The Qinba Mountain Area is a concentrated poverty-stricken area and an important place concerning ecological security. Thus, the green and circular development of this region is critical for the ecological civilization construction and overall poverty alleviation in China. This study aims to explore a green and circular development path for the Qinba Mountain Area and provide engineering support for green and innovative development and poverty alleviation in this region. By using inductive and deductive methods, this study introduces the ecological and strategic values of the Qinba Mountain Area and analyzes the challenges faced by ecological protection and regional coordination in this region. It further clarifies the general strategy and overall positioning of the green and circular development in this region, and proposes four specific paths, including an ecological protection path based on national parks, an industrial development path based on transformation and optimization, a space construction path based on ecological capacity, and a regional coordination path based on the win–win principle. We hope that this practice can play a demonstrative role in solving regional contradictions between ecology and poverty and in safeguarding social and ecological securities.
The green development of agricultural economy is a critical in promoting and coordinating ecological protection and economic development in the Qinba Mountain Area. To satisfy the research demand for green and circular development in this area, this study thoroughly analyzed the current situation of the agricultural economy, and summarizes the guiding ideology and strategical targets for the green development of the agricultural economy. Meanwhile, some innovative paths were elaborated from the aspects of agricultural development policy, large-scale land management, directional flow of talents and capital, technological upgrading for rural industries, promotion of labor quality, industry integration, and establishment of the World-Famous Mountain brand. Specifically, some guarantee measures were proposed, including promoting the common understanding and academic studies on regional development, implementing large-scale, branded, and specialized agricultural operation by demonstration, setting up a financial mechanism suitable for rural industries, transforming the functions of local governments, optimizing the role of rural-level organizations, and balancing the space for urban and rural development. Moreover, a specialized economic zone for green economy development should be established in the Qinba Mountain Area, and the ecological system should be innovated to guide the sustainable development of the society, economy, and ecology in this region.
This study discusses the coordination targets and spatial patterns in the Qinba Mountain Area, and aims to provide a reference in terms of regional, spatial, and strategic coordination paths for ecological protection in the core hinterland and green development in the peripheral urban areas in the same area. An induction and deduction method is adopted. We first draw lessons from related areas in China and abroad; analyze the special values, development foundations, and strategic missions of the Qinba Mountain Area; and then explore the coordinated development paths and the spatial coordination patterns for this area. Furthermore, we propose that the Qinba Mountain Area should be constructed into a demonstration zone for national ecological protection and characteristic innovation, and the regional coordination in the Qinba Mountain Area should be incorporated into the targets of a national strategy. A spatial coordination pattern based on a “green heart” model and networked city clusters is also proposed. The green development of the Qinba Mountain Area should be coordinated with the surrounding urban areas, thus to establish a spatial coordination pattern that reflects both the ecological features of this area and the characteristics of the information era, and finally a win-win situation in both ecological protection and green development can be achieved.
The Qinba mountainous area is one of the 11 contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China and has remarkable ecological values. It is significant to push higher quality development in this region. Based on a systematic investigation on economic and social development in regional cities, this study made a quantitative analysis on spatial correlation and industrial structure similarity among cities with different levels of development surrounding the Qinba mountainous area. The results reveal that the core cities in this region play a relatively weak role in stimulating the development of surrounding areas and have almost no interaction with the underdeveloped areas; the high industry homogeneity has become the bottleneck restricting the endogenous economic growth; and the ecological screen function of the Qinba mountainous area has been excessively “fragmented” due to the development pattern based on jurisdiction, resulting in increasingly serious ecological problems. In view of this, this study suggests that we should focus on the integrity of the Qinba Mountain ecosystem, change the idea of development, break the administrative restrictions, strengthen the toplevel design and strategic guidance at the national level, and promote the higher quality development of the Qinba mountainous area in a more synergy way.
The security and sustainable development of water resources is crucial for the green and circular development of the Qinba Mountain Area, and is of great significance in seeking paths for regional green and circular development. This paper summarizes the current status in the Qinba Mountain Area from the aspects of water-conserving society construction, drinking water security in rural areas, water resource fee-to-tax reform, and pilot water-right construction; it also analyzes the problems in terms of water source use, water use awareness, pollution control, and resource reforms. Based on national government plans, an overall development strategy is proposed as placing a high priority on saving water resources, improving the policies on water resource economy, and focusing on science and technology support. The corresponding strategic countermeasures for the sustainable development of water resource economy are listed as: implementing the policies for water saving and increasing the utilization of unconventional water sources; improving the construction of sewage treatment facilities and strengthening the security of drinking water in rural areas; comprehensively promoting the reform of water fee system and expediting the construction of water rights system; establishing novel development models for the water resource economy by relying on the resource advantages. The sustainable development of the water resource economy in the Qinba Mountain Area will be supported by coordinated management of water resources, water environment, water ecology, water industry, and water culture.
This paper summarizes the current situation and characteristics of the economic and social development of the Qinba Mountain Area, and proposes that it is necessary to establish an overall strategic goal for the development of modern industries under strong ecological conditions of this region. It also probes into a coordinated and sustainable development mode between ecology and industry, and indicates the urgency, necessity, and feasibility for developing the strategic emerging and high-growth green industries in this region. Furthermore, a spatial pattern of “one circle, multiple axes, one network, and two regions” as well as a dynamic mode of “two-way gradient development and coordination between ecology and industry” are studied; an industrial development evaluation system comprising evaluation indicators, industrial type screening, and technology assessment is proposed; industrial distribution principles, the industrial layout of regional collaboration clusters around the Qinba Mountain Area, and the industrial correlation effects are expounded. Moreover, some suggestions are proposed, including developing a green economy, establishing a cross-regional cooperation mechanism, providing talents for the development, increasing the input of green capitals, actively combining the green industry with rural revitalization, cultivating social enterprises and institutional entrepreneurs, and exerting the role of the market mechanism to promote the integrated development of the green industry.
The solution of regional problems depends on the cooperation among local governments within the same region. Currently, cooperation among local governments in the Qinba Mountain area is inadequate; it lacks systematic planning and overall ideas and has a narrow scope; and overlap in governance and lack of policy coordination between the local governments have markedly constrained the sustainable development of the economy and ecology in the Qinba Mountain Area. To solve these problems, this study proposes a three-level cooperative governance system based on the theory of inter-organizational cooperation networks; analyzes the successful experiences of co-governance in the Yangtze River Basin; and proposes some suggestions, including strengthening overall planning, establishing a specialized agency for coordination at the national level, giving full play to the leading and practicing role of regional key construction projects in cooperative governance, and promoting personnel exchanges among local governments within this area. This study is hoped to provide references for establishing a coordinated governance mechanism among local governments in the Qinba Mountain Area and meanwhile improving their governance effectiveness.
The Qinba Mountain area is an important area for biodiversity protection and water conservation in China, and also an important water source for the South-to-North Water Transfer Project. Mountains and rivers are intertwined in this region, and the hydrological process is closely related to the mountainous environment, showing a typical trend of basin development. This study analyzed the current situation and existing problems in the urban and rural space development in this region, and elaborated the necessity of basin development. Meanwhile, we defined the basin order framework and five-level basin division in the Qinba Mountain Area, from the perspective of basin analysis and based on the delineation of multi-scale basin basement. The urban and rural space development strategy in the Qinba Mountain Area is proposed, namely an urban and rural structure based on basin ecology management and control, an urban and rural pattern guided by green transformation of basins, and collaborative management and control centering on interactive development of basins. The results show that basin is a typical ecological unit in the Qinba Mountain Area and is highly coupled with the urban and rural space development. Urban and rural space planning and institutional control based on basins is conductive to the green development of the Qinba Mountain Area.
The ecological security pattern in the Qinba Mountain Area plays a key role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem structure and regulating the ecological process in central China. Constructing a sound ecological security pattern is also an effective measure for ensuring ecological security in the Qinba Mountain Area. This study assesses the importance of four ecological service functions in the Qinba Mountain Area, namely water conservation, species diversity, ecological carbon fixation, and soil conservation. It then assigns weight to these four ecological services according to their proportion in the value of ecological assets. Based on the results of an ecosystem sensitivity analysis and the source-sink theory for landscape ecology, ecological sources of the Qinba Mountain Area are identified using optimized hot spot analysis. Moreover, potential ecological corridors are identified using the minimum cumulative resistance model; strip corridors and stepping stone corridors are further formed according to the river system, the distribution characteristics of key species, and the distribution of nature reserves in this region. Finally, the ecological security pattern of the Qinba Mountain Area is formed, including 6 important ecological patches, 10 river corridors, 2 biological channels, and 26 stepping stone corridors. This study is conducted based on the current situation of ecosystem services and can provide an important basis for the planning and layout of national parks, regional ecological protection and planning, as well as ecological civilization construction in the Qinba Mountain Area.
To solve the contradiction between ecological protection and the urgent need of improving people’s livelihood in the Qinba Mountain Area, current situation of traditional industries in this area and the problems affecting the development of traditional industries are analyzed, and countermeasures for the transformation of traditional industries in the Qinba mountain Area is proposed. We propose that governments in this Area should take high-quality development as the goal, highlight regional comparative advantages, and focus on innovative, clustering, service-oriented, and green development. Characteristic industries should be vigorously developed according to regional advantages, e.g., special local products processing industry, traditional Chinese medicine industry, silk and linen textile and clothing industry, aquatic industry, air industry, health care for the elderly, health maintenance, and leisure tourism industry. Manufacturing industries should be upgraded by improving quality and efficiency, such as aviation, CNC machine tools, automobiles and parts, new materials, and high-tech electronics. High energy-consuming and high pollution industries should be strictly restricted, including coal, minerals, building materials, metallurgy, and heavy chemical industry.
The Qinba Mountain Area is the source of many important rivers in China and possess abundant natural, historical, and cultural resources related to rivers. In recent years, actions have been taken to restore the natural state of rivers in this area such as banning small hydropower stations in nature reserves, and integrated river management has been emphasized in this area. This paper analyzes the natural and scenic values of rivers in the Qinba Mountain Area, highlights the shortcomings of the existing protected area system in the aspect of river protection, summarizes the favorable conditions of river management, and proposes preliminary suggestions for the protection of natural and scenic values of rivers in the Qinba Mountain Area, including investigating river resources; conducting river protection and restoration based on river classification; building river protected areas, improving management mechanism and legislative guarantee; and strengthening community co-construction.
To guarantee the ecologic function supply in central China, such as biodiversity and water conservation, the ecological spatial pattern in the Qinba Mountain Area should be optimized; specifically, the spatial system of protected areas centering on national parks need to be improved and implemented. This study spatially identifies the main ecological corridors in the Qinba Mountain Area by analyzing suitable habitat conditions of indicator species and using minimum cost path calculation, and then clarifies the protection gaps according to the distribution of existing protected areas. It is suggested that a Funiu Mountain National Park should be built in this area and a Qinling National Park should be established covering the Shaanxi Province area of the existing Panda National Park. By this means, the spatial layout of four National Parks is formed in this area. On this basis, natural parks of other types can be newly built to further improve the existing gaps in the protection of important rare species and water sources.
This study aims to solve some practical problems existing in the Qinba Mountain Area including the scattered spatial distribution of rural residents, its prominent contradiction with the nature reserves, the outflow of rural population, the weak industrial economy, and the loss of environmental characteristics. Based on the idea of constructing a reserved natural area system centering on national parks, the development path of rural revitalization and differentiated development modes are proposed, which accord with regional features and coordinate protection with development. A rural revitalization strategy suitable for the Qinba Mountain Area is also actively explored through specific measures, including adjustment of rural residential space, development of rural green industry, construction of rural characteristic landscape, and improvement of rural service system. The research results reveal that coordinated and sustainable development of ecological protection, cultural heritage, and rural revitalization can be realized in the Qinba Mountain Area by effectively coordinating the development relationship between villages and nature reserves.
Community-based co-management (CBCM) is considered as an effective approach to coordinate the relations between ecological conservation and sustainable development. This study aims to provide suggestions for optimizing the CBCM system of protected areas in the Qinba Mountain Area by analyzing the coordinated paths, successful experiences, and current issues of typical CBCM cases. By literature review, field investigation, expert interviews, and comparative case studies, we thoroughly analyzed five typical CBCM cases in protected areas in the Qinba Mountain Area, namely Jiuzhaigou, Tangjiahe, Zhuhuan, Taibaishan, and Baishuijiang Nature Reserves. We also summarized 12 coordination approaches of CBCM from the perspectives of government, market, and society; and found 4 successful experiences (leading by government, adopting multiple approaches, reflecting regional characteristics, and making mechanism innovation) as well as 4 major issues (i.e., incomplete eco-industry, low capability of communities, unrecognized eco-cultures, and insufficient state support). At the theoretical level, we analyzed CBCM from three dimensions, namely equity vs. efficiency, centralization vs. decentralization, and public benefits vs. private interests. And at the practical level, we provided policy recommendations at national, regional, and protected area levels.
As a fundamental industry of national economy, the forestry industry plays an increasingly important role in ecological construction. This paper systematically introduces the current situation of the forestry industry in the Qinba Mountain Area, and analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the forestry industry. The paper uses expert questionnaires and principal component analysis to identify the factors that have great impacts on the forestry industry in the Qinba Mountain Area, so as to provide a scientific basis for the formulation of the forestry industry development strategy. The research reveals that the threat of ecological environment problems, the disadvantage of low intensive level, the opportunity of ecotourism development, and resource advantages have major impacts on the development of forestry industry in the Qinba Mountain Area. Therefore, the Qinba Mountain Area should focus on ecological construction, make use of its location and resource advantages to develop characteristic industries, optimize the industrial structure, and accelerate the development of forest tourism, thus to promote the high-quality development of the local forestry industry.
As an important means of obtaining information resources, space-based information systems, which serve national defense and economic construction, are developing in the direction of integration, dynamic, real-time, and intelligent. Based on the long-term development of China’s aerospace sector, this paper conducts detailed review and summary of the development status of international space-based information systems by literature research and expert consultation, and analyzes the development of Chinese policies, industries, equipment, and technology in this field. And the future development trend of space-based information systems is summarized. This paper focuses on analyzing the shortcomings of domestic space-based information systems, involving institutional mechanisms, policy guarantees, technical capabilities, and industrial development. The research suggests that we need to improve the institutional mechanism to coordinate the space-based information system resources, consummate laws and regulations to guide the development of space-based systems industry, stress technical innovations, and innovate development concepts to build space-based information real-time service systems.
Space infrastructure has become the core area of military, civil, and commercial integration. This study uses literature research and intelligence analysis to summarize the basic situation and development trend of the space infrastructure in the United States, and thoroughly analyze the military, civil, and commercial integration from the aspects of top-level strategy, policies and regulations, as well as organizational management. Several successful experiences are summarized, hoping to provide a beneficial reference for the planning and construction of the space infrastructure in China. To promote the military, civil, and commercial integration in the space infrastructure field, China should make overall planning at the national level; set up a specialized agency to coordinate agencies related to space infrastructure construction and application; strengthen the research and development of satellite application technologies to lay the technological foundation for equipment development; and improve the policy and law system to provide policy guarantee.
The medical specialty catalogue is of great significance for promoting the development of the medical discipline and cultivating qualified medical talents; therefore, a comprehensive and scientific medical specialty catalogue becomes even more important in the context of constructing first-class disciplines in colleges and universities. To promote the progressive development of medical disciplines in China, this research sorted out the medical specialty category by literature analysis, and systematically compared the features and category of medical specialty among the U.S. and the U.K. and China. Several major problems are raised as follow: non-uniform medical specialty and sub-specialty category, outdated arrangement of specialties in quantities and content, premature entry into sub-specialty training, inconsistent categories with standardized residential training, etc. To tackle the problems above, this research suggests that the medical specialty category should be in track with global standard, unified with interdisciplinary approach, and standardized admission and exit criteria be set up, which will prepare future qualified health professionals and promote the advancement of medical disciplines.
Very small modular reactors (vSMRs) have become the focus of attention due to its great potential in land battlefield energy supply. It has the characteristics of flexible mobility, rapid energy supply, obvious cost advantages, and high safety. The problems of large fuel consumption, resupply difficulties, high costs and risks in the Iraqi and Afghan battlefields have led the US military to re-examine the use of vSMR in operational energy supply. This article starts with the historical process of the US Army’s development of vSMRs, and introduces representative types of vSMRs at present; then the author systematically analyzes the application scenarios, use mode, main advantages, and challenges of mobile nuclear power plants (MNPP) based on the vSMR technology. The research suggests that China should actively demonstrate the military applications of vSMR, and explore its use modes in different areas such as fixed installations, mobile battlefields, and overseas operations based on national conditions and military conditions. Taking the military demand as the traction, China should strengthen the military−civilian coordination in tackling key problems and accelerate the application of vSMR technology.