How did the price and income elasticities of natural gas demand in China evolve from 1999 to 2015? The role of natural gas price reform

As a cleaner,high-efficiency,and low-carbon fuel,natural gas has been an important fuel resource for China.To achieve a substantial increase in natural gas demand,China has sought to reform its natural gas pricing mechanism.Employing a set of unbalanced panel data for China’s 30 provinces covering 1999-2015,this study aims to estimate the evolving price and income elasticities of natural gas demand and explore the effect of natural gas price reform in China.For this purpose,a series of econometric techniques allowing for cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity is utilized.The results suggest that although natural gas demand in China still lacks negative price elasticity,the phenomenon is improving.Moreover,the estimates suggest that natural gas demand in China is indeed becoming increasingly sensitive to income changes.Our estimates also provide strong evidence in favor of the effect of natural gas price reform on the change in price elasticity as the price elasticity decreases in five of the seven regions.In addition,the results indicate large variations in the change in price and income elasticities of natural gas demand across China’s regions.Natural gas demand is becoming more price inelastic in Southwest China and Northwest China,while such demand in North China and East China responds less sensitively to income changes.These findings offer several policy suggestions for the reform of China’s natural gas market at the national and regional levels.

Study on the Influencing Factors of Land Transfer Price in the Context of Rural Land Reform

Agricultural land is the key to large-scale agricultural management,and the transfer price is the key to the success or failure of land transfer. At present,there are many problems in the pricing of rural land transfer in China,such as low price,random pricing,and large price difference,which seriously hinder the development of rural land transfer. Drawing lessons from the research results of domestic and foreign scholars,combined with the actual situation of rural land transfer in China,this paper analyzes the influencing factors of land transfer price in the context of rural land reform. Finally,according to the influence of different factors on the behavior of agricultural land transfer,this paper proposes establishing and perfecting the evaluation system of contracted land,perfecting the evaluation institution of transferred land assets and establishing a unified dynamic monitoring system of land transfer price in the whole country,and then driving the broad masses of farmers to get rich together,which is of great significance to achieving the revitalization of China’s rural areas.

Energy Price Reform in China

Market-based reform of energy prices is the most effective approach to enhancing energy efficiency. The policies of energy conservation and enhancing energy efficiency in the 11th Five-year Plan period （2006-2010） work directly to set up a series of reform measures related to energy pricing by market mechanism. Energy price reform will deeply influence China＇s industrial interest pattern, and its development in the next five years and even 10 or 20 years. This paper analyzes the significance, timing, present status and problems related to energy price reform, and discusses the goal, principle and measures of coal, electricity, oil and gas price reform separately.

A Decision Support System for Economic Development and Price Reform

In this paper, we present a real decision support system applied to China's macroeconomic management. The structure, design and functions of the system are discussed, and the problems occurring in designing and making the system are also studied. A case study for China's petroleum price reform is given at the end of the paper.

Goal and Progress of Power Tariff Reform——An interview with Liu Zhenqiu,Vice Director ofDepartment of Price,NDRC

● Power tariffreform has made many important and substantialprogresses in respect ofmarketization● The benchmark tariff is a revolutionary progress made in China's power tariff reform● Coal-electricity price linkage is a transitional approach which needs further improvement● The principle of T&D pricing is "cost plus profit," but it can also be based on pro rata control● China's electricity market should choose the mode of bilateral contracting combined withcentralized market● The direction of the power tariff reform is that electricity price shall be controlled mainly by the re-lationship between supply and demand in the

The impacts of market reform on the market penetration of natural gas-fired electricity and renewable energy in China

Natural gas-fired electricity(NGFE) is expected to play a more important role in the future due to its characteristics of low pollution, high efficiency and flexibility. However, its development in China is impeded by its high regulation price compared with coal power. Market reform is therefore of vital importance to promote the penetration of NGFE. The objective of this study is to analyze the impacts of market reform and the renewable electricity(RE) subsidy policy on the promotion of NGFE and RE. A dynamic game-theoretic model is developed to analyze the interaction among the NG supplier, the power sector and the power grid. Three scenarios are proposed with different policies, including a fixed regulation price of NG and electricity, real-time pricing(RTP) of NG and electricity, and subsidy targeted at RE. The results show that:(1) market reform can sharply decrease the NG price and consequently promote the development of NGFE and RE;(2) subsidy targeted at RE not only promotes the penetration of NGFE and RE, but also increases the utilization ratio of renewables significantly;(3) market reform and the subsidy also enhance consumers’ welfare by reducing their power consumption expenditure.

Effect improvement of drug pricing reform based on multi-channel coordination

To improve the effect of the drug pricing reform,a business model of pharmaceutical e-commerce is introduced into the pharmaceutical supply chain.First,based on the measures of the drug pricing reform,a dual-channel model is established,consisting of a drugstore and a hospital.The analysis of the model indicates that the reform leads to higher costs for patients.Then,an e-pharmacy is added to the dual-channel supply chain.Meanwhile,to reduce the home-delivery cost of the e-pharmacy,a multi-channel coordination strategy called“order online,delivery by drugstore”is proposed.By comparing the optimal values under the two models with and without coordination strategy,respectively,the results show that the profits of the e-pharmacy and the drugstore increase while the retail prices of drugs drop,and a large number of patients are diverted from the hospital.Therefore,the business model of pharmaceutical e-commerce with multi-channel coordination can greatly improve the effect of the drug pricing reform.

On-Grid Tariff in China——History, Current Situation, and Proposed Reform

This article introduces the history of the reform of on-grid tariff in China, the current status of and currently adopted mechanisms related to on-grid tariffs of coal-fired and renewable energy power generation facilities. The article further discusses the proposed and on-going reform and restructure in the electricity price sector, and the trial reforms in regional electricity markets.

Oil Crisis, Market Reforms, and Human Welfare： An Econometric Analysis of the Australian Economy

As an active trader in international crude oil and petroleum product markets, Australia＇s human welfare is affected by oil crisis and contagion from the perspectives of economic growth, income inequality, and environmental sustainability. This paper investigates the impacts of oil price shocks upon Australia＇s gross domestic product （GDP） growth, Gini coefficients, and carbon dioxide emissions per capita from 1970 to 2012 with yearly frequency. Hypotheses concerning whether Australia＇s economic immunity against oil crisis is affected after the deregulation of oil market and whether endogenous oil price shocks account for more variations in human welfare than exogenous oil price shocks are tested. The methodologies include a theoretic model and a series of econometric tests. For the short-run dynamics, oil price is integrated into the model both linearly and non-linearly. Oil price shocks are categorized into exogenous and endogenous shocks. The conclusions are that inflated oil prices exert mainly non-linear negative impacts upon human welfare indicators and exogenous shocks induce endogenous shocks through labor price, Consumer Price Index （CPI）, interest rate, and exchange rate. For the long-run equilibrium, non-linear shocks＇ effects decay more slowly than linear shocks and the impacts of endogenous shocks last longer than that of exogenous shocks. Finally, oil market policies are evaluated and proposed.

Reforms in the Chinese Electric Power Sector

This paper summarizes the reforms happened in the Chinese electric power sector in recent years.Although some major measures for the electricity reforms have made progress in a phase sense,including direct trading between major electricity producers and consumers,energy-saving power dispatch and the increase of electricity prices,the deployment of these reforms into practice is facing more difficulties than expected.The author also gives an outlook for the electric power reform in the 12th Five-Year Plan period,and deems that the government may not take substantial steps to reform the electricity system.Reforms on the electricity system will continue in a more moderate manner and focus on electricity prices.

Comment on Price Regulation of Railway

Basing on the economic analysis of railway＇s natural monopoly, we begin from the foreign models to analyze the experiences of America and England. We give some advice on price regulation of China railway industry from fixing price method, supervised objects, patterns and institution.

2023年中国成品油行业运行特点与近期展望

2023年,中国炼油产能再创新高,炼厂开工率回升,成品油产量大幅增长;成品油消费恢复至疫情前水平,不同品种恢复节奏存在差异,航空煤油消费明显恢复;成品油消费结构变化明显,供需差量扩大;在国际原油价格高位宽幅震荡背景下,成品油批发价格小幅增长;成品油商业库存“汽跌柴涨”,油库建设需求旺盛;成品油进口大幅下降,俄罗斯成为中国成品油进口主要来源国,成品油出口量继续增加,主要出口至新加坡;多项市场专项整治方案出台,规范成品油市场运行,推动行业高质量发展。2024年,中国成品油市场监管仍将持续完善,炼油行业将继续扩能,成品油产量将继续增长,成品油消费将回归低速增长通道,国际原油价格将宽幅震荡加剧成品油市场价格波动风险。

关于水价、水权、水资源税费改革协同发力的思考

运用系统思维,深化水价形成机制、水权及水资源税改革,促进协同发力,是当前和今后一个时期深化水利改革的重点任务。文章在总结改革进展、分析新形势新要求的基础上,对水价、水权、水资源税费的基本属性、改革目的、重点内容进行理论解析,分析了三者间的耦合关系,提出了水价、水权、水资源税费改革协同发力的总体考虑和相关建议。

“价补分离”改革对中国玉米生产的影响效应与作用机制

基于2009—2020年玉米主产省市域层面数据,采用DID模型和中介效应模型,探究“价补分离”改革对中国玉米生产的影响效应与作用机制。研究表明:价补分离政策显著减少了玉米播种面积,提高了玉米单位面积产量,并降低了玉米总产量;价补分离政策对玉米生产的影响具有时效性,这一影响随时间推移而减弱;价补分离政策通过增加竞争作物种植比例来减少玉米播种面积,同时促进了粮食作物种植结构优化;价补分离政策通过增加农业机械化水平促进了玉米单产;玉米播种面积的负向效应大于玉米单产的正向效应,价补分离政策通过减少玉米播种面积,最终使玉米总产量降低。

电力市场化改革与全国统一碳市场建设关联协调发展的研究探索——基于交叉补贴和价格传导的双重视角

“电—碳”市场协同发展在推动能源清洁发展、应对气候治理方面具有重要作用,然而当前我国电力市场和碳市场运行相对独立,二者发展协调性亟待提高。鉴于此,基于交叉补贴和价格传导的双重视角,对电力市场中不同类型用户间的电价交叉补贴、电碳市场关联的价格传导效应以及碳市场的价格设计进行细致探讨具有重要理论意义,并且通过探讨设计电碳市场关联协调发展机制如何推动实现碳达峰、碳中和目标具有重要现实意义。具体来讲,电力市场化改革与全国统一碳市场建设关联协调发展可以从三个方面进行研究:第一,基于交叉补贴视角,明晰交叉补贴如何引致能源效率损失并降低社会福利;第二,围绕电力市场化改革和“双碳”目标,探讨电力市场价格扭曲导致的无谓损失如何影响碳排放,进而通过电力价格机制优化实现碳约束目标;第三,聚焦价格传导,在评估电力市场效率基础上考察电碳关联条件下碳价对电价的传导率,对不同场景下碳市场的碳价进行优化设计。深入探讨上述三方面问题将对驱动电力市场和碳市场协同发展,统筹推进碳达峰、碳中和具有重要的理论和现实意义。

农业水价综合改革的探索实践与方向重点

推进农业水价综合改革是贯彻落实习近平总书记关于治水重要论述精神的重要举措。从促进水资源节约集约利用、保障灌区良性运行和高质量发展、吸引社会资本投入现代化灌区建设等方面,分析了深入推进农业水价综合改革的重大意义。近年,各地积极推进农业水价综合改革,取得良好进展。按照南方丰水地区、北方缺水地区、粮食作物产区、经济作物产区等不同地区类型,系统总结各地在农业水价综合改革实践中创新管护机制、科学用水管水、价权奖补并举、水价驱动吸引多方参与等亮点做法和典型模式。以建立健全不同作物、水源、灌区类型的精准政策供给体系为重点,研究提出进一步深化农业水价综合改革的方向和重点任务,包括“先建机制、后建工程”,分区分类实施水价政策,完善动态化节水奖补机制,创新投融资模式,加强规范引导,深化灌区管理体制改革,大力推进数字孪生灌区建设等。

社会资本参与农业水价综合改革的理论与实践研究

社会资本是水利基础设施建设重要的资金筹措渠道。建立社会资本参与农业水价综合改革机制,鼓励和引导社会资本参与到农田水利基础设施的投资建设、运营管理和维修养护等方面,能够扩大农田水利设施建设有效投资、提高农田水利基础设施和相关公共服务的供给能力,发挥“两手发力”的要素资源配置优势、提升水资源管理能力、优化水资源配置格局,促进农业用水方式由粗放向节约集约转变,提高水资源整体承载能力。文章从理论层面研究提出了社会资本参与农业水价综合改革的总体思路,梳理了社会资本参与农业水价综合改革的方式与内容;并以陆良县恨虎坝项目区为例,从实践层面总结归纳社会资本参与恨虎坝项目区农业水价综合改革的做法及成效,以期为相关地区推进农业水价综合改革提供参考。

有效市场、有为政府与深化能源体制革命

能源体制革命是能源安全新战略的组成部分。本文从市场建设、价格改革、管理优化、法治完善等方面,梳理了2014年“四个革命、一个合作”能源安全新战略,此战略提出后我国深入推进能源体制改革,本文分析了新形势下深化能源体制改革面临的新要求,对进一步深化能源体制改革进行了探论和建议。

深圳市公立中医医院医疗服务价格改革历程与思考

通过梳理深圳市公立中医医院医疗服务价格改革历程,分析优势与难点,提出动态调整中医药服务价格,定价应体现中医劳务价值和技术价值,完善医疗服务价格目录,建立中医医疗技术评定指标体系等建议,以助推中医药综合改革,优化深圳中医医疗服务价格改革模式。