The Yellow River Basin is also known as China’s energy basin. Rational and orderly exploitation of mineral resources and overall coordination of the relationship between mineral resources exploitation and ecological environment protection are of great practical significance for the sustainable development of energy and mineral resources and ecological protection in the region. Taking the Yellow River Basin as the study area, this study comprehensively analyzed the characteristics and spatial distribution of environmental stress of regional mineral resources exploitation using multi-indicator comprehensive evaluation method, stress coupling analysis method, and GIS spatial analysis from the perspectives of ecological background fragility, spatial stress to important ecological function areas, and the degree of stress to important ecological environment factors. The 46 mining cities in the Yellow River Basin were divided into eight types, including background stress areas, ecological function stress areas, development stress areas, background with development stress areas, development with ecological function stress areas, background with ecological function stress areas, comprehensive stress areas, and no stress areas. Finally, the article put forward the control path of mineral resources development areas in the Yellow River Basin in view of ecological environment protection, including: (1) Spatial management and control by strictly restricting large-scale and high-intensity industrialization and urbanization development, especially controlling the development boundary of mining areas. (2) Intensity control for areas with fragile ecological background, the intensity and the overall development scale should be controlled simultaneously. (3) Development mode control to pay attention to the structural adjustment and upgrading of energy and mining industries. It is necessary to focus on spatially concentrated development of mining in places where mining is suitable, of industry where industrial development is suitable, and of cities and towns where urban development is suitable.

The Yellow River Basin as a whole is in the mid- to late stage of industrial transformation and the rapid development stage of the regional economy. It is in general in the “siphon effect” stage where the agglomeration function is stronger than the diffusion effect, and in the period of intense competition in intraregional development. Medium/high-speed economic growth of high-quality is a prerequisite for the modernization and sustainable development of the Yellow River Basin. Based on a general analysis of the connotation and change of theories of high-quality development in the basin (region), this article explores the basic conditions and core strategies of high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin. The basic conditions of high-quality development are the local diversity and vulnerability of agricultural development, the loose nature of the economic links in the river basin, constraints from the stage of economic development and its internal differences, and lack of momentum of external investment and industrial transfer, among others. These particularities determine that the high-quality development of the river basin must manifest itself in a long-term, diverse, competitive, cooperative, and regional orientation. Therefore, the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin needs to explore a core strategy of “overtaking by curves”: (1) With the development of smart society and globalization, the region should seek high-quality growth, that is, continue to explore new industrialization models in the region that are suitable for national needs and local characteristics, and build localized industrial clusters/chain to enhance comprehensive competitiveness; (2) Explore new models of synergy under the premise of homogeneity, plan river basin coordination and improve coordination mechanisms, and seek a new urbanization model of localization, including localized population urbanization strategy and urban-rural coordination model, especially the continued migration of rural population to river valleys/basins, plains, and towns based on land transfer. Improve labor productivity, paying attention to water resources and infrastructure construction, and so on; (3) Implement the “center breakthrough” system, seek the spatial reconstruction of the drainage basin led by the centers, promote the healthy development of central cities and urban agglomerations, and promote high-quality development. In general, the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin is a long-term exploration process of at least 20-30 years.

The Rocky Desertification Control Project (RDCP) has become a major ecological restoration and livelihood project in the karst areas of Southwest China, which could prevent soil erosion, restore ecological environment, promote social and economic development, and improve household's livelihood. The impact of the RDCP is a major issue worthy of attention. This study theoretically analyzed the influencing mechanism of the RDCP on the development of County economic and evaluated the RDCP's economic impact based on panel data collected from 88 counties of Guangxi province from 2006 to 2016, using the Difference-in-Difference (DID) method. We first estimated the average impact of the RDCP on county economic development. Then we evaluated the dynamic impact of the RDCP, using the panel fixed effect model. The results illustrate that RDCP has a sustainably positive and statistically significant impact on the county economic development. Regardless of whether other variables are controlled, the economic development level of the treat group is significantly higher than that of the control group. Furthermore, the longer the RDCP is implemented, the greater the impact is. It means that with the help of various favorable policy measures for the RDCP, the rocky desertification areas can continuously accumulate favorable factors for economic development and form a “cyclical accumulation. ” With conducting the robustness test, we found that the results of the empirical analysis are reliable. The DID method can indeed give a reasonable estimate of the causal effects of the RDCP and county economic development. The results confirm the positive impact of the first phase of RDCP on the economic development. RDCP will have an important policy implication for the second phase of the RDCP and the establishment of relevant policies.

[Objective] Enhancing the coupling coordination of regional innovation-ecology-economy stands as a crucial avenue for China to attain high-quality development. This study assessed the innovation-ecology-economy coupling coordination level under the new developmental stages. It examined the coupling coordination path that emerges through the interaction and amalgamation of the constituent elements intrinsic to the innovation-ecology-economy system, approached from a combinational standpoint. Furthermore, the study aimed to clarify the principal course that will shape the forthcoming advancement of the coupling coordination of these three systems. [Methods] Using a sample of 30 Chinese provinces with data spanning from 2011 to 2020, this study integrated the new development concept to develop an evaluation framework for the composite innovation-ecology-economy system. From an intra-system perspective, the research employed a dynamic qualitative comparative analysis to identify the combination paths within the composite system that engender high coupling coordination levels, alongside their dynamic patterns of evolution. [Results] (1) In the study period, individual components of the system were insufficient for achieving coupling coordination development. But the interplay and alignment of components generated four combination paths of high-level coupling coordination, which can be categorized as “innovation and application of energy conservation and emission reduction for development” and “innovation and cultivation of environmental protection governance efficiency enhancement”, with the characteristics of “all roads lead to Rome”. (2) The role of applied scientific and technological innovation, and industrial structure optimization and upgrading in promoting regional coupled and coordinated development had weakened from the 12th Five-Year Plan to the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Instead, the core driving factors shifted to basic innovation, economic development quality catch-up, and sharing of development results. [Conclusion] Considerable potential for enhancement remains within China’s regional innovation-ecology-economy system for coupled and coordinated development. To foster further improvement, a concerted effort is needed to bolster interplay among the system’s constituent elements, addressing the deficiencies and vulnerabilities within sub-systems. Emphasis should be placed on bolstering scientific and technological research and development, advancing quality-driven catch-up initiatives, and cultivating common prosperity.

Land, as the natural spatial carrier of terrestrial ecosystems and the socioeconomic carrier of human life and production, plays a role of carbon source or sink under different utilization modes. It is of great significance to carry out the research on land use carbon emissions and formulate a strategy of low-carbon land use optimization to maintain the balance between natural and socioeconomic systems, guide the low-carbon transition and sustainable development of the society and economy, and help achieve the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Based on the general research paradigm of “theory-method-practice”, this article reviewed the research frameworks of land use carbon emissions and low-carbon optimization. It systematically reviewed the progress of existing research in four aspects: land use carbon emissions effect, land use carbon emissions accounting methods, low-carbon target-oriented land use structure optimization, and its patterns and policies. Future research trend of low-carbon optimization of land use are forecasted in this article. It is suggested that future research should focus on the establishment of a systematic research framework of low-carbon land use optimization from the perspective of the full life cycle, the design of realization path of low carbon territorial spatial planning based on the control of full territory and total elements, the optimization of spatial pattern of construction land under the carbon emission constraint from the integrated perspective of scale-structure-layout-intensity, the formulation of differentiated enhancement scheme of ecosystem carbon sink with the principle of Nature-based solutions, and the exploration of the multidisciplinary application of low-carbon land use optimization from the perspective of multiple elements coupling. This work may provide a theoretical basis for the compilation of low-carbon target-oriented territorial spatial planning and the formulation of scientific and sound low-carbon management strategies.

[Objective] In the new economic development era, actively integrating into regional innovation networks has become an important way for cities to obtain external innovation resources and enhance their independent innovation capabilities. This study aimed to reveal the spatiotemporal patterns and mechanisms of change of collaborative innovation in the Yangtze River Delta region from a network perspective, and put forward policy recommendations for regional innovation space optimization and high-quality development. [Methods] Based on the co-application data of invention patents, the intercity collaborative innovation networks of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region were constructed for six periods from 2010 to 2020. The characteristics of change of the regional collaborative innovation networks were further investigated through network descriptive analysis and the underlying endogenous and exogenous driving forces were explored through the temporal exponential random graph models. [Results] (1) The intercity collaborative innovation networks in the Yangtze River Delta presented the co-existence of hierarchical structures and clustering structures, as well as remote trans-local linkages and proximate local linkages. Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing were always the top three in terms of innovation collaboration, and the innovation corridor along Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hefei, and Ningbo became evident. Regional collaboration clusters were highly coupled with administrative divisions and gradually evolved into three communities bounded with provincial boundaries and centered on the cities with high administrative levels, i.e., Jiangsu-Shanghai community, Zhejiang local community, and Anhui local community. Except for Hefei, the development of cities in Anhui Province was more localized and marginalized. (2) The scale and strength of networks increased gradually while the overall change of the networks was stable. The overall structural similarity between the current network and its previous network exceeded 80%. The hierarchical structure tended to converge whereas clustering structures were continuously strengthened, thus the networks were developing towards a balanced and clustering pattern with dense collaboration among multiple cores. (3) In addition to the urban innovation endowments, network change was mainly driven by time dependence, structure dependence, provincial boundary effect, and geographical proximity. [Conclusion] There is still much room for the improvement of regional collaborative innovation in the Yangtze River Delta region. It is necessary to further enhance the efficient flow of innovation resources, promote the development of regional integration with high-density and small-scale cooperation, and strengthen the exploration and encouragement of new modes and mechanisms of intercity technology collaboration, so as to break the path dependence, administrative hierarchy and regional barriers to innovation collaboration.

[Objective] Enhancing economic resilience of cities is key to achieving sustainable urban development. With the increasing differentiation in urban population growth, exploring the mechanisms of impact of population growth and shrinkage on urban economic resilience is crucial for strengthening urban resilience and addressing uncertain risks. [Methods] Based on the panel data of 280 prefecture-level and above cities in China from 2008 to 2019, this study employed fixed effect models and moderating effect models to empirically test the mechanisms of impact of population growth and shrinkage on urban economic resilience. [Results] The study found that: (1) Population growth and shrinkage have a significant impact on urban economic resilience, with a greater effect on the cities’ ability to withstand risks than on their economic recovery capabilities. (2) Mechanism analysis result indicates that industrial structure and human capital level played a positive moderating role in the impact of population growth and shrinkage on urban economic resilience. (3) The effects of industrial structure upgrading and human capital varied with city size and resource endowment, with the industrial structure upgrading effect more pronounced in large cities and non-resource-based economic regions. [Conclusion] Improving the level of human capital and accelerating industrial agglomeration and upgrading are important strategies to enhance urban economic resilience in the context of population growth differentiation. The findings of this study can provide important references for different regions to formulate sustainable development paths adapted to population growth or shrinkage.

[Objective] This study aimed to explore the intrinsic mechanisms of intelligent collaborative management of resources and the environment, providing valuable insights to advance the integration of collaborative management theory and smart technologies in the field of resource and environmental management. The objective was to facilitate research in the Chinese context and promote green sustainable development. [Methods] Starting with a review of relevant literature in collaborative resource and environmental management, we synthesized an integrated research framework for intelligent collaborative management of resources and the environment. The framework elucidates the conceptual content, key issues, methodological systems, and implementation pathways of intelligent collaborative management, offering a forward-looking perspective on future research directions and emphasizing topics that need further exploration in the Chinese context. [Results] The proposed integrated research framework encompasses the core content of intelligent collaborative management of resources and the environment, addressing three key issues related to mechanism and standards, theories and methods, and industrial models. Three intersecting research methods are delineated, along with three pathways for achieving collaborative development through the innovation of intelligent technologies, platforms, and models. [Conclusion] There is a need to emphasize the indigenous characteristics of intelligent collaborative management of resources and the environment in the Chinese context. The study underscored the importance of exploring how environmental regulations can promote collaborative development of resources and the environment, researching the architecture and mechanisms of intelligent ecological governance systems, and addressing potential regional development inequalities resulting from digitalization and intellectualization. This research provides valuable Chinese experiences and insights to empower global sustainable development goals through intelligent technologies.

[Objective] The iron and steel industry is the largest carbon emitter in the field of energy end-consumption and its carbon emission reduction is closely related to regional economic and social development, thus identifying the resource and environmental impacts of its carbon emission reduction measures and revealing the regional disparities is the key to realizing the high-quality green and low-carbon transformation of this industry in China. [Methods] This study developed a factory-level comprehensive evaluation model of China’s iron and steel industry that reflects the resource, environmental, and economic linkages based on a bottom-up Asian-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM)/Enduse model. This model predicts crude steel demand under different socioeconomic development paths by 2060, and focuses on identifying the resource and environmental impacts of production structural adjustment, permeation of abatement technologies, carbon policies, and carbon neutral technology measures, revealing the regional disparities and spatial pattern of typical environmental emissions. [Results] (1) With the increase of recyclable scrap stock, the share of crude steel production of short-process will increase from 10.6% (2020) to 70% (2060); (2) With the synergistic effect of various emission reduction measures, the total energy consumption of China’s iron and steel industry will decrease by 70%-76% and fuel consumption will be reduced by 92% in 2060, compared with 2020 (with the share of coal decreasing to 0 and biomass increasing by 69%, and the consumption of coke, which has the property of a reducing agent, will fall by 90%), and carbon dioxide emissions will decrease by 89%-91%; but the increase in methane, organic carbon, and mercury emissions needs to be a cause for concern; (3) Under the synergistic effect of multiple emission reduction measures, there are obvious differences in carbon emission reduction at the provincial level in the iron and steel industry under different crude steel demand paths, and there is a larger number of provinces that show an increasing trend of mercury emissions under the scenario of high crude steel demand; [Conclusion] Therefore, carbon emission reduction in China’s iron and steel industry should be strengthened by systematic planning to prevent the “canceling out” effects among environmental emission factors generated by emission reduction measures, and the high-quality green and low-carbon transformation of China’s iron and steel industry should take into full consideration of regional economic and social disparities as well as resource endowment and carrying capacity.

[Objective] By reviewing the connotation and measurement methods of total factor energy efficiency, this study aimed to compare and verify the relevant factors and their changes and characteristics that affect the reliability of the measurement results. The conclusion of the study provides key support for improving the analysis of the technical efficiency of energy factors and other factors in production, carrying out energy conservation work, and achieving the goal of carbon peak in China. [Methods]Through the review of a large number of relevant publications, the connotation of total factor energy efficiency and related concepts, the methodology of total factor energy efficiency measurement, and the calculation results of existing representative studies were compared and analyzed. As a case study, we measured the total factor energy efficiency of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration in China, and verified the influencing factors and related characteristics of the calculated results. [Results] The results of literature review show that the concept of total factor energy efficiency is mixed with other energy efficiency concepts. Since energy consumption is highly linked to carbon emissions, simply including carbon emissions into undesirable output in the measurement method may lead to overestimation or underestimation of the total factor energy efficiency measurement results. The existing literature has great differences in the calculation results of total factor energy efficiency, or even completely opposite. The results of the case study show that the number of DMUs and the quality of input-output data have important effects on the total factor energy efficiency. However, technological heterogeneity has a greater impact on the regional differences in total factor energy efficiency than the differences in economic development levels. In addition, it is also verified that there is spatial autocorrelation in the measurement results of total factor energy efficiency in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, and its time trend is basically consistent with other relevant results. [Conclusion] It is necessary to strengthen the research on the connotation and methodology of total factor energy efficiency, especially to improve the analytical ability in dealing with unexpected output, technical heterogeneity, spatial autocorrelation and other aspects. And in the process of calculation to strengthen the input and output data and quality control; At the same time, the systematic analysis of the change characteristics of total factor energy efficiency should be strengthened.

[Objective] Exploring the ecological impacts of the new round of grassland tenure confirmation can help to innovate and promote the grassland property rights institution for green governance, and provide a reference for the reform of grassland property rights in other countries and regions. [Methods] By applying field research data from pastoral areas in Inner Mongolia and the time-varying difference-in-differences (DID) model, this study explored the impacts of the new round of grassland tenure confirmation policy on grassland ecology and its mechanisms. [Results] (1) The new round of grassland tenure confirmation policy contributes to improved grassland ecology. Compared with those before tenure confirmation, the vegetation cover and plant height of grasslands after grassland tenure confirmation increased by 0.265 and 13.8 cm, respectively. This is the net impact of the positive property rights security effect and the negative scale fragmentation effect brought about by grassland tenure confirmation. (2) The security of property rights brought about by grassland tenure confirmation has changed herders’ attitude toward grassland use, improved their capacities, and promoted their ecological conservation behavior. (3) Heterogeneity analysis showed that the new round of grassland tenure confirmation is more effective for large herders to improve their grassland ecology compared to smaller herders. [Conclusion] This article suggests that the new round of grassland tenure confirmation could be carried out in pastoral areas with favorable conditions. By confirming grassland use rights of herding households, this policy is expected to improve grassland vegetation cover and height. In areas with small grassland area per household and complex topographic and geomorphic conditions, grassland tenure confirmation could be implemented according to local conditions, or considering to confirm the rights not to individual herding households but to small communities.

[Objective] Whether “digitization” and “green” can cooperate is one of the important scientific issues in the field of high-quality development and high-level protection research. The Yangtze River Economic Belt, as a significant cluster of the digital industry and a key area for pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction coordination, plays a pivotal role in the construction of a beautiful China and the realization of the dual carbon goals. [Methods] Based on the equity investment data of the digital industry and the environmental pollution and carbon emission data from 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt between 2010 and 2020, this study delineated the spatial pattern of the digital industry and the spatial and temporal change characteristics of pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction. A fixed-effect model was employed to explore the impact of the digital industry agglomeration on pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction coordination and mechanism. Additionally, a spatial Durbin model was constructed to analyze its spatial spillover effects and attenuation boundaries. [Results] The findings reveal that: (1) The investment network of the digital industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt exhibits a “multi-pathway, multi-polar” trend of spatial change, with net investment flows showing a clear tendency towards suburbanization, forming a “outflow from the center, receiving by the periphery” distribution pattern. (2) The agglomeration of the digital industry positively drives pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction, also demonstrating synergistic effects for both. This result remains robust after a series of endogeneity and robustness tests. Mechanism tests found that digital industry agglomeration can promote regional pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction coordination through scale economy effects, industrial upgrading effects, and technological innovation effects. (3) Digital industry agglomeration has a significant positive spatial spillover effect on pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction coordination. This effect presents a “right-tailed U-shaped” characteristic with increasing spatial distance. Meanwhile, the area within 250 km of the agglomeration is the “enhancement area” for spatial spillover effects, the area between 250 km and 450 km is the “attenuation area”, and beyond 450 km, the effect approaches zero and becomes insignificant. [Conclusion] Research has confirmed that leveraging the agglomeration effects of the digital industry can effectively promote synergistic improvements in regional pollution reduction and carbon emission mitigation.It is recommended to foster the agglomeration and networking development of the digital industry, encourage cross-regional investment in the digital industry, and implement differentiated strategies and cross-regional cooperation platforms.

Global warming has raised public concern and reducing anthropogenic carbon emissions has become a heated issue. Agriculture plays an important role in greenhouse gas （GHG）emission and offsetting. Rice is one of China’s three major cereal crops and assessing the carbon footprint （CF）of rice production is a vital component of low-carbon goal in China’s agriculture. Data from China Agricultural Statistics from 2004 to 2014 were collected for estimating CF and its components in rice production. The results showed that GHG emissions and CF per area were observed an annual average increase rate of 2.12 billionkgCO₂-eq,32.58kgCO₂-eq/ha respectively,and annual reduction of CF per yield is -2.82kgCO₂-eq/t. Results varied among provinces. For example,the average CF per unit area of rice was the highest in Jiangsu at 7411.91kgCO₂-eq/ha and the least in Heilongjiang province at 4305.87kgCO₂-eq/ha;average CF per unit of production was highest in Hainan at 2.36 times higher than Jilin Province （the lowest one）. In the double cropping rice area of southern China（Guangxi,Guangdong and Fujian）and the double cropping rice area of central China （Jiangsu,Hunan and Jiangxi）,the carbon footprints are higher than the national average. CH₄ emissions were the largest component of CF,accounting for 85.05% of the total carbon emission following by agricultural inputs for 14.95%,and fertilizer inputs for 10.25% of the agricultural inputs. Strategies to reduce GHGs emissions and improve carbon efficiency in rice production depends on a combination of field operations such as intermittent irrigation,suitable usage of fertilization and other agricultural inputs,and improved mechanical efficiency.

Cultural and creative tourism destination,as a brand-new tourism destination,is defined as a synthesis intergrating creativity,culture,landscape and tourism services. The tourist satisfaction of cultural and creative tourism destinations based on cultural creative industries is conductive to the sustainable development of tourism. Here,based on the American Customer Satisfaction Index and partial least squares method,we construct an index system and evaluation model of tourist satisfaction for cultural and creative tourism destinations. We measure the tourist satisfaction of Tianzifang,M50 and Hongfang in Shanghai,China and identify those factors affecting tourist satisfaction. The results show that decisive factors influencing tourist satisfaction are theme features,creativity,culture and environment for exchanging culture and creation;inferior factors are shopping environment and sanitary conditions. From this pastern, we can see that the landscapes and services of tourism destinations are of great importance to tourist satisfaction, because they influence tourists' experience effects. Culture and creativity,as the core attraction of the destination,are also very important to tourist satisfaction. Overall,the three tourism destinations can basically meet the needs of tourists. Among three tourism destinations,the highest satisfaction index is at Tianzifang （3.649）,the second is M50（3.609）,followed by Hongfang（3.447）. The IPA index shows that Tianzifang develops well,M50 and Hongfang should improve the shopping environment,and M50 should perfect the environment for exchanging culture and creation. Based on the above conclusions, we suggest that, in order to attract more tourists, cultural and creative tourism destinations should make good use of cultural resources and strengthen theme features. Further,it is necessary to improve tourism service facilities for the sake of better tourism environments.

The hometowns of ancient Chinese celebrities are a prevalent product form of tourist destination that play important roles in driving the development of local cultural tourism as well as other related industries. However, whether a destination is indeed the hometown of a certain historical celebrity remains a disputed issue in many places, and few studies on the disputed celebrity hometowns have combined relevant theory with empirical analysis and there is also a lack of research on the tourist behavioral intention during celebrity hometown tourism. This study constructed a theoretical model based on the match-up hypothesis in the celebrity endorsement marketing theory and collected relevant data on “Li Bai’s Hometown” in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province for empirical analysis. As shown by the results: (1) The match-up between a celebrity and the tourist destination has a positive impact on tourist perception of authenticity and place identity, while the latter two positively influence the quality of tourist experience; (2) The match-up between the celebrity and the destination has an indirect positive impact on the quality of tourist experience through the mediating effect of authenticity perception and place identity; (3) The quality of tourist experience has a positive impact on the tourist behavioral intention. This article further discussed the theoretical significance of the above conclusions, their implications for the management of the disputed hometowns of ancient celebrities, and the direction of future research.

As the global economy continues to evolve and human society’s resource demands grow, the strategic significance of mineral resources becomes increasingly pronounced. The competition for mineral resources extends beyond primary minerals and encompasses the entire industrial chain. This article, from the perspective of the industrial chain, defined the boundaries of the critical mineral resource industrial chain as the whole industry chain of exploration and mining-smelting and processing (transportation)-production-industrial utilization-recycling and reuse. We defined the availability of critical mineral resources in terms of each link of the industrial chain, emphasizing the critical roles played by different segments of the industrial chain. Building upon existing research methods on mineral resource availability, we identified 20 factors that influence the availability. These factors were categorized into six dimensions: geological, economic, technological, geopolitical, regulatory, and social aspects. Furthermore, we defined the industrial chain links that they directly affect, and constructed the indicator system of the availability of critical mineral resources from the perspective of different links. In the process of the systematic review, we found that research on critical mineral resource availability from the industrial chain perspective still has shortcomings in terms of its implication, secondary supply, multi-link nexus, and model development and utilization. We proposed four major frontier directions: (1) The new connotation of critical mineral resource availability from the perspective of industrial chain. (2) The novel construction of the relationship between primary resource and secondary resource availability under the background of resource challenges. (3) The coupling relationship of multi-link availability of the whole industrial chain of critical mineral resources. (4) The construction of the availability database and research model of the whole industrial chain of critical mineral resources.

Food consumption surveys are fundamental to the analysis of food security,the characteristics of diet and nutrient intake,and developing nutrition interventions. Based on household survey data,four typical areas （Lhasa,Xigaze,Shannan and Nagqu）were chosen to analyze food consumption characteristics and the nutritional status of rural residents in Tibet,China. The results showed that the dietary structure remains irrational. Barley （Zanba）,rice and wheat flour comprised major food consumption in all four areas,and meat and milk consumption is higher than the national level. Foods such as eggs,pork,poultry,soy products and fruits remain insufficient and unbalanced and may be related to local food culture. Vegetable consumption is higher in agricultural areas than pastoral areas. Energy and protein intake in the four study areas basically meets the dietary reference intakes of the DRI standard,but for fat intake,Lhasa and Shannan do not （related to a deficiency in meat intake）. In conclusion,although Tibetan rural residents have improved their dietary structure,the dietary structure remains irrational and local foods still dominate the diet. There is an urgent need to strengthen the nutritional intervention of rural Tibetan residents,and increasing the supply of meat,eggs and milk. By expanding food accessibility in rural areas in Tibet,especially in pasture areas,we can excavate the role of markets in the improvement of the dietary structure of rural residents in Tibet.

With the rapid growth of the production and consumption of plastics, the waste and pollution of plastics become increasingly more serious. It is important to study the metabolic process of plastic resources to save the resources and protect the environment. Based on the material flow analysis method, a material flow analysis dynamic model of plastics was constructed in this study to analyze the life-cycle metabolic process of plastics from production, use, to waste from 1949 to 2018 in China. The flows and stocks of PE, PP, PS, PVC, ABS, PET and other plastic in 11 application areas were calculated, and the key points of resources waste of different kinds of plastics were analyzed. The results show that: (1) From 1949 to 2018, the consumption of plastics was 2205.6 million tons, and the output of waste plastics was 1404.8 million tons, of which 30.0% was recycled, 14.0% was incinerated, 36.0% was into landfill, and 20.0% was directly lost into the environment without treatment; (2) The in-use stocks of plastics were 630.0 million tons, and the loss stocks of plastics were 870.2 million tons, of which 66.7% were in landfill and 33.3% were carelessly discarded in the environment; (3) In 2018, the consumption of plastics was 193.1 million tons, and the output of waste plastics was 140.5 million tons, of which 32.0% was recycled, 26.0% was incinerated, 35.4% was into landfill, and 6.6% was directly lost into the environment. The study found that: The scale of plastic metabolism was large in China, and disposable plastic products had a great influence on plastic metabolism. Waste plastic was the key point of the resource loss, so the recycling of waste plastics was necessary. It was important to control the pollution of waste plastics that had entered the environment. Therefore in the future, research should focus on the risk and pollution mechanism of plastic waste scattered in the environment and improving the utilization efficiency of recycling and reusing of plastic waste, so as to reduce the loss of plastic resources and decrease the environmental pollution.

[Objective] The construction of high-quality low-carbon cities is an important measure to address climate change issues, implement the concept of low-carbon development, and achieve the “dual carbon” goals, Therefore,the significance of examining the carbon emission reduction effect of low-carbon pilot cities policy is prominent. [Methods] Based on the panel data of 216 cities in China from 2006 to 2019, this study used the second and third batch cities of the low-carbon city construction pilot program for a quasi-natural experiment. Using the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) method and based on the robustness test results, this study analyzed the impact of low-carbon city construction on urban carbon emissions in multiple dimensions, and it used an mediation effect model to investigate the mechanism of impact of the low-carbon pilot program. [Results] (1) Compared with non-pilot cities, low-carbon pilot program participating cities significantly reduced urban carbon emissions, which remained significant after the inclusion of parallel trends and placebo robustness tests. (2) The low-carbon city pilot program can play a role in carbon reduction by improving the level of urban green technology innovation, adjusting industrial structure, and reducing energy consumption. (3) The carbon emission reduction effect of the low-carbon city pilot program had significant heterogeneity. The carbon emission reduction effect in eastern and central cities and non-resource-based cities was stronger than that in western cities and resource-based cities. The effect of the low-carbon city pilot program on carbon emission reduction was more obvious in the cities to the south of the Hu Huanyong Line than in cities to the northwest of the line. [Conclusion] This study evaluated the phased effect of carbon emission reduction of the second and third batch cities of the low-carbon city construction pilot program from a multi-dimensional perspective, which will help deepen the understanding and explore the path of low-carbon development, and provide references for more cities to systematically build low-carbon cities in the future. Under the new situation, the construction of low-carbon cities should follow the local conditions and change with time, develop differentiated and precise pathways to promote green development, and lay the foundation for the realization of the “30·60” carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals.

Cropland abandonment is the main land-use change in mountainous areas globally. It has profoundly altered rural land-use structure,agricultural landscapes,and farmer livelihoods in mountainous areas and has huge environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Since 2000,with the rapid rise in labor costs and the exodus of the rural labor force,croplands in China’s mountainous areas have been facing a greater risk of abandonment due to rough terrain and slow development of agricultural mechanization. Case studies and reports have increasingly demonstrated that cropland abandonment in these areas is severe. Considering that sloping croplands account for about 25% of total croplands in China,cropland abandonment is not only related to informed policy-making regarding land use and sustainable rural development in mountainous areas,but possibly has a significant negative impact on food security. Quantitative analyses of cropland abandonment at a national level in China have not been performed. Hence,in this study,a large-scale survey was carried out to estimate the extent of cropland abandonment in mountainous counties to offer a scientific basis for relevant policy-making and further study of cropland marginalization. The results show that 78.3% of 235 surveyed villages have experienced cropland abandonment to some extent. During 2014-2015,the abandonment rate of croplands in mountainous counties was 14.32%,showing a distribution pattern of “south-high and north-low” at the provincial level. The abandonment rate for the Yangtze River Basin was the highest,while that for the northeastern mountainous area was the lowest.

Tourism stakeholders include many kinds of groups,such as government agencies,community resident and tourism developers. Community residents are the most important stakeholders in tourism destinations and their perceptions and attitudes have attracted increasing attention from the 1970s internationally and from the 1990s within China. Drawing on national and international work in this field published between 1975 and 2015,we describe research on tourism influences in different aspects,factors that influence community residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards tourism,and theoretical and research methods of tourism destination community residents' attitudes towards tourism development and impacts. We found that the relationship between different influence factors and community residents' perceptions and attitudes are determined by tourism development phases and conditions. Researchers based in China need to combine the special conditions of tourism development in China for empirical research;while they have conducted localization research in related fields in recent years,there are few results regarding theoretical constructions. We should promote theoretical abstraction and innovation in the process of examining tourism phenomenon in the future. Quantitative research methods have dominated the study of community residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards tourism,strengthening the use of qualitative research methods would benefit our understanding of the nature behind these phenomenon.

With urban residents’ increasing attention on the living environment and the general improvement of the quality of life, the insufficient supply and uneven distribution of urban environmental resources have intensified the impact of the environment on the spatial differences of urban housing prices. Exploring the impact mechanism of the environment on housing prices will help improve the spatial allocation of high-quality environmental resources and accelerate the construction of livable cities, which also is of great significance for improving urban competitiveness and the level of “new urbanization.” This article firstly briefly reviews the spatial differences of urban housing prices, then systematically summarizes the research progress of the positive impacts, negative impacts, and comprehensive impacts of the environment on housing prices. Finally we examined the prospects for future research in this field. The review of the literature showed that: the positive, negative, and comprehensive effects of the environment on housing prices are systematically analyzed in international literature. Research in China began to pay attention to the positive impact of the environment on housing prices, while studies on the negative impacts and comprehensive impacts are fewer. The accessibility of environmental amenity has become an important perspective and content in the field of environment and housing price research. The attributes of environment and landscape and housing have an important impact on housing prices. The international literature of negative impacts of the environment on housing prices are mainly concentrated on water pollution, noise pollution, solid waste pollution, and electromagnetic pollution. Furthermore, we put forward some thoughts on the prospects of research: The study of the effect of the environment on housing prices needs to improve the systematic analysis framework. The combination of mathematical model and behavioral analysis verification methods should be considered in the research method. People’s subjective environ-mental perceptions and their feedback on housing prices should be paid attention to. The analysis of the impact mechanism of the environment on low-value region of housing prices should be strengthened, and awareness on inequality of the living environment should be raised. Research should concern the impact of the environment on housing prices at the micro household level and in small and medium-sized cities, taking into consideration local-specific characteristics of housing.

Based on PM_2.5 concentration observation data for 2014 and 2015 from 190 medium and large cities in China we look at changes in PM_2.5 concentration and trends in spatial agglomeration. We found that in 2015,the average PM_2.5 concentrations in China decreased by 10% compared with 2014,the number of days of compliance enhanced by 4.4%,and the air quality improved obviously. Spring improved the most,followed by summer,autumn and winter. In December 2015,the pollution was worse than the same period in 2014. The other months were improved,with the largest decrease in June （21.48%）,and a decline of less than 10% in February,August and September. In 2015,the pollution area of PM_2.5 was less than that in 2014,and the pollution core area spread from Beijing,Tianjin and Hebei to the northwest and north of Henan. The areas where there were large declines in PM_2.5 annual average concentration were mainly in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region,Yangtze River Delta,middle reaches and other urban agglomerations; cities with rapid growth in the average daily standard days were mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta,Pearl River Delta and Chengyu urban agglomerations. In contrast to PM_2.5 in 2014,the concentration of PM_2.5 was more obvious in 2015,the concentration of high-value areas decreased,and the hot spots were more densely distributed in the North China Region centered around the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. Hot agglomeration regions showed a multi-center cluster phenomenon. Based on the above situation,it is necessary to speed up the construction of institution-supported multi-center supervision and governance mode. In the North China Region we should build a management-supported multi-regional linkage governance mode,construct public environmental consciousness governance supported by environmental ethics,and incorporate these into the Chinese cultural rejuvenation system.

Public green plays a significant role in improving living standards. As an important public resource,the service scope of public green must cover a larger area to satisfy the recreational needs of residents and make good use of its social service functions. The commonly used indices for measuring the function of public green ,such as average public green and overall percentage green area can hardly reflect the distribution of public green. Previous studies usually measured accessibility of public green spaces in order to allocate resources but have failed to reveal relationships between demand from population and supply generated by public green,and neglected the influence of range attenuation on supply and need. To discuss spatial equity of public green at resident parcel, this article chooses seven administrative districts in Wuhan as a case study area and uses the gravity two-step floating catchment area method with distance decay. The results show that:(1) the distance can change the pattern of spatial equity and there are existing notable differences in different level of public green when the catchment makes changes. (2) Majority of case area have an oversupply or undersupply service of public green, while some area has insufficient access to public green within the catchment sizes of 0.50h or 0.75h. (3) Within the same catchment size, the local level of public green can provide better services for residents than district public green. (4) The vast area characterized by unbalanced distribution of spatial equity, which have differences at different sub-districts. The primary factors, such as service capacity, amount of population or public green, have effect on the pattern of spatial equity. The article demonstrates that it is necessary to allocate public green considering the demand from residents to utilize public facility effectively.

Since the reform and opening up, China’s total energy intensity has shown an overall downward trend. It will contribute to promote energy conservation and emission reduction if we determine the factors influencing total energy intensity. Here we decomposed energy intensity into structural effects and efficiency effects,and analyzed reasons causing the decline in China’s total energy intensity and industrial energy intensity from the angles of each industry and industrial sectors based on structural decomposition analysis（SDA）. We found that the decrease in China’s energy intensity was mainly due to improvements in energy utilization efficiency of the three major industries. However,the change in industrial structure hindered the drop in total energy intensity before 2013 and played a weak positive role after 2013. From the impacts of four industries on total energy intensity,the structural factor of Industry,Construction and Tertiary Industry had a negative impact on total energy intensity,which was greater than the positive impact of the Primary Industry. While the efficiency factor of Industry,Construction and Tertiary Industry predominantly led to the fall of total energy intensity in China. The decline in industrial energy intensity was jointly driven by change in the internal structure of Industry and the improvement of industrial sectoral energy utilizing efficiency,among which the decrease in industrial sectoral energy intensity played a leading role. From impacts of industrial sectors on industrial energy intensity,the influence of the structural effect and efficiency effect of industrial sectors was focused on several sectors. Change in the structure and efficiency of key high energy-consumption industries played an important role in promoting the decrease in industrial energy intensity. The influence of structural and efficiency change in some industrial sectors on industrial energy intensity has become increasingly evident. These industrial sectors have a relatively rapid pace of development. Based on these findings,some suggestions are put forward to provide support for formulating energy-saving strategies.

Agricultural heritage systems have been attracting researchers across diverse subjects and the literature on agricultural heritage systems increased rapidly in the past decade. In the China Knowledge Resource Integrated Database,513 published papers about agricultural heritage were screened from 2005 to 2015 using key words. Based on analysis of these papers,we found that research on agricultural heritage systems is still in a primary stage and that research is mainly concentrated on ecology,resources and agronomy. The institutes researching agricultural heritage are mainly distributed in Beijing. Northwest and northeast China have many GIAHS and China-NIAHS sites but hardly have any institutes. Most authors are young and with a high education degree and high professional title,thus is good for development of the subject. Studies are becoming more comprehensive due to more researcher participation from different subjects. Current studies are mainly qualitative,and quantitative studies using scientific experiments and field surveys are lacking. Even so,compared with other countries,China is a global leader in research on agricultural heritage,but some topics like the change in agricultural heritage systems lack depth. Several key research fields need be enhanced in the future：more researchers from other subjects and from institutes near to GIAHS and China-NIAHS sites to participate in different topics associated agricultural heritage;enhancing basic research on characteristics of agricultural heritage and scientific connotation;strengthening monitoring and estimation methods and practice measures; changes in designated agricultural heritage systems;and industrial development research in agricultural heritage sites.

Carrying Capacity（CC）was first coined in biology and ecology in the 1920s,and later developed rapidly in related sciences such as natural resources science and environment science. The concept of Resources and Environment Carrying Capacity（RECC）,from theoretical investigation to practical implementation,has become an effective and operational tool to describe development restrictions and quantify regional sustainable development. RECC research has become a hot topic methodologically and theoretically in ecology,geography and natural resource and environment. It primarily focuses on the ultimate limit of population and economic development on earth. After briefly looking at the origin of the concept and early headway,we summarize RECC research from land resource carrying capacity,water resource carrying capacity,and environmental carrying capacity（environment capacity）. The following evaluating methods,including ecological footprint and virtual land （or the biological productive land by ecological footprint）,water footprint and virtual water （or the global flow of virtual water）,emergy analysis and virtual energy（or energy equilibrium）,are considered as important research progresses in the past century. However,there is still lack of a standard set of evaluation theories and methodologies for RECC research in China and globally,leading to much debate over the objectivity and comparability of resultant figures. Concerning this issue,we propose that RECC research in the future should pay more attention to enhancing exploratory studies in basic theories and carrying mechanisms,thresholds determination and synthetical calculation,technological standards/manuals setting,measurable assessment and systematical integration. More effort is needed to promote the standardization,digitalization and systematization of RECC research in China before according with national practical and operational demands.

A sound management system is an important guarantee for realizing the goal of effective management and conservation in protected areas. Mainly based on the ScienceDirect and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases, this study carried out a systematic analysis, synthesizing and reviewing Chinese and international research on protected area management systems with regard to system reform, institutional setting, operation mechanism, and management effectiveness evaluation. Also, the research hotspots, methods, and theoretical basis were analyzed systematically, through which the article provided ideas for further examination of the management systems and their optimization. We suggest that the hotspots of relevant research were mainly participative management, problems and models of management systems, evaluation of management effectiveness, power allocation of institutions and experiences on the establishment of national park system. With regard to the research methods, the literature primarily used qualitative analysis and case study methods, while quantitative analysis was only supplementary. The theoretical basis of relevant research involved different theories of multiple disciplines, containing theories of institutional change, polycentric governance, stakeholder analysis, ecological integrity, and so on. Based on the current research progress, this article proposed some directions of further study on protected area management systems, including strengthening the theoretical development of relevant studies, evaluating the effectiveness of management operation under diverse modes of power allocation, studying coordination mechanisms of the operation of power, and mechanisms for the realization of participative management, perfecting the theoritical basis on the establishment of laws and regulations, and paying attention to the potential impacts of climate change.

Ecosystem services with an extremely high economic value impact human well-being significantly. The practices of ecological system asset management,ecological compensation,and paid use of ecological system assets are urging to fully evaluate ecosystem service value. In this paper,the economic values of 11 types of ecosystem services are accounted based on the expansion of labor value theory and using the method of equivalent value factor per unit ecosystem area. We found that the total value of ecosystem services in China is 38.10×10¹² CNY,of which,forest ecosystem services value account for 46.00%,followed by aquatorium and grass ecosystem service value accounting for 21.16% and 19.68%,respectively. In terms of the economic value derived from different types of ecosystem services,support services accounted for 71.31%,regulation services accounted for 19.01%,provision services accounted for 5.87% and cultural services for 3.81%. The value of ecosystem services vary seasonally during a year,the value of ecosystem services during May to September is higher; from October to April the value of ecosystem services is relatively low. The ecosystems per unit area in southern and northeastern China supply higher ecosystem services values; the overall trend of the spatial distribution of ecosystem services value per unit of ecosystem area is gradual reduction from southeast to northwest. With comparison between per capita ecosystem service value and per capita GDP in different regions of China in 2010,the per capita ecosystem service value in China is 2.84×10⁴ CNY,close to per capita GDP,which fully demonstrates the relative scarcity of China's ecosystem service,especially in economically developed and densely populated areas.