Mountain tourism allows visitors to experience landscapes that are distant from cities, yet the waste left around these landscapes may remain long after the visitors leave. This investigation examines a youth trash sweep conducted near Muztagh Ata in the beginning of August, 2026. It combines direct observation of the waste, its location, and the surrounding land use with academic studies and official waste-management guidance. Moreover, most visible items were consumer waste, especially beverage bottles and food packaging, while a smaller but noticeable group consisted of construction-related materials connected to a hotel being prepared nearby. Much of the waste was found away from the road and trapped in wet, muddy grass closer to the mountain. Its distribution suggests that wind had moved at least part of the lighter waste from the road and visitor stopping area, although the original source of each item could not be confirmed. The evidence indicates that travelers and passing visitors were probably the largest source, while nearby construction also contributed part of the waste. The trash sweep improved the site immediately, but it did not prevent new litter from entering the same area. Long-term improvement therefore depends on source reduction, clearer visitor responsibility, regular collection, and cooperation among scenic-area managers, construction operators, local communities, and volunteers.

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This paper examines whether China's green finance reform pilot zones improve environmental performance and how such effects are transmitted. The 2017 pilot-zone policy provides a quasi-natural experimental setting for the analysis. Observations covering 2013–2021 are examined through a Difference-in-Differences (DID) approach. The estimation result shows an improvement in environmental performance after the green finance pilot zones were introduced. This effect is regionally heterogeneous, with a stronger influence in eastern China than in western China. A mediation model further indicates that the policy effect is an important channel: green finance influences market behavior and thereby contributes to environmental improvement. These results provide evidence for policymakers seeking to use green finance as a tool for environmental governance.

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With the continued development of direct financing, both the market environment and customers' financial awareness have matured. Traditional credit business is no longer the core financing need of large enterprises; increasingly, customers expect banks to provide comprehensive financial services such as restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. A key challenge for banks is therefore how to remain the primary provider of financial services and products for major clients amid the impact of direct financing. To meet this challenge, banks must use investment banking to advance the transformation from corporate credit to corporate finance and from a credit-oriented bank to a comprehensive financial services provider. Emerging high-value-added businesses led by investment banking not only generate direct returns but also support other businesses, create synergies with commercial banking, and strengthen banks' core competitiveness. However, banking services are becoming increasingly homogenized. In China, for example, the four major state-owned banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), all conduct investment banking business, while large joint-stock banks such as China Merchants Bank and Industrial Bank have also entered the field, intensifying competition. To offer useful suggestions for ICBC's investment banking development strategy, this paper analyzes the current state of its investment banking business, draws on relevant domestic and international literature, and proposes reasonable solutions to existing problems. These findings offer both theoretical guidance and practical value for the development of ICBC's investment banking business.

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Using panel data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009 to 2022, this study examines the effects of environmental uncertainty and managerial myopia on corporate ESG performance and further investigates the moderating role of bank credit support. The findings show that both environmental uncertainty and managerial myopia have significant negative effects on corporate ESG performance. Moreover, bank credit support mitigates the adverse effects of environmental uncertainty and managerial myopia on corporate ESG performance. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that these negative effects are more pronounced among non-state-owned enterprises and firms in high-technology industries. By integrating environmental uncertainty and managerial short-term orientation, this study provides a unified framework for understanding how external operating conditions and managerial decision horizons jointly shape corporate ESG performance. It also highlights bank credit as a potential buffer against both external and internal short-term pressures. The findings have practical implications for promoting corporate sustainability and strengthening corporate governance.

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