As the international political and economic situation has been undergoing profound changes, achieving regional coordinated development is essential for China to form a new development pattern dominated by the domestic economic cycle. The Bole-Taipei Line, which is perpendicular to the Hu Huanyong Line and is proposed by Professor Fang Chuanglin in February 2020, has the potential to be an appropriate representative of the coordinated and balanced line of China's regional development. By investigating the spatio-temporal distribution of greenhouse gas emissions among 338 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2015, and making use of the Theil index and the Gini coefficient that are appropriate for measuring the spatial equality on both sides of the Bole-Taipei Line and within the southwest and northeast parts, respectively, this paper attempts, for the first time, to underpin the scientific basis of the Bole-Taipei Line as China's regional coordinated development line. We find that: (1) Overall emissions of the carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and fluorinated greenhouse gas show a balanced distribution on both sides of the Bole-Taipei Line, and there are small regional differences in sectoral CO₂ emission intensity and per capita CO₂ emissions. (2) There is a generally balanced distribution of greenhouse gas emission intensity and per capita emissions, as well as the sectoral CO₂ emission intensity and per capita emissions within the southwest and northeast parts of the Bole-Taipei Line. The industrial and agricultural sectors serve as the major emitters of greenhouse gases and therefore require a low-carbon transition towards a more balanced distribution of greenhouse gas emissions on both sides of the Bole-Taipei Line. In conclusion, the greenhouse gas emissions as a measure of the magnitude of human activities on both sides of the Bole-Taipei Line are relatively balanced, which has justified the scientific robustness and rationality of the Bole-Taipei Line as a strategic line for socioeconomic development, and provided novel insights into China's regional coordinated development.

Discovering the inherent mechanisms between water cycle process and carbon emissions in urban water system is of important theoretical and practical significance for promoting water-energy conservation and low-carbon optimization. From the perspective of "water-energy-carbon" nexus, a theoretical framework and a series of calculation methods of carbon emissions within urban water system were established in this study. Based on statistical data from 2008 to 2017 and data obtained through questionnaires, the carbon emissions of water system in Zhengzhou city were calculated according to the energy consumptions of each subsystem. The characteristics of water-energy-carbon nexus in water system were demonstrated, based on which further analysis was made under different scenarios of carbon emission reduction potential. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Water system of Zhengzhou city involves various subsystems, including water intake, water supply, water use, and wastewater treatment. The carbon emissions of urban water system were not only influenced by the amount of water supply and use, but also affected by the mode and distance of water delivery, energy type, structure and efficiency of operation facilities, and terminal use in each subsystem. Water use subsystem was the main source of carbon emissions, indicating that the main reason for the growth of carbon emissions was the increasing water demands driven by urban expansion and population growth. (2) There exist huge differences in carbon emission composition and intensity, as well as the temporal changing trends of carbon emissions among different water subsystems in Zhengzhou. Specifically, the intensity of energy consumption and carbon emissions of water intake and water use increased obviously, while it was relatively stable in water supply and wastewater treatment. Attentions should be paid to the increase of energy consumption of water intake and water use system, especially the increase of carbon emissions caused by long distance water supply and the reuse of raw sewage. (3) The different characteristics of "water-energy-carbon" nexus of different subsystems of water system in Zhengzhou were mainly affected by changes of water use, water treatment methods and processes, residential water use habits, water conservation awareness, natural conditions, and climate change. (4) In the future, water system efficiency should be improved to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Effective measures include urban industrial and domestic water saving, water treatment process improvement, water saving promotion, water system optimization, low-carbon management, and energy efficiency improvement.

County is the pivotal platform and region unit to realize the new-type urbanization. The study of county-level CO₂ emissions is of great significance to improve China's urbanization strategy, accelerate the achievement of ecological civilization and low-carbon transformation. Based on the data of China's county-level CO₂ emissions from 2000 to 2017, this paper analyzed the overall tendency, regional differences, spatiotemporal pattern and agglomeration characteristics of per capita CO₂ emissions. Meanwhile, under the STIRPAT model and EKC hypothesis, this study employed the panel quantile regressions to explain the dynamic impact of socio-economic development on per capita CO₂ emissions. The main conclusions show that: (1) China's county-level CO₂ emissions show an increasing trend of rapid growth followed by slow growth. The regional disparity of per capita CO₂ emissions is distinct and shows a more uneven trend. (2) On the whole, China's county-level CO₂ emissions present a spatial pattern of "high in the north and low in the south". The per capita CO₂ emissions level in economically developed areas is much higher than that in other areas, thus brings about an obvious spatial polarization effect. (3) There is a significant positive spatial correlation of per capita CO₂ emissions within counties. The number of counties with High-High concentration gradually increases and the distribution center gradually moves to Northwest China, while the number of Low-Low concentration counties decreases continuously and they were mainly distributed in the central and southern regions. The agglomeration type of county-level per capita CO₂ emissions presents a spatial locking effect. (4) Population density and government expenditure have an inhibitory effect on county-level per capita CO₂ emissions, while the scale of secondary industry output value and carbon emission intensity have significant promotive influence. And there is an inverted "N-shaped" relationship between economic development and per capita CO₂ emissions in the counties with low- and middle-level emissions. The adjustment of socio-economic development structure plays a critical role in achieving China's total CO₂ emission reduction target. Therefore, the policy makers of emission reduction strategy should consider the regional disparity to realize the development and transformation of backward counties. And the key urban agglomerations should play a leading role in carbon emission reduction simultaneously. In addition, improving energy use efficiency through technological innovation should be the key way to the reduction of carbon emissions in China's counties at the present stage.

Social upgrading refers to the process of improvement in the quality of employment and securing basic rights of workers as social actors. It is an emerging hot research field of labour geographies in recent years. However, domestic human geography research has been mainly focused on economic upgrading with little attention paid to social upgrading. This paper fills the research gap by establishing a comprehensive index to quantitatively measure social upgrading and revealing the spatiotemporal pattern and driving factors of social upgrading in China since the mid-1990s, using spatial analysis methods and quantitative models. Main findings of the paper include: (1) Social upgrading in China was improved, with its social upgrading index increasing from 0.358 to 0.445 during 1996-2017. (2) The eastern coastal area is the main upgrading area, especially the three urban agglomerations of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta and Peral River Delta. (3) Regional differences of social upgrading among the eastern, central and western regions were narrowed and the differentiation of development rates was alleviated. The central and western regions have been catching up with their eastern partner, despite that the coastal provinces will continue to be the leading areas for social upgrading in China. (4) Factors, including economic development, industrial innovation, economic globalization, labor skill level and state governance, have significant effects in driving regional social upgrading. The effects of these factors are not simply positive or negative in terms of their relationship with social upgrading, suggesting the complexity of social upgrading processes and global-local impacts on it. It is argued that economic growth does not necessarily bring about social upgrading. Rather, promoting social upgrading depends on the improvement in the quality of economic development. The paper contributes to the literature by providing a quantitative framework for analyzing social upgrading at the macro-level and advancing the understanding of geographical differences and driving mechanisms of social upgrading. The paper concludes by proposing some policies for promoting social upgrading and high-quality development in China and discussing its implications for future research.

Improving total factor productivity (TFP) in the manufacturing industry is essential to implementing China's manufacturing power strategy. In this study, we employed the super-efficiency SBM model, standard deviational ellipse, spatial autocorrelation, and the geographic weighted regression (GWR) to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution and influencing factors of TFP in China's manufacturing industry from 2002 to 2016. The main conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) During the study period, the overall trend of TFP in China's manufacturing industry showed an upward tendency of fluctuation, with an increase from 0.58 in 2002 to 0.80 in 2016. (2) The center of the gravity of TFP in China's manufacturing industry showed a "southwest-northeast-northwest" spatial evolution pattern, with its moving distance and speed gradually shrinking. The standard deviation ellipse was mainly located in central and eastern China with its distribution pattern shifting from northeast-southwest to true north-south while tending to scatter in the northeast-southwest direction and polarized in the southeast-northwest direction. The turning angle showed a trend of "shrinking-increasing-shrinking". (3) The positive spatial correlation of TFP in China's manufacturing industry gradually weakened during the study period. High-high agglomeration areas were mainly concentrated in coastal provinces and cities of eastern China such as Jiangsu and Shanghai, while low-low agglomeration areas were mainly in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan. (4) There are obvious spatial heterogeneities in the factors influencing the TFP of China's manufacturing industry. Financial development is the leading factor in the improvement of manufacturing TFP. Opening-up, industrial agglomeration, and transportation infrastructure have a positive effect on the TFP in the manufacturing industry, while the level of informatization has a restraining influence.

Owing to the multiple influences of globalization, urbanization, industrialization, and informatization, rural regional space has experienced the process of reconstruction. Focusing on the analysis of the internal mechanism of rural reconstruction driven by the internet economy, this study selected Lirendong Village in Panyu District of Guangzhou, the most active Taobao trading village in the Pearl River Delta, as a typical case. We had an in-depth analysis of the process and internal mechanism of the reconstruction of typical Taobao villages in the Pearl River Delta metropolitan area through semi-structured interviews and the actor-network theory analysis framework. The study demonstrated that the key actors, such as local government, clothing workshop, village committee, e-commerce entrepreneurs, and social networks of fellow villagers, participate in the pursuit and realization of land value in the village according to their goal vision and action logic. Furthermore, these actors jointly evolve and construct the actor-network process of periodic industrial succession and spatial value accumulation in Taobao villages. The process has gone through the stage of agricultural decentralization led by the government, the industrialization stage dominated by the market, and the stage of e-commerce dominated by the social network of fellow towns people. Government subject, market subject, and social subject constitute the core driving force. They are linked together by providing benefits, and rural reconstruction practice is carried out according to the political, market, and elite logic. The reconstruction results in the change in spatial-social relations related to the changes in the dynamic mechanism. The reconstruction is realized through the reshaping of space and the change of value, from exogenous driving force leading to endogenous driving force exhibition, thus initiating a new cycle of the space reconstruction process.