Search results for ""Author John W. Longworth""

China is emerging as an agribusiness giant. Domestic reforms and the readmission of China to GATT will integrate rapidly the massive Chinese agribusiness sector into international markets. China has already become a dominant player in world wool markets. Developments in relation to wool, therefore, are a harbinger of what is likely to happen in regard to many other agribusiness commodities. This book, published in collaboration with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), provides a detailed analysis of how the Chinese are reforming their wool marketing system. Wool is grown mainly by people of minority nationalities who are among the poorest in China and who live in the environmentally fragile pastoral region. As a result, wool markets have an impact on social, environmental and developmental issues as well as being of major relevance to China’s strategic and trade interests. This book, therefore, is concerned with many of the most difficult issues confronting Chinese society and its interaction with the world community. By examining these aspects of contemporary China through the case of wool, the authors provide first hand insights into the detailed impact of the economic reform process on particular social groups and institutions. Most of the earlier literature on economic reforms in China has concentrated on general economic reforms and sector-wide or industry-wide effects.

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China accounts for around one-eighth of the world's grassland and almost all of its grasslands are being degraded. The authors analyse how China is grappling with the complex ecological and livelihood problems these pastoral areas present. The sustainable development of these extremely poor, culturally sensitive, strategically important and extremely diverse western pastoral areas poses one of the foremost challenges confronting the Chinese government. This much-needed study provides a unique examination of the intricate web of policies and institutions that now impact on grassland degradation and sustainable development in China's pastoral region. Understanding this complex matrix and its impact on the management of people, livestock, grasslands, markets and industry structures is crucial in charting a way forward. The authors argue that the aim should be to manage these inter-locking complex systems in a manner that takes advantage of the opportunities that technology present to achieve sustainable use of the grasslands.Whilst their analysis is especially relevant to how China pursues the high priority national goal of 'Developing the West', it also reveals much about how China addresses other serious environmental problems that involve disadvantaged groups.With its multi-disciplinary approach, the book will be invaluable and fascinating reading for academics and researchers of Chinese studies, development studies, ecosystem sustainability and natural resource management. Based on extensive first-hand fieldwork in the grasslands over two decades, the practical detail in this book will also be warmly welcomed by consultants and officials in NGOs and other international agencies charged with planning and executing pastoral development projects in China, Central Asia and Mongolia.

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China is one of the world's largest developing agricultural countries and dominates the international livestock revolution in terms of its aggregate size and growth rate. While the sheep meat industry is still in the early stages of development, it is an excellent example of the upheaval taking place in Chinese agriculture. This book focuses on the growing sheep meat industry while drawing on associated research from other areas of the Chinese livestock section. Using this research, the authors use the sheep meat industry case study to illustrate the broader trends that apply more generally to the Chinese livestock sector, especially in the case of ruminant livestock.

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Exposed to powerful new economic forces, and undergoing dramatic ownership reforms and technological changes, China's industries are modernizing at a breakneck pace. In many industries, the outcomes have been chaotic and poorly aligned with societal objectives. This book analyses the transformation and modernization of China's industries through a detailed investigation of the wool and wool textile industries. The authors argue that to remain internationally competitive in the post WTO accession era, Chinese industries need to confront a critical new phase in the modernization process - that of improving management practices and industry co-ordination.Modernizing China's Industries is a comprehensive, integrated and in-depth investigation of industry transformation and modernization. The extensive first-hand research, across a range of industry segments and participants, spans almost two decades. The analysis reveals much about industry modernization and transition in China for a broad range of industries and therefore provides invaluable information for developing strategies and accessing opportunities within China.This book offers unique insights for academics and researchers in Asian studies, transition studies and industrial transformation, as well as policymakers and industry leaders interested in both the intricacies and mega-forces involved in China's industrial modernization. The comprehensive industry analysis also provides a valuable reference for professionals in the increasingly China-centric world of wool and wool textiles as well as offering insights for other textile industry professionals.

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