The End of an Era: Asian NIEs in the Global Economy

ABSTRACT Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan (the Asian newly industrialized economies [NIEs]) were the economic success stories of the 1970s and 1980s. While there are a number of competing explanations for their rapid growth, some focusing upon the process of export-led development, the Asian NIEs face a more hostile global competitive environment than heretofore acknowledged. Their competitiveness in labor-intensive and traded-goods manufactured industries has been undermined by new competitors including the ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, as well as China. With new competitors, the rise of trading blocs, and the shrinkage of export surpluses (over imports) it is doubtful if the NIEs will be able to sustain past rates of growth over the coming years. The capacity to adjust efficiently to changing circumstances has become a vital determinate of long-term growth of the NIEs. Whatever the virtues of past state-based industrial policies, restructuring is now a very important part of the life of firms in the NIEs’labor-intensive industries. Moreover, the significance of these industries in each of the NIEs has been undercut by the growing importance of the global finance industry and its attendant political economy.     

Hong Kong and the globalisation of the Chinese diaspora: a geographical perspective

This study examines the processes of spatial restructuring in the Hong Kong–South China region. The paper analyses urban‐rural interaction in a historical and transnational context. Based on detailed census data collected in 1961 and 1996, this study traces the origins of the Hongkongers and maps out their spatial distribution according to their native place identities. The heightened population movement between the rural hinterland in the South China region and the Hong Kong metropolis is inseparable from territorial organisation on the Chinese mainland. The great spatial mobility demonstrated by the Hongkongers, or, their ‘refugee mentality’ as it is known, is found to be deeply rooted in their marginal sub‐ethnic identity in the nation. A systematic analysis of spatial data reveals that the diasporic landscape developed in Hong Kong has been polarised by the élite English and Shanghainese speakers on the one end and the Kejia people on the other end. Despite the processes of globalisation, the great spatial mobility of the Hong Kong sojourners and the diasporic landscape they have created have been effectively shaped by their place‐based ethno‐linguistic identities. If the transnational movement of people is considered an important component of globalisation, then this study reinforces the importance of locality and contests the fashionable notion of globalisation as a ‘placeless’ phenomenon. The seemingly displaced empire of Chinese diaspora capitalism, in which Hong Kong has played a crucial part, has remained grounded by pre‐existing place‐specific conditions.     

Refocusing on China: The Case of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Whampoa

We know little about the location decisions of large Chinese conglomerates and how this relates to their restructuring in a dynamic Asia­Pacific environment. This case study of one of Hong Kong’s latest conglomerates, Hutchison Whampoa, begins with the company’s decision to remain in Hong Kong after 1997. Restructuring has been carried out primarily by acquiring new enterprises in its existing specialised areas of retail, manufacturing, telecommunications, media and services and reducing interests in property, energy, finance and investment. This has been accompanied by its expansion into southern China where it has focused on infrastructure development, steps which have built on its Chinese credentials — clan origins and personal connections.     

不同品种芸薹属蔬菜吸收累积镉的差异

采用温室土培盆栽试验方法,研究北京地区普遍种植的18种十字花科芸薹属蔬菜在模拟镉污染土壤上吸收累积镉的特征,结果表明：在土壤镉浓度为20mg/kg时,芸薹属不同类蔬菜及同类蔬菜的不同品种之间吸收和累积镉能力存在显著差异,大白菜北京小杂55地上部镉含量最高,达61.4mg/kg,而芥蓝香港白花中只有18.6 mg/kg,两者之间相差3倍以上;不同品种蔬菜地上部吸镉量和对土壤镉的富积系数也差异显著,最高吸镉量是最低吸镉量的5倍,大白菜北京小杂55的富积系数高达3.07,而芥蓝香港白花和菜薹金秋红2号只有0.93和0.97,均小于1。在镉污染的蔬菜地上选择种植低积累镉的蔬菜品种是生产符合食品安全农产品的重要措施。     

粮食主销区水稻生产格局演变与影响因素的空间扰动研究——以广东为例

为了研究中国粮食生产受经济发展挤占的过程。本研究以全国最大粮食主销区广东省为例,利用空间自相关分析与SDM回归方法对121个县级区域进行空间计量分析,探讨近20年粮食生产变化与区域演变。结果表明：广东省粮食产量空间分布并非随机,而是呈现出逐渐增强的空间集聚性。粮食生产区域变迁受到劳动力转移与资本化的双重驱动,一方面,粮食生产依然是劳动力密集型产业,农业劳动力对粮食产出水平的支撑仍然是目前广东粮食主产区得以存在的主要条件;另一方面,资本进入农业通过推拉作用使粮食产业发生转移。本研究认为要重视粮食生产的地域格局特征对粮食生产政策制定的影响,一方面要科学划定粮食产销县,另一方面要审慎划定粮食和重要农产品生产功能区。     

Governing climate change in Hong Kong: Prospects for market mechanisms in the context of emissions trading in China

Hong Kong continues to struggle over which environmental governance approach is in its best interest while fulfilling its environmental obligations. With regard to climate change, Hong Kong's approach is characterised by a passive form of governance that is highly dependent on China's national policy directions. This is reflected, for example, in Hong Kong having not set its own mitigation targets. Market mechanisms have received little attention in developing a city‐wide climate change strategy. A transformative impulse, China's national emissions trading scheme, may provide momentum to a market‐based approach. However, the necessary conditions for such a market mechanism to be successfully implemented in China remain relatively undeveloped. This raises question about early participation by Hong Kong. Direct benefits are likely to be limited, due to Hong Kong's economic structure and weak demand for emissions reduction. Besides, there are regulatory barriers to enforcing emissions targets and/or recognising emissions allowances and credits from China. We therefore argue that nationwide emissions trading may, at this time, present more challenges than opportunities for Hong Kong to leverage its efforts on climate change mitigation. An alternative is to promote voluntary emissions trading that will require active involvement and leadership by businesses.     

Place,identity and immigrant communities: The organisation of the Yulan Festival in post‐war Hong Kong

Abstract: In the process of migration, some traditions persist while others do not. The Yulan Festival, also known as the Ghost Festival, continues to be observed by different subethnic Chinese migrant groups in Hong Kong for a variety of reasons. Although the festival organisation accentuates subethnic distinctions, paradoxically it also enables different groups to integrate into the larger community. The activities articulate various meanings of ‘place’– as ‘ancestral place’ on the mainland where
the rituals are believed to originate, as the specific locality/neighbourhood in Hong Kong where the festival is held, and Hong Kong as a whole. This article, based on interviews with Chiu Chow and Hoklo participants, shows how they think of the different meanings of ‘place’, which in turn reflects the way they make sense of the process of migration.     

中国芦笋栽培研究进展及展望

芦笋是一种食药兼用型蔬菜,中国芦笋栽培面积和出口量居世界首位。随着劳动力成本的增加,传统的粗放式栽培与劳动密集型生产模式制约了芦笋生产的发展。笔者从育苗、田间种植与管理、肥水运筹、病虫害防治、设施栽培模式等方面综述了中国芦笋栽培的研究进展。展望了中国芦笋产业的发展趋势,提出了新品种培育、无公害标准化栽培、机械化生产、延长产业链是芦笋产业持续发展的根本途径。     

Cross‐border ‘Traffic’: Stories of dangerous victims,pure whores and HIV/AIDS in the experiences of mainland female sex workers in Hong Kong

Abstract: In recent years, dramatically increasing numbers of mainland Chinese women have entered Hong Kong to engage in sexual labour. Public discourses on the threat of HIV/AIDS increasingly locate these women's bodies as sites of danger, colluding with pre‐existing imaginations of mainland rural women as ignorant, desperate and deceptive in representing these women's penetration of Hong Kong's border as a primary means of infection of the Hong Kong body. Drawing on state, media and popular representations, and the narratives of female sex workers themselves, this paper examines the interwoven bio‐medical, gendered, sexual and cross‐border relationships that intersect in the experiences of mainland Chinese sex workers in Hong Kong. I argue that while images of disease and danger have been used to regulate these women's bodies, mainland female sex workers challenge these images by drawing on other popular stereotypes of mainland women as pure, feminine and traditional. Although images of the related but still ‘other’ figure of the mainland Chinese woman are powerful mechanisms for the regulation of these women's bodies, mainland female sex workers skilfully use inherent tensions in those images in resisting that control and in struggling to achieve their own personal and economic goals.     

Transnationalism through the life course: Hong Kong immigrants in Canada

Abstract: Transnationalism needs to be understood as a set of practices fashioned through the life course as well as in relation to contextual factors that include state policy and experiences of discrimination that affect entry to the labour force. The paradox of transnationalism is that families make strategic decisions to separate in order to maintain family unity and to advance the welfare of children. Emigrants from Hong Kong to Canada in the latter decades of the twentieth century were motivated by concern for family welfare and the quality of education in Canada. Yet economic livelihood prospects remained greater in Hong Kong than in Canada, prompting many families to become transnational ‘astronaut’ families with one or more members working in Hong Kong. Migration decisions tend to occur around key points of life‐course transition involving entry to and graduation from education, and entry to and exit from the labour force. Transnational practices are complex and multigenerational, involving different patterns for young adults, those in their middle years and the elderly.     

陕西饮食文化与香港饮食文化的比较研究

以香港和陕西两地大学生就中国传统饮食文化与现代饮食营养论坛上交流为契机,通过讨论陕西和香港各自的饮食习惯和文化,进而比较研究了两地饮食文化的异同,并运用现代营养学的眼光对其进行粗浅地分析,为促进中国食文化的继承和发扬作出贡献。     

Hainan Island

Geographical location Hainan Province is the solely tropical island province of China, administrating Hainan main island,the islets and reefs of Xisha, Nansha, Zhongsha and their surrounding waters. Hainan Province lies in the central part of     

Shenzhen in China's Financial Center Networks

Shenzhen, China, aspires to be an international financial center; however, its financial sector occupies an anomalous position in China's networks. The sector is tightly integrated into mainland networks, and Shenzhen's local banks provide access to Hong Kong's networks. Nonetheless, the city's proximity to Hong Kong, the Asia‐Pacific center of financial networks, confers few incremental benefits compared to those received by other mainland centers. The proposed Qianhai financial district, which is to be a laboratory for opening China's capital accounts, does not differentially boost Shenzhen because other financial centers will be allowed to experiment. A network theory of financial centers provides the explanatory framework for interpreting Shenzhen in China's financial center networks. Empirical analyses focus on Shenzhen's network ties with the Mainland and with Hong Kong. Shenzhen's future rests on the capacity of its financial firms to participate in the networks of South China, as well as to operate across the Mainland.     

The Spatial Impact of Language Policies on the Marginal Bids for English Education in Hong Kong

In 1997 the government of Hong Kong reformed its policy on the language medium for teaching at the secondary‐school level and removed schools' right to choose their own medium. Among the 404 public and “aided” secondary schools in Hong Kong, the government allowed only 100 to use English as the medium for teaching and required the remaining 304 to use the native language, Chinese. The authors assess the spatial impact of the policy reform and estimate the bid function for English‐language schools. The results show that the 1997 policy reform shifted parental preferences from public to private education and increased the marginal bid for proximity to private English schools by 2 percent. Following the reform, homeowners were willing to pay, on average, HK $8,400 for each additional 100 metres closer to a private English school.     

A Study on Human Settlement Environment from View Point of Regional Culture

Culture is a basic element in human settlement environment.In this paper,considering the characters of progress in China's urban development in different stages,the urban culture is studied in respect of the age and space,then the connotation and development of regional culture are discussed.Through comparing the growth of Chongqing and Hong Kong cities,this paper presents a new idea for the study on Chinese urban development of modern times from the view point of regional culture.     

From followers to market leaders: Asian electronics firms in the global economy

Abstract: This paper aims to explain how a number of leading electronics firms from Asian newly industrialised economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan are articulated into global production networks and become major players in their respective market niches. Developing a triangular theoretical framework, I seek to explain the complex relationships between the dynamic articulation of these leading Asian electronics firms into different global production networks and their simultaneous upgrading from typical followers to market leaders. As a critique of the dominant developmental state discourse, I argue that the interplay between corporate strategies and home base advantages within the context of changing global production networks can offer a better explanation of the differentiated competitive outcomes of these Asian firms. This paper draws upon original data collected through personal interviews with top executives from leading electronics firms in the four Asian newly industrialised economies. I conclude the paper with some implications for theory and policy in relation to corporate development in Asian economies.     

柑橘不同品种对根癌农杆菌介导遗传转化的反应差异

以15种不同柑橘品种的胚性愈伤组织为材料,在已经建立的根癌农杆菌介导的愈伤组织转化体系的基础上,对不同品种进行转化实验。结果表明：在所用的15个柑橘品种的愈伤组织中,有12个可以获得不同程度的抗性愈伤组织,3个始终无法获得再生的抗性愈伤组织;品种之间呈显著差异。国庆一号、山金柑、明尼奥拉桔柚和纽荷尔脐橙4个品种为首次成功转化。     

China’s transport and communications firms: transforming national champions into global players

China’s entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) exposes its state‐owned maritime, aviation and telecommunications operators to unprecedented competition. This development raises a series of critical issues about China’s transition from a state‐planned regime towards a real market economy. How will China’s leading state‐owned firms in deep‐sea container shipping, air passenger transport and telecommunications respond to the dilemma posed by the World Trade Organisation and to what extent has Hong Kong been involved in China’s transport and communications restructuring process? These broad issues are addressed by examining progress on the Chinese Government’s post‐1993 plans to restructure each of the key state enterprises in sea‐land transport, air transport and telecommunications. Specifically we are concerned with the degree to which China’s national champions in these transport and communications arenas have been remade into global players. Particular attention is paid to the role of Hong Kong in this transformation since its return to China in 1997. Our studies show that China has transformed its national champions into a global players in container shipping. The process may be beginning to happen in air transport but has yet to get underway in telecommunications.     

城乡居民信息资源可获得性差异及其影响因素分析

信息资源作为农业生产首要要素,也是城乡融合发展的重要领域。在进一步加快城乡融合发展的进程中,了解城乡信息资源可获得性情况,具有重要的理论价值与现实意义。本研究基于全国31个省市自治区（除港、澳、台）的3296份城乡居民调研数据,对国内城乡信息资源可获得性差异及影响因素进行实证分析。研究结果表明,中国城乡居民信息资源可获得性差异较大,差异指数呈现出西部地区大于中部地区大于东部地区。城乡居民信息资源可获得性普遍受到性别、文化程度、家庭收入水平、网络接入以及信号强度因素的显著影响。应结合不同区域发展现状需求、不同居民特征,通过建立完善信息资源获取渠道、制定具有针对性的信息资源应用推广对策措施来加速推动城乡信息资源融合发展。     

解析“香港食物中残余除害剂规管方案”

为加强保障公众健康,提高香港食品的安全性,香港政府拟出台新的法例对食品和农产品中的化学品残留进行限制,实施严格的残留限量标准。本文从“香港食物中残余除害剂规管方案”的实施背景、具体内容和对内地供港食品和农产品贸易的影响进行简要分析,并就具体的应对措施作了进一步探讨。