a 15% reduction in annual mean PM2.5 concentration, resulting in the prevention of 0.29 million (95% confidential interval: 0.28–0.30) PM2.5-attributable excess deaths in 2015. Synergistic benefits to air quality improvement and public health were remarkable in the developed and population-dense eastern provinces and municipalities. With the processes of urbanization and carbon neutrality in the future, synergistic effects are expected to continue to increase. Realizing climate targets in advance in developed regions would concurrently bring strong synergistic effects to air quality and public health.

Crisis, Stimulus Package and Migration in China

This paper analyzes the short-term and long-term effects that the global economic crisis and the investment priorities of the Chinese Government＇s stimulus package had on Chinese migrant flows between 2008 and 2014. Combining micro-level household survey data and macro-level statistics, the authors have found that in the short run, the regional and sectoral impact of the crisis, combined with the government＇s investment priorities, caused a reorientation of migration routes from the export-oriented coastal provinces towards the central and western regions, from inter-provincial migration towards intra-provincial migration, and from manufacturing industry towards the construction sector. However, in the longer run, the decreasing attractiveness of the eastern region and the increasing attractiveness of the western region proved to be transitory, although the pre-crisis relative advantage of the eastern region was not fuUy restored. What proved to be persistent were the attractiveness of the central region and the intra-provincial migration in all three regions, and, in particular, the steady growth of migrants in the construction sector.

Spatio-temporal Dynamic Evolution and the Factors Impacting Eco-efficiency in Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle

In response to the 14th National Five-year Plan of China and to better explore new strategies for promoting regional coordinated green development, the eco-efficiency values of Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle and the corresponding temporal analysis from 2004 to 2018 were assessed in this paper using the super-SBM model and Markov chain. Meanwhile, the spatial analysis of eco-efficiency was conducted by a geographically weighted regression model. Although eco-efficiency has risen at an increasing rate, the economic development of Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle was still ecologically ineffective. This means there is an urgent need to improve the efficiency of resource utilization and promote technological innovation. During the study period, the evolution of the eco-efficiency presented as a “π” shape, and was accompanied by the phenomenon of “club convergence”. There was also a strong tendency for eco-efficiency to maintain the original status quo, which indicates that it lacked sufficient momentum for improvement, so it was difficult to achieve a leapfrog transfer. Spatially, the eco-efficiency was distributed from northwest to southeast in a high-low-high manner. The spatial-temporal differences of eco-efficiency narrowed but the effect of agglomeration was relatively weak and there was a polarization trend. Further investigation suggests that the differences in the development level of urbanization, opening, technology, environmental regulation and advancement of industrial structure led to the spatial differences of eco-efficiency. Each city in the Economic Circle should make every effort to improve eco-efficiency accordingly, and thus to promote the green development of the whole region, so as to lay a foundation for driving the green and coordinated development of the central and western regions.

Are Central and Western Chinese Provinces Catching up with the East？ An Empirical Analysis of Convergence Processes across China

Since the Reform and Opening-up policy had been implemented in 1978, China's Mainland has experienced significant economic growth, with GDP rising on an annual average of about 10%. However, this growth miracle was far from being evenly distributed across space. It is, therefore, the aim of this paper to study the evolution of spatial disparities in economic development across the country between 1993 and 2012, a period which is characterized by all provinces having access to international markets and being open for international investors. We seek to answer the question of whether Central and Western Chinese provinces were catching up with the East. We define ＇catching up＇ as a growing similarity among spatial units. Convergence processes might manifest in four dimensions, including （1） the spatial allocation of employment, value added generation and the fixed capital stock, （2） forms of technical change, （3） productivity patterns, and （4） income distribution. Results show that persistent phases of convergence appeared. However, in some cases the catching up of China＇s less developed parts with the flourishing East was limited to only a few Western and Central Chinese provinces. A high degree of path-dependency in economic development prevented catching up from taking place in a more uniform manner.