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I am currently studying sustainable development, and I choose to study China for the topic, Beijing in particular. Unfortunately, the sources I found are parroting “China bad!!” narrative. Are there any good sources that tells the truth instead?
Here’s something interesting that shows just how timely this topic is:
This was just discussed at the latest session of China’s National People’s Congress a few days ago:
China to drive full green transition and build a Beautiful China during 15th Five-Year Plan period
It really seems to be one of the top priorities for the Chinese government at the moment.
Some general articles:
China’s green development: A model for global sustainability
China’s Sustainable Development and Green Economy
Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality China’s Plans and Solutions
Evaluating China’s Sustainable Development Policies: A Comprehensive Review
Green is Gold: Clear Waters and Green Mountains are as Good as Mountains of Gold and Silver
Eco-Tech Revolution: China’s 2025 Blueprint for Sustainable Innovation
China, South-South Cooperation and Supporting Green Development
“Greening” China: An analysis of Beijing’s sustainable development strategies
China’s Green Ambition: Forest Expansion, Energy Efficiency, And Bold Carbon Goals
China’s sustainable development evolution and its driving mechanism
Pathways and enhanced evaluation system for green low-carbon development across diverse Chinese regions
China’s Green Development in the New Era
And for Beijing specifically:
Sustainable Development of the Economic Circle around Beijing: A View of Regional Economic Disparity
Integrating Ecosystem Services Into Assessments of Sustainable Development Goals: A Case Study of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, China
Sustainable Urbanisation and Community Well-Being in Suburban Neighbourhoods in Beijing, China
The Modernization Logic of Green Development in the Beijing Ecological Conservation Area: A Review
Harmony between Humanity and Nature in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration during Decadal Development
A decade of historic struggle against air pollution in Beijing
Actually there is a ton of scientific literature on this topic especially from Chinese academia. I had to stop myself from going too deep down the rabbit hole because i’d be giving you far too many specialized papers to read otherwise.
I wouldn’t mind tbh. I’m studying Chinese system and how to incorporate into my country—reality check: We can’t as long as those comprador crony capitalists with theocracic characteristics keep occupying the government.
In that case the best advice i can give is to get a good translation software so you can read Chinese academic papers, because the best resources you can find are all written in Chinese. Good English language sources are hard to find, since there is a big anti-China bias in the West even in academia.
Would using Baidu for the search help me?
Probably. Anything but Google honestly, because Google is extremely curated to almost exclusively display pro-Western sources. Yandex is usually my go-to alternative.
But the language you search in also makes a big difference. Even on Baidu if you search in English you will probably get a lot of English language results, and English language sources are going to be dominated by a pro-Western bias.
Yes there are good sources to be found in English too but the numbers are stacked against you with so much garbage out there in the Anglophone media. On politically charged topics i mean.
Whereas when i search in Russian on Yandex for example, i get a set of results with noticeably less of them reflecting the Western narratives. It’s just a matter of overcoming the language barrier, which is fortunately not too difficult nowadays.
And of course you are more likely to get serious scientific articles if you search the actual scientific journals and academic publications rather than some propaganda piece put out by an NGO or a think tank.
Thank you comrade!
What a goldmine, thank you comrade!
“China is moving towards green energy, reducing their pollution and reliance on fossil fuels, but at what cost?..”
Replying because I’m also interested. Hoping to boost this a bit
Literally this. Even my supervisor wasn’t fond of my choice. He told me to choose Tokyo, Seoul or Singapore instead.
Your choice is great. None of those cities have made as much progress as fast as Beijing has made compared to how things used to be there just 20 years ago. Even western media had to admit how drastic the difference in air quality is nowadays and how much of a success story Beijing has been in terms of cleaning up the environment. Even the water is so much cleaner nowadays and there are countless parks and green spaces. You can literally see it: https://english.beijing.gov.cn/specials/livablegreenbeijing/index.html
It’s one of the most liveable cities in the world now. I know a lot of westerners are infatuated with the more flashy, hyper-modern cities in China like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Chongqing, and so on, but for me the urban planning in Beijing is just on another level.