Activities In China Research Articles

Coreversal: The Booms and Busts of Arbitrage Activities in China

Coreversal: The Booms and Busts of Arbitrage Activities in China

Contributions and strategies of eco-agriculture of Chinese medicine services for carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality

Carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality have become hot issues of political and economic activities in China and abroad. The structure and development of various industries in China will be profoundly affected in the process of accomplishing "Dual Carbon" goals. Eco-agriculture of Chinese medicine(EACM) highlights the balance and sustainable development of the ecosystem while producing high-quality medicinal materials. With chemically synthesized fertilizers, pesticides, and growth regulators prohibited, EACM emphasizes the recycling of agricultural and sideline products and the reduction of waste output, which results in the minimal negative impact on the ecological environment. Therefore, it is typical agriculture with low-carbon sources and high-carbon sinks. This study reviewed the mechanism and potential of EACM in carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality, analyzed the specific ways of EACM in reducing carbon sources and increasing carbon sinks based on the typical ecological planting pattern, and proposed the point of view to strengthen EACM as well as the "Dual Carbon" theory and research methods, so as to direct low-carbon and efficient deve-lopment. Furthermore, this study advocated to comprehensively promote the transformation of Chinese medicine production from chemical agriculture to eco-agriculture to improve the comprehensive benefits of contribution rate of carbon neutrality, explore and establish carbon sink compensation mechanism to ensure the sustainable and healthy development of EACM, and strengthen the training of EACM and "Dual Carbon" theory and technologies to continuously improve the capacity of EACM in sustainable development. This study is expected to provide a reference for the development of ecological functions in EACM and the development of economic functions through ecological functions.

Go with the Wind: Spatial Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Industrial Activities in China

Go with the Wind: Spatial Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Industrial Activities in China

Russia’s and China’s Vaccine Diplomacy in Central and Eastern Europe

The article analyzes the causes, implementation strategy, and results of vaccine diplomacy of the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, the activities of China and Russia in Serbia, Hungary, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Moldova, Belarus, and Ukraine are covered. The main directions, tools, and consequences of the activation of the two states in the region are outlined. The article underlines that China is expanding its strategic goals according to the One Belt One Road Initiative through the so-called Health Silk Road, providing a vaccine to low- and middle-income countries. The goals of the Russian Federation are established more in the geopolitical and political spheres. Russia seeks to reduce the influence of the EU and the US in the CEE region from political, economic, and security perspectives. China and Russia are both allies and competitors. The two countries are trying to gain additional leverage in the CEE region by means of political lobbying, investment, finance, propaganda, Euroscepticism, public opinion manipulation, and soft power. For some time, the shortage of medicine for vaccination, which was caused by giving priority to the population of vaccine-producing countries, contributed to a rather increased activity of the PRC and the Russian Federation in the implementation of the strategy of gaining image benefits.

Ideologies and framing labour activism in China

ABSTRACT Contesting the views that overlook the role of ideology in Chinese labour resistance, this paper argues that ideology accounts for variations of labour activism not only in the perception of labour rights but also in goals and tactics. By using the framing theory, the study explores how ideology shapes labour activism in China. It demonstrates that as alternative ideologies are suppressed in society, labour activists have attempted to construct their distinctive action frames through appropriating the official ideology. The fragmentation of the official ideology provides activists with an opportunity to do so. Strategic framing efforts have produced three patterns of labour activism – moderate, liberal, and radical. Activists employ different strategies of framing alignment they consider most fitting for their exploitation of the official discourse and articulation of their narratives. While the three action frames resonate with workers in varying degrees, liberal activism and radical activism are less tolerated by the government because of their advocacy of collective actions.

Defusing environmental activism through scientific greening: Government framing strategy and its effects in China

AbstractUsing a mixed‐method approach, we explore how the Chinese government frames environmentally controversial projects as well as how citizens may react to the government's framing strategy. Through content analysis of state‐run media reports on paraxylene (a chemical product with many industrial implications, also known as PX) and waste incineration plants, we identify the government's most salient framing tactic as scientific greening—positively depicting such projects as technologically advanced, reliable, and green, often citing experts and scientific sources. Through a survey experiment among 280 college students, we test the effects of such positive frames as well as the negative frames that highlight environmental risks and the comprehensive frames that present both positive and negative information. We find that although the positive scientific‐greening frames can increase one's tolerance of proposed projects in general, they may also enhance their not‐in‐my‐backyard inclination as compared with the control group. Importantly, both the positive scientific‐greening frames and the negative frames reduce citizens' intent to engage in environmental protests. We also find that the negative frames are particularly influential for respondents who have low trust in government. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how framing affects environmental activism in China and elsewhere.

The Changing Landscape of Women's Rights Activism in China: The Continued Legacy of the Beijing Conference

The Beijing Conference was a watershed moment in the history of the global women’s movement and had an unprecedented impact in the Global North and South on lawmaking, institution building, and movement building. This Article details the development of women’s activism in China since the Beijing Conference and how a changing legal landscape impacts this activism. While its progress is emblematic of the inconsistencies in the progression of women’s rights activism since the Beijing Conference, China’s efforts have been significant and varied and represent a modelfor other countries seeking to reform women’s rights legislation. This Article identifies important lines of inquiry that merit further investigation in China and offers insights for conducting similar investigations elsewhere. This Article also outlines a framework for the shifting nature of women’s legal activism from 1995 to 2020 and the ways that the international community can capitalize on these changes and continue to galvanize efforts toward legislative and cultural reform. This Article concludes that the Beijing Conference’s goals may be actualized with financial backing and an apolitical and academic focus, and asserts that increased unity among activist groups is needed in China.

The Changing Landscape of Women's Rights Activism in China: The Continued Legacy of the Beijing Conference

The Beijing Conference was a watershed moment in the history of the global women’s movement and had an unprecedented impact in the Global North and South on lawmaking, institution building, and movement building. This Article details the development of women’s activism in China since the Beijing Conference and how a changing legal landscape impacts this activism. While its progress is emblematic of the inconsistencies in the progression of women’s rights activism since the Beijing Conference, China’s efforts have been significant and varied and represent a model for other countries seeking to reform women’s rights legislation. This Article identifies important lines of inquiry that merit further investigation in China and offers insights for conducting similar investigations elsewhere. This Article also outlines a framework for the shifting nature of women’s legal activism from 1995 to 2020 and the ways that the international community can capitalize on these changes and continue to galvanize efforts toward legislative and cultural reform. This Article concludes that the Beijing Conference’s goals may be actualized with financial backing and an apolitical and academic focus, and asserts that increased unity among activist groups is needed in China.

Morphometric characteristics and sand intercepting capacity of dominant perennial plants in the Eastern Qaidam Basin: Implication for aeolian erosion control

The Qaidam Basin is a region with strong sandstorm activity in China, and nabkhas play a very important role in aeolian erosion control and maintaining stability of the ecological environment in this region. This study examined the effects of dominant perennial plants on nabkha formation. Five species (the shrub of Ephedra przewalskii and Calligonum zaidamense, the subshrub of Krascheninnikovia ceratoides and Sympegma regelii, the perennial herb of Artemisia desertorum) were selected. Length (Ln), width (Wn) and height (Hn) of nabkhas were used to represent nabkhas shape, the nabkha volume (Vn) was approximately estimated to represent sand intercepting capacity. Among the morphometric parameters of nabkhas and plants, Ln, Wn, Hn, Sn and Vn of the nabkhas showed less correlation with plant height (Hp), especially C. zaidamense, K. ceratoides and A. desertorum (r < 0.45). Ln, Wn, Hn, Sn and Vn of the nabkhas were significantly related to length (Lp), width (Wp), canopy area (Sp) and upwind profile (Sup) of the plant, especially E. przewalskii, C. zaidamense and S. regelii (r > 0.612). The sand intercepting capacity of the five plants was as follows: E. przewalskii > C. zaidamense > S. regelii > A. desertorum > K. ceratoides. The results indicate that E. przewalskii has large sand intercepting capacity. Moreover, the sand accumulation of C. zaidamense is greatly affected by the plant canopy in the early growth stage of the plant. Dwarf and highly branched semi-shrub S. regelii is beneficial to intercepting sand in unit canopy area and has big sand intercepting potential. A shelterbelt system combining fast-growing shrubs (C. zaidamense), shrubs (E. przewalskii) and semi-shrubs (S. regelii) in the windward direction is recommended for controlling aeolian erosion and improving the ecological environment in arid areas.

Green Space and Physical Activity in China: A Systematic Review

Green space may play an essential role in residents’ physical activity (PA), but evidence remains scattered in China. This study systematically reviewed scientific evidence regarding the influence of green space on PA among residents in China. Keyword and reference searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, EBSCO, and CNKI from the inception of an electronic bibliographic database to May 2021. Eligibility criteria included the following: study designs—observational (e.g., longitudinal or cross-sectional studies) and experimental studies; study subjects—people of all ages; exposures—green space (e.g., parks, vegetation areas, open green fields); outcomes—leisure-time and work/school-related PA (e.g., active commuting); and country—China. All but two studies identified at least one measure of green space to be associated with PA. Street greenness was associated with increased odds of active commuting (e.g., cycling) and walking, and a reduced risk of physical inactivity. Access to green space was associated with increased PA levels and green space usage. Distance to green space was inversely associated with the odds of PA. By contrast, evidence linking overall greenness exposure to PA remains limited. Future studies adopting experimental study design are warranted to establish more robust scientific evidence of causality between green space and PA in China. Future studies are also warranted to examine the underlining mechanisms and the differential impacts of green space on population subgroups in China.

Translation as Conversion: Richard Wilhelm’s Bekehrung and the Bekehrter

Translation as Conversion: Richard Wilhelm’s <i>Bekehrung</i> and the <i>Bekehrter</i>

Financial structure and earnings manipulation activities in China

AbstractThis study aimed to analyse the monitoring adeptness of the financial system in China, particularly in controlling earnings management activities. First, this study identifies the reasons and motivations of managers for involvement in earnings management activities. Second, this study determines whether China's financial system has developed sufficiently to be capable of establishing a strong monitoring mechanism over firms. The study compares how an equity‐based financial structure develops an efficient monitoring system with that of a bank‐based one. A panel dataset of 2997 listed Chinese firms spanning the years 1998–2015 shows that the agency issue is the main reason that firms engage in earnings management activities. Management of financially constrained firms is found to be more prudent than management of other firms because they avoid masking firm performance. The study concludes that Chinese firms are restrained from indulging in managing earnings practices owing to the overwhelming development of the financial system. Moreover, firms in capital market‐based financial structures are more inclined to avoid earnings management compared with those in bank‐based structures.

High-quality reconstruction of China’s natural streamflow

Reconstruction of natural streamflow is fundamental to the sustainable management of water resources. In China, previous reconstructions from sparse and poor-quality gauge measurements have led to large biases in simulation of the interannual and seasonal variability of natural flows. Here we use a well-trained and tested land surface model coupled to a routing model with flow direction correction to reconstruct the first high-quality gauge-based natural streamflow dataset for China, covering all its 330 catchments during the period from 1961 to 2018. A stronger positive linear relationship holds between upstream routing cells and drainage areas, after flow direction correction to 330 catchments. We also introduce a parameter-uncertainty analysis framework including sensitivity analysis, optimization, and regionalization, which further minimizes biases between modeled and inferred natural streamflow from natural or near-natural gauges. The resulting behavior of the natural hydrological system is represented properly by the model which achieves high skill metric values of the monthly streamflow, with about 83% of the 330 catchments having Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) > 0.7, and about 56% of the 330 catchments having Kling-Gupta efficiency coefficient (KGE) > 0.7. The proposed construction scheme has important implications for similar simulation studies in other regions, and the developed low bias long-term national datasets by statistical postprocessing should be useful in supporting river management activities in China.

The informal economy at times of COVID-19 pandemic

We provide a first view of vulnerable informal economy after the blows from COVID-19, using transaction-level business data of around 80 million offline micro businesses (OMBs) owners from the largest Fintech company in China and employing machine learning method for causal inference. We find that the OMBs activities in China experienced an immediate and dramatic drop of 50% during the trough. The businesses had rebounded to around 80% of where they should be seven weeks after the COVID-19 outbreak, but had remained at this level until the end of our time window. We find a larger disruption to the OMBs in urban areas, the female merchants and the merchants who were not grown up in the places where they conducted businesses. We discuss the implications for policy support to the most vulnerable, and highlight the importance to take full advantage of digital development to follow up the informal economy.

The short-term impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on socioeconomic activities in China based on the OMI-NO2 data.

As an air pollutant closely related to urban traffic and heavy industrial capacity, the variation of NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) concentration can directly reflect the strength of socioeconomic activities. Using the weekly average results of daily product synthesis of tropospheric NO2 column concentrations from OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite inversion, a weekly-scale variation series of standardized socioeconomic activity index during the Spring Festival period of 2019–2021 is constructed. The results show that the OMI-NO2 satellite data are in good consistency with ground-based monitoring data; the Spring Festival holiday also suppresses socioeconomic activity in normal years, but the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic leads to an extended period of 2–3 weeks of weakened socioeconomic activity in China after the holiday, while the minimum value of socioeconomic activity intensity decreases by 0.12. Although socioeconomic activity is significantly suppressed in the short term, the intensity of socioeconomic activity rises steadily with the gradual resumption of work and production everywhere from the third week after the Chinese Spring Festival and has reached 60.91% of the highest level before the holiday in the seventh week after the holiday. OMI-NO2 satellite data can be used for a rapid assessment of the intensity of air pollution emissions and the level of socioeconomic activity in different regions.

Overview of the performance of satellite fire products in China: Uncertainties and challenges

Satellite fire observations provide an essential constraint for the estimation of global biomass burning emissions. In this study, we present a comprehensive insight into the performance of the common satellite fire products in eastern China. Despite consistent spatial patterns, both polar-orbiting and geostationary satellite observations have large omission errors for the agricultural burning fires. Owing to a coarse resolution of 2 km, approximately 90% of the concurrent 375 m Visible infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIRS) fires are not detected in Himawari-8 products. Nevertheless, the total amount of daily Himawari-8 fires is much higher than those of VIIRS and 1 km Moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS). The peak time of diurnal fire counts in eastern China has obvious seasonal variations, some of which are missed by polar-orbiting satellite detection. Validation by 3 m PlanetScope images shows that VIIRS and MODIS have a very high accuracy in detecting crop straw burning fires. However, Himawari-8 fires have obvious false alarms due largely to their algorithm defects. Also, the coarse resolution of Himawari-8 tends to make fire detection more likely to be obscured by dense smoke. The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) supervisions reveal prevalent small agricultural fires (<0.5 × 104 m2) in the extensive croplands that are not detected in the common satellite fires. As control measures get more stringent, spatial-temporal patterns as well as the scales of biomass burning activities in China have undergone dramatic changes. Considering the crucial role of satellite fires in estimating biomass burning emissions, it is necessary to improve satellite fire detection with more advanced observations and retrieval methods.

Application of Artificial Intelligence Wearable Technology in the Big Data Analysis of Physical Activity in China

Although the validity of the physical activity questionnaire is low, the questionnaire is still the most commonly used measurement tool for physical activity research in China in the past 10 years. In the era of big data, research in the field of physical activity in China needs to be more effective, economical, convenient, and suitable for long-term, large-sample research tools. Acceleration detection technology, heart rate detection technology, and GPS technology are the mainstream technologies for measuring the energy consumption of physical activity in wearable devices. The application of data mining and machine learning methods further enhances the validity of the test. Domestic smart wearable devices are not effective in estimating energy consumption but still have a large space for technical improvement. Smart wearable devices have a very broad application prospect in the field of big data research in physical activity. The impact of smart wearable device technology and big data analysis methods on physical activity research will be far-reaching and may lead to major changes in research concepts, research tools, and data analysis methods.

How to engage the crowd for innovation in a restricted market? A practice perspective of Google's boundary spanning in China

PurposeTechnological firms increasingly depend on open innovation to compete in hypercompetitive markets. To openly engage the creativity of a multitude of private actors, firms can rely on crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing challenges global companies as they span organizational boundaries to attract multiple local partners. Global companies must engage in boundary spanning to successfully communicate and create a sense of community with smaller local partners despite status and cultural differences. The collaboration between Google and developers in China deserves to be studied in particular, because it operates within a restricted market.Design/methodology/approachThis paper argues that crowdsourcing for innovation on a global scale requires effective boundary spanning capabilities. These boundary-spanning practices ensure smooth cooperation with the crowd and solve problems relating to differences in status and organizational contexts. This study applies Bourdieu's theory of practice including the concept of capital (economic, intellectual, social and symbolic) to understand the social relationships between Google and a growing community of Chinese developers. It also draws on a case study including ten semistructured interviews, which have been triangulated with internal documents and data from selected websites.FindingsFour types of capital (symbolic, intellectual, social and economic) have been identified as important devices to understand the sources of power and the stakes of Googlers and developers in the joint field. These types of capital contribute to structure the social fields in which developers and Google cooperate and their practice. The success of the collaboration between Google and Chinese developers can arguably be attributed to Google's ability to create boundary-spanning activities in order to reduce the endowment differential in the four types of capital and improve their communication. Therefore, this research provides a deep and conceptualized description of boundary-spanning practices, as well as providing a useful contribution for managers involved in crowdsourcing via platform in culturally different markets.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study is methodological in nature, relating to the absence of interviews with board members of Google China who are reluctant to speak about Google activities in China for political raisons. This restriction is partly counterbalanced by the analysis of publicly available secondary data such as news and communications.Practical implicationsThis research has generated practical recommendations for managers of organizations, which require optimal boundary spanning for crowdsourcing. Managers must understand the different sources of social boundaries between their organization and the crowd. The crowd should be segmented into smaller groups with distinctive identities, and organizations should systematically design boundary-spanning activities to address each boundary of each segment. The boundary-spanning activities involve a specific set of tools, programs and platforms to address the target group. Efficient boundary spanning depends on the necessity to select boundary spanners with high cultural intelligence and communication skills.Social implicationsThis paper draws on Bourdieu's theory of practice to investigate the role of boundary spanning in crowdsourcing for innovation, specifically in the joint field between Google and Chinese developers. This research reveals how boundary objects such as developer documents, websites, programs and events are essential for developers to be able to participate on Google's platform. Companies should be prepared to invest in the design and delivery of boundary-spanning activities and objects, knowing that these are also a locus for negotiation with local partners.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the literature by applying the boundary-spanner theory to Google crowdsourcing practices within a restricted market. Bourdieu's theory of practice has proven to be a potent perspective with which to better understand the positive role of boundary spanners in the joint field between Google and Chinese developers. Moreover, this practice perspective has not been used in prior research to highlight power relations in crowdsourcing for innovation. This study has shown that, in addition to boundary objects, boundary spanners can also contribute in the transfer of intellectual capital, which is the pivotal resource for boundary spanning in this field.

Discipline the Party: From Rectification Campaigns to Intra-Party Educational Activities in China

How were the post-Deng Xiaoping "educational activities" tied to or different from the rectification campaigns of the earlier periods? What does this mean for the future of intra-Party governance in China? Through a comparison of rectification campaigns in the 1940s–1980s and intra-Party educational activities thereafter, the author concludes that the campaign method had been institutionalised as an integral instrument of intra-Party governance, forging a three-stage procedure to fulfil the dual aims of education and deterrence. Consequently, the Communist Party of China discarded the imposition of extreme sanctions in the post-Deng era but reinforced authoritative and distributive powers through less severe forms of sanctions.

The toxicokinetic of arsenic in the edible and non-edible tissues of freshwater shellfish

Although the chemical speciation and distribution characteristics of arsenic in freshwater shellfish have been adequately studied, little is known about the differences in arsenic speciation and bioaccumulation in the edible and non-edible tissues. In this study, we collected Parafossarulus eximius from the Xiang River, which is heavily polluted by mining activities in China. The levels of arsenic species in the shellfish specimens were determined using HPLC-ICP-MS. The average concentration of total arsenic (tAs) in the muscle of dried shellfish was 9.934 ± 7.173 mg ⋅ kg −1 . As(V) and arsenobetaine were the dominant chemical species in the collected samples. Correlations analysis showed that As concentration in sediments directly affects the As concentration in shellfish, especially the non-edible part. A significant correlation between As(III) and As(V) in the edible and the non-edible parts was observed, suggesting a mutual transformation between the two species. Further results from the correlation analysis indicated that when the intake of inorganic arsenic (iAs) by shellfish was high, the biological transformation process from iAs to AsB reached a saturation. The chronic health risk for consumers from P. eximius was not observed. Whereas, continuous consumption would pose considerably carcinogenic risk. • Shellfish from the Xiang River was heavily polluted by mining activities. • As(V) and AsB were the dominant chemical species. • As concentration in sediments directly affects the As concentration in shellfish. • The biological transformation of iAs to AsB has a threshold value. • Continuous consumption of P. eximius would pose considerably to local consumers.