Emerging land markets in rural and urban China: Policies and practices

This article examines the evolution of China's land system in the past two decades. Since the early 1980s, China has altered its land use arrangements and introduced new regulations to manage land use changes. In the process the administrative allocation of land to users has been transformed into a complex hierarchical system of primary and secondary markets for land use rights. The changes in China's land system were adopted primarily for two reasons: to develop land markets to allocate land more efficiently and to protect agricultural land. An analysis of available data suggests that the development of land markets is still at an early stage, that the conversion of land to non-agricultural use continues but at a slower pace, and that illegal land use is pervasive. The article concludes with an assessment of the new land system and a discussion of some likely future changes.published_or_final_versio

Transformation of a rural economy in the Zhujiang delta

published_or_final_versio

Tempo-spatial patterns of land use changes and urban development in globalizing China: A study of Beijing

This study examines the temporal and spatial changes in land use as a consequence of rapid urban development in the city of Beijing. Using a combination of techniques of remote sensing and GIS, the study identifies a substantial loss of plain dryland and a phenomenal expansion of urban construction land over the recent decade. Geographically, there is a clear shifting of urban construction land from the inner city to the outskirts as a consequence of suburbanization. The outward expansion of the ring-road system is found to be one of the most important driving forces explaining the temporal and spatial pattern of land use change. The uneven distribution of population stands as another factor with significant correlation with land use change. The application of the techniques of remote sensing and GIS can enhance the precision and comparability of research on land use change and urban transformation in China. © 2007 by MDPI.published_or_final_versio

Providing rural public services through land commodification: Policy innovations and rural-urban integration in Chengdu

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier 2; Tier

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Neurologic Manifestations in Hospitalized Children Diagnosed with Acute SARS-CoV-2 or MIS-C

Background: Our objective was to characterize the frequency, early impact, and risk factors for neurological manifestations in hospitalized children with acute severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). Methods: Multicenter, cross-sectional study of neurological manifestations in children aged <18 years hospitalized with positive SARS-CoV-2 test or clinical diagnosis of a SARS-CoV-2-related condition between January 2020 and April 2021. Multivariable logistic regression to identify risk factors for neurological manifestations was performed. Results: Of 1493 children, 1278 (86%) were diagnosed with acute SARS-CoV-2 and 215 (14%) with MIS-C. Overall, 44% of the cohort (40% acute SARS-CoV-2 and 66% MIS-C) had at least one neurological manifestation. The most common neurological findings in children with acute SARS-CoV-2 and MIS-C diagnosis were headache (16% and 47%) and acute encephalopathy (15% and 22%), both P < 0.05. Children with neurological manifestations were more likely to require intensive care unit (ICU) care (51% vs 22%), P < 0.001. In multivariable logistic regression, children with neurological manifestations were older (odds ratio [OR] 1.1 and 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07 to 1.13) and more likely to have MIS-C versus acute SARS-CoV-2 (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.45 to 3.24), pre-existing neurological and metabolic conditions (OR 3.48, 95% CI 2.37 to 5.15; and OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.04 to 2.66, respectively), and pharyngeal (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.64) or abdominal pain (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.00); all P < 0.05. Conclusions: In this multicenter study, 44% of children hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2-related conditions experienced neurological manifestations, which were associated with ICU admission and pre-existing neurological condition. Posthospital assessment for, and support of, functional impairment and neuroprotective strategies are vitally needed

Interprovincial migration, regional development and state policy in China, 1985-2010

Internal migration in China occurs as a result of both market forces and government interventions. This paper investigates how indicators of migration have changed over the past quarter of a century using data from successive censuses, with particular attention given to the roles of regional economic development and national policy and the effects of age and education on spatial patterns of migration. The results show a surge in migration throughout the period, an increasing concentration of migration destinations and an improvement of migration efficiency prior to 2000, but a decreased focusing of migration during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Widening regional disparity has been responsible for a sharp increase of migration from the interior to the coast, and different national economic growth poles emerged as major migration destinations at different stages of economic reforms. The analyses of age- and education-specific migration flows indicate that young adults were more mobile and more sensitive than older cohorts to interregional economic differentials, and that educated migrants were more concentrated than less-educated migrants since knowledge-based industries were more concentrated than labour-intensive industries. Our findings suggest that massive eastward migration induced by unbalanced economic development and relaxed migration restrictions still persisted in the 2000s, and that the State's recent efforts to alleviate regional inequalities were far from achieving equilibrium in the migration system

China's Industrialization with Controlled Urbanization: Anti-Urbanism or Urban-Biased?

The Chinese experience of urbanization has often been perceived as a "unique case" because of its peculiar pattern of rapid industrialization without a parallel growth of the urban population. This paper assesses major theoretical attempts to understand the dynamics of China's urbanization. Two competing interpretations of the Chinese experience are identified. Early studies of urban China attributed the pattern of stagnant urbanization to the Communist ideology of "anti- urbanism." A recent school of thought contends that the real motive for limiting urban growth was to maintain urban manageability, enhance national security, and minimize urban consumption cost so that capital input in the industrial sector could be maximized. A close examination of China's urban development, however, reveals no single factor capable of explaining the entire and sophisticated picture of urbanization. Urban development in China is a complex outcome of dual-track urbanism which accommodates both rhetoric and pragmatism although the emphasis may shift from time to time. The Chinese case is found particularly illustrative of the mechanism of interplay between the changing political economy and the transformation of space over time.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

State, capital, and space in China in an age of volatile globalization

The interrelationship between state, capital, and space is central both to the debate on globalization and to various interpretations of the changing nature of the Chinese political economy. This study of China's economic performance against the recent Asian financial turmoil suggests that the Chinese central state has played a crucial role in the growth and restructuring of the national economy. The immediate impact of the financial crisis on China has been limited although the long-term effects remain uncertain. China has so far narrowly escaped the crisis primarily because of a state-led capital injection in mid-1998 to stop economic downturn, an austerity program that led the overheated economy to 'soft-land' prior to the crisis, and stringent state control of capital flow into and out of the country. Contrary to the 'end of the nation-state' claim made by many globalization prophets, the Chinese socialist state has remained an active agent interacting with global market forces. The interplay between the socialist state and transnational capital has been a place-specific phenomenon despite the pervasive assertion of 'the end of geography'. A dialectical approach is needed for analyzing the triangular nexus of interaction between the central state, local state, and global market forces in China in the current age of volatile globalization.link_to_subscribed_fulltex