China

In this paper, the effect of proximity to multinational exporters on the creation of new export linkages (the extensive margin of trade) is debated. Using panel data... Show More + from Chinese customs for 1997-2007, the capacity for Chinese domestic firms to begin exporting new varieties to new markets is shown to respond positively to the export activity of neighboring foreign firms. These spillovers are shown to be product and country specific. This conclusion is robust to fixed effects and instrumental variable specifications that control for both supply and demand shocks that could bias the estimations. The impact is sizable. The marginal impact of product-country-specific foreign export spillovers is five times as large as the effect of a 10 percent increase in the demand for the product in the destination country. Foreign export spillovers are also shown to be primarily limited to ordinary trade activities. Overall, our findings suggest that even for a country with an important cost-advantage such as China, there is room for initiatives from policy-makers that will diffuse best practices regarding export experience among exporters. Show Less -

The proposed Jiangxi Wuxikou Integrated Flood Management Project (JWIFMP) in China will be built in the middle reach of the Changjiang River, about 40km upstream of... Show More + Jingdezhen Municipality in Jiangxi Province. In the proposed project components, major environmental and social impacts will be expected from the construction and operation of dam and reservoir, as presented below. Wuxikou reservoir will play a key role in the changes of hydraulic regime for Changjiang River. With the existing cascade development on the river, the impacts on hydraulic regime are only considered significant within the dam and reservoir area, but not for the other downstream sections. The impact of project construction on terrestrial wildlife will be limited to around the dam site. The animals affected are common species in the region, and the impacts are temporary which will disappear with construction completion. The protection of physical cultural resources is another concern during project implementation. The project will flood one county-level cultural relic site (Site of Workers, Peasants and Soldiers’ Congress for Eight Counties in Anhui and Jiangxi province), three ancient ancestral temples of the Ming/Qing Dynasty, one small Christian church, six ancient trees and 4623 villagers’ graves, but none of them is identified as having high cultural heritage values. The expected impacts are considered insignificant with the implementation of pre-defined PCR management plan. To address the above proposed project impacts, the Environmental & Social Management Plan (ESMP) and the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) have identified the appropriate and detailed mitigation measures. Show Less -

The development objectives of the Dioxins Reduction from the Pulp and Paper Industry Project for China are to (a) demonstrate the result of Best Available Technology... Show More + and Best Environmental Practices (BAT/BEP) adoption in four selected non-wood pulp mills, and (b) support China in developing and adopting a long-term action plan to guide the promotion of a sector-wide BAT/BEP adoption. This document summarizes the environmental impact assessment of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project, highlighting the mains issues and conclusions of the Environmental Impact (EIA) reports and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) reports of the project. According to both Chinese environmental assessment laws and regulations, and the World Bank's operational policy and Bank Procedures environmental assessment, the project is Category A for environmental assessment purposes, due to the scale and significance of potential environmental issues. Therefore, a full environmental assessment is required. This project will support the four selected non-wood pulp mills to adopt BAT/BEP practices following Stockholm convention guidelines, including investments in process substitution and process optimization and replacing the elemental chlorine-based bleach process by the elemental chlorine-free (ECF) process to minimize dioxins releases. Investments in other aspects of pulp production will aim at reducing pollutant loads in water discharge, water use, and energy use. Show Less -

The issue of measuring product variety has received relatively little attention due to its inherent difficulty. In the language of index numbers, an expansion in the... Show More + range of inputs or outputs is a 'new goods' problem: a good that is newly available will have an observed price and quantity, but no corresponding price or quantity the year before. The availability of this new good will yield a welfare gain to consumers, as well as a productivity gain to firms buying the new input. In this paper we show how product variety can be measured in the case of a CES aggregator function. This paper is organized as: after reviewing the literature on the 'new goods' problem in section two, then discuss how to measure export variety in section three. In sections four and five discuss the empirical applications to export variety growth in Mexico and China. Regression results relating trade liberalization to industry export variety are presented in section six, and conclusions are given in section seven. Show Less -

There is an urgent need to provide practical guidelines for Chinese decision makers and officials to better understand the key issues and constraints related to rural... Show More + wastewater management and to identify feasible solutions and tools to improve the performance and sustainability of these projects. To address these needs, the World Bank has developed this guide for wastewater management in rural villages in China. The Guide is intended to be a useful resource for Chinese policy makers and practitioners. It includes a review of historical and current policies and practices related to wastewater management in rural China. The Guide outlines a framework and strategies for establishing municipal and village level wastewater management programs. The overall objective of the guide is to identify key issues and to present effective strategies and approaches to implement sustainable wastewater management programs at the local jurisdictions in order to improve rural sanitation in China. A key objective of the guide is to present institutional, programmatic and technical guidelines that can be adopted by local jurisdictions, forming the basis for consistent, affordable, practical, and effective sanitation project planning, design, implementation, and operations. Show Less -

While polluted surface water is encountered across most of China, few economic valuation studies have been conducted on water quality changes. Limited information about... Show More + the economic values associated with those potential water quality improvements or deteriorations is a disadvantage for making proper choices in water pollution control and clean-up activities. This paper reports an economic valuation study conducted in Yunnan, China, which aims to estimate the total value of a real investment project to improve the water quality of Lake Puzhehei by one grade level. Located in Qiubei County, which is far from large cities, the lake has been experiencing fast water quality deterioration in the past years. A conservative estimation strategy shows that on average a household located in Qiubei County is willing to pay about 30 yuan per month continuously for 5 years for water quality improvement, equivalent roughly to 3 percent of household income. The elasticity of willingness-to-pay with respect to income is estimated to be 0.21. The economic rate of return of the proposed project is estimated to be 18 percent, indicating a strong demand and high efficiency of investment in water quality improvement in China. This study also demonstrates that previous knowledge about water quality changes and the project may have a significant positive impact on people's valuation, and that the interviewer effect on valuation can be negative. Show Less -

Ningbo serves as the Chinese pilot city for the World Bank Climate Resilient Cities (CRC) Program. The CRC program aims to, prepare local governments in the East Asia... Show More + region to better understand the concepts and consequences of climate change; how climate change consequences contribute to urban vulnerabilities; and what is being done by city governments in East Asia and around the world to actively engage in learning capacity building, and capital investment programs for building sustainable, resilient communities. This local resilience action plan (LRAP) had four parts. Part one investigated natural hazards weather observations and climate models. Seven key climatic parameters were selected: temperature, rainfall, drought, heat wave, flood, tropical cyclone, and sea level rise. Part two examined how the city functions, and pursues socio-economic development through a city vulnerability assessment. The qualitative, city vulnerability assessment was based on five sectors- people, infrastructure, environment, economy, and government. Each sector was analyzed extensively on a range of issues, and compared to other similar Chinese cities to more accurately judge its performances. Part three is the gap analysis. It was performed to understand the government actions and their effectiveness to respond to natural disasters, and whether the current and planned policies and programs address the current and future climate change impacts and natural disasters. This part was supported by the following inventories: inventory of natural disasters, and inventory of policies and programs. Part four therefore was to develop recommendations for each of the city vulnerability sectors. The 70 plus recommendations are specific to Ningbo's vulnerabilities and risks. They are described briefly, intended to serve as an introduction. Feasibility studies are recommended before further action or implementation. Show Less -

This document summarizes the environment impact assessment of the Harbin-Jiamusi (HaJia hereafter) Railway Project in China, highlighting the main issues and conclusions... Show More + of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) of the project. The development objective of the project is to respond to existing and anticipated transport demand along the Harbin-Jiamusi corridor by providing increased capacity, faster travels time and increased frequency of services for passengers, and increased capacity for freight. This project includes the construction of a new double track, electrified, passenger dedicated high-speed railway line of about 342 km and related stations between the cities of Harbin and Jiamusi. The project is located in the Heilongjiang province in north-east China. Eight new stations will be constructed along the line. The East Jiamusi station will be reconstructed and the existing Jiamusi station will be upgraded on site. About 30 km of line will be rehabilitated along the main line and several auxiliary project components are included to connect HaJia railway to the major stations at Harbin and Jiamusi. The project includes the related civil works, goods, land acquisition and resettlement, rolling stock, and consulting services. The construction of the HaJia line is planned to start in 2011 with commissioning expected by December 2015. Show Less -

The Status of Projects in Execution (SOPE) Report for FY10 provides information on all International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development... Show More + Association (IDA), and trust funded projects that were active as of June 30, 2010. The report is intended to bridge the gap in information available to the public between the project appraisal document or program document, disclosed after the Bank approves a project, and the implementation completion report, disclosed after the project closes. In addition to the project progress description, the FY10 SOPE report contains project level comparisons of disbursement estimates and actual disbursements, and a table showing the loan/credit/grant amount and disbursements to date. Show Less -

Environmental performance rating and disclosure has emerged as an alternative or complementary approach to conventional pollution regulation, especially in developing... Show More + countries. However, little systematic research has been conducted on the effectiveness of this emerging policy instrument. This paper investigates the impact of a Chinese performance rating and disclosure program, Green Watch, which has been operating for 10 years. To assess the impact of Green Watch, the authors use panel data on pollution emissions from rated and unrated firms, before and after implementation of the program. Controlling for the characteristics of firms and locations, time trend, and initial level of environmental performance, the analysis finds that firms covered by Green Watch improve their environmental performance more than non-covered firms. Bad performers improve more than good performers, and moderately non-compliant firms improve more than firms that are significantly out of compliance. The reasons for these different responses seem to be that the strengths of incentives that the disclosure program provides to the polluters at different levels of compliance are different and the abatement costs of achieving desired levels of ratings are different for different firms. Show Less -