Universal health coverage and public-private participation: towards a new balance?

This commentary discusses the emergence of a new paradigm to address the health policy issues through Public-Private Participation (PPP).The discussion provides a detailed literature review of PPPs by presenting an initial overview of the ideological shift from state to market intervention,then identifying arguments in support of or against public-private approaches and finally exploring the emergence of this new paradigm of PPP or its hybrid forms.It then discusses the contextual realities of Public-Private Participation in health care,and whether an optimal balance is possible with better government stewardship and private provision.Conceptually,the premise of stewardship in governance is that it is possible to create not only efficient but also effective systems.These ideas may find a receptive audience in many countries,especially in the emerging economies with improving standards.In East Asian societies,the concept of stewardship bears a strong resemblance to Confucian ideals of morality in government,with social expectations of those who govern to be principled and virtuous.Increasingly,a pragmatic theory of development seems to apply in public-private,similarly,through it is expected,that public-private participation in the healthcare system should also achieve the goal of Universal Health Coverage through good governance.

Rising to the Challenge China’s ASEAN economic zones wrestle in the shadow of the China-U.S. clash and COVID-19 pandemic

Since China’s“going global”initiative began in 2002,Chinese enterprises have been ever-more active in expanding their businesses overseas,and establishing overseas economic zones has been one of the most noticeable phenomena among all types of economic cooperation.This trend was bolstered by the Belt and Road Initiative launched in 2013.

GETTING REAL ON AI Artificial intelligence in ASEAN

Artificial intelligence(AI)has been widely acknowledged as a revolutionary force capable of overthrowing existing industrial order and international politico-economic structure.The leader of this sector would naturally dominate the impending order and structure of Industry 4.0,with AI perceived as an essential component.Today,USA and China are two major powerhouses of AI in terms of policy planning,industrial application and research and development,followed by UK,Japan,Canada,Singapore and other countries.ASEAN,a region thrust into the spotlight due to the US-China trade disputes,is also experiencing mounting pressure to seize AI opportunities.

The effect of different agricultural management practices on irrigation efficiency, water use efficiency and green and blue water footprint

This paper explores the effect of varying agricultural management practices on different water efficiency indicators: irrigation efficiency(IE), crop water use efficiency(WUE), and green and blue water footprint(WF). We take winter wheat in an experimental field in Northern China as a case study and consider a dry, average and wet year. We conducted 24 modeling experiments with the Aqua Crop model, for all possible combinations of four irrigation techniques, two irrigation strategies and three mulching methods. Results show that deficit irrigation most effectively improved blue water use, by increasing IE(by 5%) and reducing blue WF(by 38%), however with an average 9% yield reduction. Organic or synthetic mulching practices improved WUE(by 4% and 10%, respectively)and reduced blue WF(by 8% and 17%, respectively), with the same yield level. Drip and subsurface drip irrigation improved IE and WUE, but drip irrigation had a relatively large blue WF. Improvements in one water efficiency indicator may cause a decline in another. In particular,WUE can be improved by more irrigation at the cost of the blue WF. Furthermore, increasing IE, for instance by installing drip irrigation, does not necessarily reduce the blue WF.

The Myth of the ‘Land-Grab’

False reports of large-scale Chinese land acquisition in Africa highlight the flimsy evidence behind recent China-bashing China’s rapid rise has generated mixed feelings the world over,and nowhere do emotions run higher than in the debate over farmland ownership.Population growth,urbanization and higher consumer spending in China are major drivers of growth in the agro-food products industry,

城市宜居性评估研究——基于评价方法和“What-if”模拟分析的探讨

本文立足普通城市居民的视角,从经济活力和竞争力、环保与可持续性、国内安全与稳定、社会文化状况和城市治理五个维度研究和探讨了城市宜居性。通过构建创新性的城市宜居指数和"What-if"假设模拟分析,发现:(1)经济竞争力并不是决定城市宜居性的唯一因素,比较而言,在环保与可持续性、国内安全与稳定、社会文化包容性和城市治理等方面整体发展良好的城市在整体宜居性排名中较高;(2)对于城市的总体宜居性来讲,在经济发展与环境保护、社会发展等方面取得平衡具有很强的必要性;(3)"What-if"假设模拟分析显示,改变城市发展弱项和短板,城市宜居性将可以得到极大改善。

Housing policies in Greater China and Singapore

This paper provides a comparative study of housing policies in the greater China area and Singapore.We trace out the key features of the housing markets in the Chinese mainland,the Hong Kong SAR,the Macao SAR,and Singapore and review policies adopted in these markets.Soaring housing prices may distort capital allocation efficiency as money flows into housing market instead of more productive sectors,which poses threat to longterm sustainability and economic growth.Governments in these four jurisdictions have implemented various macroprudential policies and regulations in an attempt to curb housing demand,however the effectiveness of housing policies varies across markets.The housing prices stabilise in Singapore but continue to rise in Greater China despite the introductions of various tightening policies.The policy effectiveness is contingent on not only the characteristics of the market but also on its design and implementations.