Interest In China Research Articles

Deciphering transcriptome profile of the yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) in response to Edwardsiella ictaluri

Edwardsiella ictaluri is one of the most important pathogens posing a serious threat for yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), a highly valuable fish species of increasing commercial interest in China. Here, a transcriptomic strategy was undertaken to investigate the yellow catfish gene expression profile against infection by the bacterial pathogen E. ictaluri. Comparison of the transcriptome profiles between the infected and uninfected samples showed that a massive gene expression change occurred in yellow catfish following bacterial exposure. A total of 5527 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected, of which 2265 showed up-regulation and 3262 down-regulation. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed the presence of canonical pathways directly linked to innate and adaptive immune response, such as pattern recognition receptor (PRR) signaling pathways, complement and coagulation cascades, as well as T-cell receptor (TCR) and B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathways. Additionally, 47,526 putative EST-liked simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers were retrieved for use in genetic studies. This study establishes the first molecular clues to understand the potential mechanisms of yellow catfish resistance to E. ictaluri, thus enabling future efforts on disease control programs in this valuable aquaculture species.

Financial Globalization and the International Transmission of Interest Rate Shocks: The Federal Reserve and China

This paper evaluates the spillovers from U.S. policy to China's domestic interest rates over 1999-2016, focusing on the impacts of long-term interest rate and exchange rate regimes on the capacity of China to moderate external interest rate shocks. We find that China's central bank owns some extent of autonomy as it has a significant preference to control inflation and stimulate the economy even beyond the potential growth. However, China’s interest rates are significantly impacted by U.S. policy especially after the crisis. The transmission from U.S. interest rates to China at the long-end even exists before the crisis, but only for the positive change of U.S. interest rates. The comparison with New Zealand's experience provides some evidence that central banks are more likely facing a monetary dilemma and China's fixed exchange rate regime with capital controls might help to mitigate the spillovers of external shocks in a turmoil period.

Thinking about the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: Can a China‐Led Development Bank Improve Sustainability in Asia?

AbstractThis article offers three arguments outlining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's significance and to help policy planners navigate the complex relationship between China, the Bank and themes of sustainability. First, there is little uncertainty that China is serious about development and sustainability. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is but one extension of China's increasing commitment to sustainability and should therefore be embraced by development stakeholders. Second, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's commitment to infrastructure development complements other multilateral development banks and should not be considered a challenger to the existing order of development lending practices. Rather, China's interest in establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank points to competitive pluralism and poses no threat to the existing international order. Finally, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank's sustainability guidelines are not unique and fall in line with similar policy of other large development banks. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank therefore reinforces sustainability norms while posturing itself as a partner for development.

New Great Game in Central Asia: An Analysis of China’s Interests

The importance of Central Asia for China increased with the change in international power structure, growth of its economy, rapid industrialization and increase in population. China is regarded as the second largest energy consumer in the world while Central Asia has rich energy resources and raw materials complementary for its economic growth. It is interested in the energy resources of Central Asia for the security of its energy supply and a large market for its finished goods. Prior to Central Asian energy resources, China was importing oil from the Middle East. The route of oil supply from M.E to China was passing through Malacca strait, under the control of United States, a perceived rival of China in the world politics. In case of conflict this route may be blocked by United States. This situation worried the Chinese policy makers and prepared a comprehensive policy regarding the energy resources of Central Asian region. Energy is not the only concern of China in Central Asia; it is also worried about the security of its Xinjiang, sharing border with some Central Asian Republics (CARs). About 60% of the population of Xinjiang are Uyghur Muslims. The same ethnic community also exists on the other side of the border in the Central Asian Republics. China has an apprehension that in case of instability in the region, terrorists organizations may instigate the China’s Uyghur for independence. That is why, China is supporting United States in its fight against terrorism. Politically, it wants to reduce the influence of United States in the region by integration with the CARs (Central Asian Republics) through SCO particularly after US military penetration in the region in 2001. Applying a descriptive-analytical approach in the paper, the interests of China in CARs are surveyed.

Bulletin 6: China Completes the Revamping of Its Transfer Pricing Regime

The authors consider the key directives recently introduced under China’s new transfer pricing rules and their implications for multinational’s transfer pricing planning and audit defence. Potential strategies are also suggested for multinationals to safeguard their tax interests in China.

Analysis of Genetically Modified Food Induced International Trade Law Issues

The advantages of genetically modified food are gradually highlighted because of the rapid development of modern transgenic technology. The trade proportion of genetically modified food in international trade products is increasing. Till now, legal regulations concerning the international trade of genetically modified food are still contradictory and conflicting, and a series of initiated legal issues about the international trade of genetically modified food becomes more acute. As a great power of transgenic crops planting, China should fully learn from the trade disputes of genetically modified food, perfect laws such as the safety management, approval and identification of import and export, accelerate the development of transgenic technology, and strengthen the mutual benefit and collaboration of the developing countries, thus to gain a strong competitive position in international trade and maintain the fundamental interests of China better.

Run away? Air pollution and emigration interests in China

This paper investigates the impact of air pollution on people’s interest in emigration. Using an online search index on “emigration” which is positively correlated with its search volume, we develop a city-by-day measurement of people’s emigration sentiment. We find that searches on “emigration” will grow by approximately 2.3–4.8% the next day if today’s air quality index (AQI) is increased by 100 points. In addition, such an effect is more pronounced when the AQI level is above 200, a sign of “heavily polluted” and “severely polluted” days. We also find that such effect differs by destination countries and by metropolitan areas.

China's Interest Rate Pass‐through to Commercial Banks Before and After Interest Rate Liberalisation

AbstractOn 23 October 2015, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) completed the process of interest rate liberalisation. This study examines China's interest rate pass‐through to the lending rate of commercial banks before and after interest rate liberalisation. Based on data from Q3, 2007 to Q2, 2016, the study shows that the interest rate pass‐through from policy rate to lending rate, which was effective before October 2015, lost effectiveness thereafter. PBoC interventions, the ‘Impossible Trinity’ theory and institutional factors may contribute to this ineffectiveness of the policy rate pass‐through, which may also be related to the higher premium for risk required by banks and to the worsening of their financial condition. The study also offers policy advice in response to the declining effectiveness of China's interest rate pass‐through.

A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure across the Pacific

A literary scholar whose cultural commentary appears often in the pages of the New Yorker, Hua Hsu draws his title from an outline of a novel that was never written by an author who self-published most of his books. Presently, H. T. Tsiang (1899–1971) is enjoying something of a renaissance with recent reprints of two of his novels, And China Has Hands (1937; 2016) and The Hanging on Union Square (1935; 2013), and now Hsu's study. Hsu deploys skillful writing and wry analysis to explore the personal and professional woes of the thwarted author and would-be China expert Tsiang, who was, like his writings, contrarian, experimental, and politically barbed. Well-known enough to feature in a New Yorker “The Talk of the Town” article (1935) and publish poems in the Daily Worker and New Masses, Tsiang otherwise received scores of rejections for his “proletarian” fiction throughout the 1930s. These repeated failures occurred amid a flourishing of middlebrow American interest in China. Long-standing U.S. missionary and business investments; China's seemingly growing proximity as led by Chiang Kai-shek and his Christian, U.S.-educated wife; and the looming war with Japan fanned the flames of transpacific fascination, channeled through authoritative American voices such as the prolific and internationally acclaimed Pearl S. Buck, the Time-Life publishing empire of Henry Luce, and business-oriented best sellers such as Carl Crow's 400 Million Customers (1937). Tsiang's inability to publish in this environment through established venues provides Hsu a platform to explore the nature of authority, publishing market institutions and exclusions, and the powerful yet blinkered fascination of Americans for China and Chinese.

The strange case of pluralist lobbying in a corporatist setting: Defending Western business interests in China

E.U. and U.S. businesses in China are actively shaping the business environment according to their interests. As a state-corporatist framework is applied, the question arises as to how Western businesses go about lobbying China's policies. This article provides insights on what kind of lobbying tools Western interest groups apply to actively influence China's party state. Drawing on a large data set of lobbying actions toward indigenous innovation policies, this article aims to demonstrate that China's political system is receptive to influence from the outside. The argument builds on evidence showing that China's state corporatist system provides some leeway for pluralist lobbying strategies. It is hypothesized that Western interest groups are not completely co-opted by China's state-corporatist system, which increases the number of membership driven lobbying strategies. As Western groups stand outside the system, they are expected to devote their lobbying efforts to the international level. Specifically, this article analyzes how constrained access in domestic China affects transnational venue shopping versus domestic strategies.

Groundwater quality assessment and pollution source apportionment in an intensely exploited region of northern China.

Deterioration in groundwater quality has attracted wide social interest in China. In this study, groundwater quality was monitored during December 2014 at 115 sites in the Hutuo River alluvial-pluvial fan region of northern China. Results showed that 21.7% of NO3- and 51.3% of total hardness samples exceeded grade III of the national quality standards for Chinese groundwater. In addition, results of gray relationship analysis (GRA) show that 64.3, 10.4, 21.7, and 3.6% of samples were within the I, II, IV, and V grades of groundwater in the Hutuo River region, respectively. The poor water quality in the study region is due to intense anthropogenic activities as well as aquifer vulnerability to contamination. Results of principal component analysis (PCA) revealed three major factors: (1) domestic wastewater and agricultural runoff pollution (anthropogenic activities), (2) water-rock interactions (natural processes), and (3) industrial wastewater pollution (anthropogenic activities). Using PCA and absolute principal component scores-multivariate linear regression (APCS-MLR), results show that domestic wastewater and agricultural runoff are the main sources of groundwater pollution in the Hutuo River alluvial-pluvial fan area. Thus, the most appropriate methods to prevent groundwater quality degradation are to improve capacities for wastewater treatment and to optimize fertilization strategies.

“Everybody has their own Dream”: Nail houses and Resistance to the Landscape of Globalization in Contemporary China

The transformation of the Chinese landscape is embodied by the figure of new, hyper-modern cityscapes. With the influx of hundreds of millions of people from rural to urban areas, China’s economic reform process is dominated by the production of space designed to instill a new ideal of modern economic subjects for Chinese identity. However, China’s modernization is complicated by the emergence of a recent urban phenomena: dingzihu, or nail-houses. Nail- houses are points of resistance where individuals refuse to abandon their homes when traditional urban districts are demolished for urban renewal. By examining personal testimonies of nail-house inhabitants and visual representations of traditional urban communities in contemporary Chinese cinema, it will be argued that nail-house protests’ resistance to the disappearance of traditional urban-community culture is a symptom of the logic of globalization. To this end, Frederic Jameson shall be invoked to argue that globalization forces the creation of local national worlds that are antagonistic to all others, including those within their own space. Drawing on Hannah Arendt, insofar as the collapse of the public and private sphere for the sake of economic interest in China can be understood as reducing the difference of personal identity to create national homogeneity, nail-house protests reveal a common condition of exile endemic to the process of global modernity as a whole.

Лингвистический аспект как фактор внешней политики КНР в XXI в.

The analysis of the linguistic aspect of the foreign policy of the People's Republic of China is becoming more relevant today owing to the fact that the impact of soft power factors - methods to achieve the desired result without the use of violence - enhances in foreign policy processes. The foreign policy of China is not an exception. of the main elements of soft power is the language policy. The article is devoted to the linguistic aspect of China's foreign policy in modern conditions as an instrument of soft power. The definition of the concept soft power, the principal components and instruments of soft power in Eastern countries are underlined in the article. New principles and direction of China's diplomacy, pledged at the VIII Congress of the CPC, reflect the fact that soft power is used as one of the main tools of China's foreign policy. In addition, a special place is given to the language policy of the country. It is important to note that the language policy was chosen by the Chinese leadership as one of the priorities of foreign policy directions for a number of reasons, which include an increased interest in China after its reaching economic success and the rapid growth in the number of countries which co-operate with China. Moreover, big demand in specialists in the Chinese language is also significant. The attention is focused on the premises of the active implementation of the language policy of the PRC. An important step for the People's Republic of China was the beginning of the policy of reform and opening under the guidance of Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s. In addition, a decisive role played the standardization of the Chinese language and the foundation of the State Office of the People's Republic of China on the spreading of the Chinese language and traditional culture abroad in 1984. The correlation of the new strategy of the Chinese leadership, One Belt - one way and the desire to spread the Chinese language and culture abroad is considered in the article as well. An important place is given to the consideration of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the area of language, to main projects and activities carried out in this area. The language policy of the People's Republic of China is one of the determining factors of the country's foreign policy in the modern world. This linguistic aspect influences both the domestic and foreign policy of the Chinese leadership. The language policy of the PRC is multidirectional: it includes not only the spread of the Chinese language abroad, but also the desire to preserve the languages of ethnic minorities in the country, protection of cultural and linguistic diversity of China. Today, the international position of the country and its image directly depend on the success of the implementation of China's language policy.

The role of China in the Arctic: challenges and opportunities for a sustainable development of the region

The interest of China in the Arctic Region is by now unveiled and evident to the totality of the stakeholders dealing with Arctic issues. Although such interest is quite recent (it traces back to the beginning of the new millennium), China has clear idea about the potentialities of the Arctic Region in terms of natural resources as well as regarding the profitability of shipping through the Northern Sea Route. In this context, the admission of China in the Arctic Council with the role of observer should be considered as a shift in the way in which Arctic issues are perceived by Arctic countries: from a regional dimension to a global one. Having the possibility to seat in the Council will give to China the opportunity to play a key role in participating in the definition of Arctic-related policies in the near future. Anyhow, if China wants to play a real key-role in the Arctic, while acting as a responsible global power, it must address some issues still unsolved in its national framework, precisely: recognising the existence of indigenous people within its national borders and ensuring them the enjoyment of their rights (in so doing, China will be ready to recognise the particular features and needs of indigenous people living in the Arctic) and defining a comprehensive Arctic strategy in which sustainable development is put at the top of the agenda.

Whose Voices Shape China’s Global Image? Links Between Reporting Conditions and Quoted Sources in News about China

The global public’s growing interest in China and the controversial debates around international media’s coverage of the country make it vital to investigate how China is represented in such reports. The existing literature, however, only examines which topics international China coverage addresses. This article assesses how the country is covered focusing on the use of quotes. Besides showing who is quoted in articles from the leading weekly publications, The Economist (UK), Newsweek (US), Der Spiegel and Die Zeit (Germany) as well as Le Monde Diplomatique (France), it links local reporting conditions with the types of sources that are quoted. Methodologically, the article combines quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles and qualitative expert interviews with foreign correspondents based in Beijing. Key findings are that reflecting the Chinese government’s controls and public relations (PR) efforts, the Chinese central government is by far the most frequently quoted state institution, while others, such as local government or the police, hardly appear at all. Because of Chinese scholars’ growing reluctance to speak to them, foreign journalists rely heavily on experts working abroad. Lastly, Chinese news products are heavily drawn upon, both for direct quotes and story ideas, mainly because they are easily accessible.

Is China eroding the bargaining power of traditional donors in Africa?

In this article, the author explores whether the growing presence of Chinese financial assistance is decreasing the bargaining power of traditional donors vis-a-vis African governments. The article relies on data from an original survey of high-ranking donor officials working in multiple African countries, as well as case-studies of Chinese engagement in three diverse African country contexts: Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania. It finds that claims of a ‘silent revolution’ in development cooperation due to China's increased involvement in the region are overstated. Among donor officials, there is far from consensus that China is decreasing the bargaining power of their agency. On the contrary, evidence from Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda suggests that traditional development aid continues to play an important role and that, in practice, China rarely directly competes with traditional donors. There are, however, two important caveats to this claim. First, when China and traditional donors do directly compete—for example, on infrastructure projects—many recipient governments prefer assistance from China. Second, given China's interest in expanding markets and acquiring natural resources, countries receiving higher amounts of Chinese official finance are likely to have lower rates of aid dependence. As a result, financing from China is likely to be correlated with a decline in the bargaining power of traditional donors, even if it is not causing such a decline.

Needham at the crossroads: history, politics and international science in wartime China (1942-1946).

In 1946, the British biochemist Joseph Needham returned from a four-year stay in China. Needham scholars have considered this visit as a revelatory period that paved the way for his famous book series Science and Civilization in China (SCC). Surprisingly, however, Needham's actual time in China has remained largely unstudied over the last seventy years. As director of the Sino-British Scientific Cooperation Office, Needham travelled throughout Free China to promote cooperation between British and Chinese scientists to contain the Japanese invasion during the Second World War. By rediscovering Needham's peregrinations, this paper re-examines the origins of his fascination for China. First, it contests the widely held idea that this Chinese episode is quite separate and different from Needham's first half-life as a leftist scientist. Second, it demonstrates how the political and philosophical commitments he inherited from the social relations of science movement, and his biochemical research, shaped his interest in China's past. Finally, this paper recounts these forgotten years to reveal their implications for his later pursuits as historian of science and as director of the natural-science division of UNESCO. It highlights how, while in China, Needham co-constituted the philosophical tenets of his scientific programme at UNESCO and the conceptual foundations of his SCC.

Prevalence and burden of Toxoplasma gondii infection in HIV-infected people: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Worldwide, 30% of the world's population have antibodies to the intracellular protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii and about 36·7 million people are infected with HIV, but little is known about the prevalence of co-infection with T gondii and HIV. We aimed to characterise the epidemiology and burden of T gondii co-infection in people with HIV infection. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Chinese Web of Knowledge, Wanfang, and Chongqing VIP databases for studies reporting T gondii infection in HIV-infected people from inception to Feb 29, 2016. Studies were included if they investigated people with HIV infection and presented data that allowed us to establish the prevalence of T gondii infection. We excluded reviews, repeated studies, or animal studies, as well as studies that provided the final results without raw data, had a sample size less than 30 people, had unclear diagnostic methods of T gondii infection, or that included populations with increased risk of T gondii infection. We extracted the numbers of patients with HIV infection and T gondii co-infection from the identified studies. We estimated pooled prevalence of T gondii infection in HIV-infected people by a random-effects model, and evaluated its overall infection burden worldwide. Our search identified 7843 records and after removal of duplicates and initial screening, we reviewed 312 studies in full. Of these articles, 238 were excluded, leaving 74 studies that included 25 989 HIV-infected people from 34 countries. Of these people, 7326 had T gondii co-infection and we estimated the pooled worldwide prevalence of T gondii infection to be 35·8% (95% CI 30·8-40·7). 2353 of 8837 of people in Asia and the Pacific had co-infection with T gondii and HIV (prevalence 25·1%, 95% CI 19·0-31·2), and prevalence was low in this region compared with that in sub-Saharan Africa (44·9%, 32·3-57·5, 2129/5686; odds ratio [OR] 0·61), Latin America and the Caribbean (49·1%, 27·9-70·4, 510/980; OR 0·33), and North Africa and the Middle East (60·7%, 24·1-97·3, 245/439; OR 0·29). 1561 of 3780 people in low-income countries had co-infection (54·7%, 95% CI 35·8-73·5), which was higher than in middle-income countries (34·2%, 27·4-40·9, 3632/11 540; OR 1·53) and high-income countries (26·3%, 20·4-32·2, 2133/10 669; OR 2·82). Worldwide, we calculated that there were roughly 13 138 600 (95% CI 11 303 600-14 936 900) cases of T gondii co-infection in HIV-infected people, with 87·1% in sub-Saharan Africa (11 449 500 cases, 95% CI 8 236 500-14 662 500). Our findings suggest that people with HIV infection have a very high burden of T gondii infection, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, and emphasise the importance of routine surveillance for T gondii infection in all HIV-infected people. National Natural Science Foundation and the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest in China.

Domestic trends in malaria research and development in China and its global influence

BackgroundThough many countries, including China, are moving towards malaria elimination, malaria remains a major global health threat. Due to the spread of antimalarial drug resistance and the need for innovative medical products during the elimination phase, further research and development (R&D) of innovative tools in both epidemic and elimination areas is needed. This study aims to identify the trends and gaps in malaria R&D in China, and aims to offer suggestions on how China can be more effectively involved in global malaria R&D.MethodsQuantitative analysis was carried out by collecting data on Chinese malaria-related research programmes between 1985 and 2014, invention patents in China from 1985 to 2014, and articles published by Chinese researchers in PubMed and Chinese databases from 2005 to 2014. All data were screened and extracted for numerical analysis and were categorized into basic sciences, drug/drug resistance, immunology/vaccines, or diagnostics/detection for chronological and subgroup comparisons.ResultsThe number of malaria R&D activities have shown a trend of increase during the past 30 years, however these activities have fluctuated within the past few years. During the past 10 years, R&D on drug/drug resistance accounted for the highest percentages of research programmes (32.4%), articles (55.0% in PubMed and 50.6% in Chinese databases) and patents (45.5%). However, these R&D activities were mainly related to artemisinin. R&D on immunology/vaccines has been a continuous interest for China’s public entities, but the focus remains on basic science. R&D in the area of high-efficiency diagnostics has been rarely seen or reported in China.ConclusionsChina has long been devoted to malaria R&D in multiple areas, including drugs, drug resistance, immunology and vaccines. R&D on diagnostics has received significantly less attention, however, it should also be an area where China can make a contribution. More focus on malaria R&D is needed, especially in the area of diagnostics, if China would like to contribute in a more significant way to global malaria control and elimination.

Geopolitics, Ethnic Conflicts along the Border, and Chinese Foreign Policy Changes toward Myanmar

ABSTRACTEver since Myanmar reoriented its foreign policy as a result of its transition to democratic rule in 2010, it has significantly improved its relations with the West, particularly the United States. Amid heightened geostrategic competition between the U.S. and China, how can we understand the Chinese government’s changing approaches to Myanmar, where China’s strategic and economic interests face unprecedented pressure? This article examines those changes in the context of the Chinese government’s response to three militarized ethnic conflicts along its border with Myanmar before and after Myanmar’s foreign policy reorientation. Drawing evidence from Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statements and Chinese media coverage of the 2009 and 2015 Kokang conflicts and the 2011-2013 Kachin conflict, the article argues that combined geopolitical changes and domestic nationalist signaling explain the variations of China’s foreign policy approaches to Myanmar. The article thus contributes to ongoing interest in China’s foreign policy approaches to Southeast Asia in the wake of geostrategic competition between China and the United States.