China’s wood furniture manufacturing industry: industrial cluster and export competitiveness

China is the largest furniture exporter in the world. Its wood furniture industry has become an important part of the country’s forestry economic development. Hence, investigating China’s furniture industry cluster and export competitiveness is favorable for the sustainable development of China’s forestry industry. This study indicates that, under the guidance of the export-oriented strategy of China’s reform and opening up for 30 years, the country’s furniture industry has formed three big industry areas, namely, the Eastern Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Bohai Rim Region. As the strategy shifts from export orientation to a focus on domestic demand, the Midwest area will take over China’s industrial transfer. At present, China’s furniture products have an important position in the world market. In 2010, furniture exports accounted for 27% of the world’s total exports, with wood furniture accounting for $10.6 billion worth of exports, or 58% of China’s total exports of furniture. Among the main export markets, the United States accounted for 39% of China’s total exports. In terms of international furniture trade, an important mutual influence exists between China and the United States. China’s office furniture and kitchen furniture have price advantages, whereas the bedroom furniture lacks price advantages. The production and export of mahogany furniture face the pressure of raw material shortage because of the protection of tropical forest resources. Hence, this challenge puts China’s furniture industry in future competition from emerging countries such as Malaysia

Classification, Production, and Carbon Stock of Harvested Wood Products in China from 1961 to 2012

China boasts a large production, import, and export volume of harvested wood products (HWP). The production, trade volume, and carbon stock of HWP can be used as valuable reference data for the economic growth and the participation of China in climatic negotiation. This research counts the production of major Chinese HWP between 1961 and 2012 according to the HWP classification standards of the Food and Agricultural Organization. The total forestry production value of China reached RMB 3,950 billion in 2012. The total forestry production value and the HWP production of China have been rising steadily. By applying the carbon accounting model of HWP under the stock change approach, this research estimates and analyzes the carbon stock of Chinese HWP from 1961 to 2012. The development of Chinese HWP inventories within this period can be roughly divided into three phases, which show a general uptrend. In 2012, the total carbon stock of Chinese HWP reached 888.01 million tons, whereas the annual increment of Chinese HWP reached 50.78 million tons. Therefore, HWP significantly contributes to the positive growth of Chinese carbon stock

The Importance of Jiangsu's Economy in the Formation of Regional Pattern of the Emerging Chinese Market

A Supplement of the Accounting and Business Revie

Submesoscale inverse energy cascade enhances Southern Ocean eddy heat transport

Abstract Oceanic eddy-induced meridional heat transport (EHT) is an important process in the Southern Ocean heat budget, the variability of which significantly modulates global meridional overturning circulation (MOC) and Antarctic sea-ice extent. Although it is recognized that mesoscale eddies with scales of ~40–300 km greatly contribute to the EHT, the role of submesoscale eddies with scales of ~1–40 km remains unclear. Here, using two state-of-the-art high-resolution simulations (resolutions of 1/48° and 1/24°), we find that submesoscale eddies significantly enhance the total poleward EHT in the Southern Ocean with an enhancement percentage reaching 19–48% in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current band. By comparing the eddy energy budgets between the two simulations, we detect that the primary role of submesoscale eddies is to strengthen mesoscale eddies (and thus their heat transport capability) through inverse energy cascade rather than directly through submesoscale heat fluxes. Due to the submesoscale-mediated enhancement of mesoscale eddies in the 1/48° simulation, the clockwise upper cell and anti-clockwise lower cell of the residual-mean MOC in the Southern Ocean are weakened and strengthened, respectively. This finding identifies a potential route to improve the mesoscale parameterization in climate models for more accurate simulations of the MOC and sea ice variability in the Southern Ocean