State-owned forestry enterprises (SOFEs) play an important role in the forestry economy in China. Understanding the eco-efficiency of their production is beneficial for the development of sustainable forestry and for achieving Goal 8 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Decent Work and Economic Growth. This paper assesses SOFEs' overall eco-efficiency by analyzing various undesirable outputs using the Slacks-Based Measure of efficiency in Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) model. Using basic data from 87 SOFEs in Northeast China from 2003 to 2016, this paper evaluated the eco-efficiency development level and spatial patterns of that region. The results show that SOFEs' low eco-efficiency was caused by low pure-technical efficiency. Regional differences in eco-efficiency were very significant and became larger, but a market-oriented reform might help to improve such efficiency. The eco-efficiency of SOFEs was in decline from 2003 to 2016 due to the implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP). However, due to a relative lack of production factor inputs, most SOFEs' scale returns are now increasing. In the future, efforts should be made to promote market-oriented reforms and take the path of large-scale development.

Central Asia borders China and was the first stop of China’s opening to the west. Studying the evolving status of agricultural products in the global value chain since China and Kyrgyzstan established diplomatic relations in 1992 can facilitate China’s “Belt and Road“ initiative and strengthen agricultural cooperation. Based on FAOSTAT and UN Comtrade data, this paper classifies agricultural products into three categories: primary agricultural products, rough-processed agricultural products, and deep-processed industrial products. An indicator system was constructed for measuring the status of agricultural products in the global value chain. Using the results of the NET trade index, this paper analyzed the evolving status of Chinese and Kyrgyzstani agricultural products in the global value from 1995 to 2020. The results showed that the status of Chinese and Kyrgyzstani primary agricultural products has continued to decline, with Kyrgyzstan slightly better than China. The status of Chinese rough-processed agricultural products was slowly declining, while Kyrgyzstan’s status dropped sharply by 2020. China has a solid foundation in deep-processed agricultural products, while Kyrgyzstan’s status was relatively low. Suggestions for future cooperation between China and Kyrgyzstan are discussed, such as strengthening agricultural technology exchanges and cooperation, expanding trade in high-quality agricultural products, etc.

The state-owned forestry enterprises (SOFEs) are important producers of forest products in China, and their competitiveness depends largely on their labor productivity (LP). This article is the first to investigate the sources of LP growth and the convergence patterns of SOFEs in northeast China. Based on panel data from 87 SOFEs in northeast China from 2006 to 2018, this article has used the Cobb-Douglas production function to analyze the sources of LP growth, using three convergent methods to explore convergence patterns. The results show that there is a positive correlation between LP and an SOFE's ability to compete, and that both total factor productivity and capital-to-labor ratio significantly contribute to LP growth in all SOFEs of northeast China; however, the role of the quantity of labor was negative. On the whole, all SOFEs did not have σ-convergence in LP growth, but an absolute and a conditional β-convergence. Although the LP divergence between SOFEs in northeast China has not been narrowed, there has been a “catch-up effect” in LP growth. These results can help people understand the laws pertaining to LP growth among forest enterprises and also how they may reduce production costs, improving market competitiveness among forest products.