Wednesday, 8 September 2010, 3-5pm, ARC, Room V1009, Tower 2, LSE
Chair: Professor Athar Hussain, Director, Asia Research Centre, LSE
Seminar 1: Cultivated Land Conversion in China and the Potential for Food Security and Sustainability
Speaker: Dr Shunji Cui, Zhejiang University, British Academy Fellow, ARC
The Food issue has increasingly become a global security issue. The 2007/08 global food price crisis pushed tens of millions more people into hunger and poverty, with civil unrest flaring up in many places in the world. This situation was worsened by the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009. Around 1 billion people – a sixth of all humanity – were left hungry. Although China has been doing well in terms of feeding its population and reducing poverty levels, food security has become increasingly important to its political and even security agenda. The issue is generating major academic and policy debates. China is the world’s most populous nation and, if China were to face food insecurity, the impact on world food security would be devastating. China’s food security is affected by variety of elements, but loss of its cultivated land has especially critical implications for its food security.
Seminar 2: Capital Investment in Rural China: Government and Residents' Income
Speaker: Mr Rui Wang, Chongqing University, Visiting Doctoral Student, ARC
Since the economic reforms of the late 1970s, the Chinese government has undertaken extensive investment in rural development across all regions in order to increase rural household income. However, increases in household income have not kept pace with the level of investment. Moreover, in some regions the gap between investment and household income levels is wide. Using a three-stage DEA model, this paper will discuss the impact of investment in rural development across China by examining the relationship between investment and income levels in the eastern, middle and western regions in order to try understand such disparities between regions.
Reception
The Seminars will be followed by a Reception at the Asia Research Centre from around 5pm. To confirm a place at this seminar contact arc@lse.ac.uk|.