Cities In Mainland China Research Articles

Unpacking the effects of information overload on the purchase intention of electric vehicles

AbstractChina is currently under tremendous pressures to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions. As an energy‐saving transportation innovation, electric vehicles (EVs) can alleviate this dilemma. This study adopts the Stimuli‐Organism‐Response (SOR) framework to explore the effect of information overload on consumers' psychological state and subsequent adoption intentions of EVs. Based on the 367 valid samples from Auto 4S shops in EV pilot cities in Mainland China, this study reveals that information overload negatively impacts perceived value and perceived effectiveness but positively impacts perceived risk. Furthermore, information quality offsets the negative impact of information overload on perceived value and enhances the positive impact of information overload on perceived risk. Interestingly, information quality not significantly affect the relationship between information overload and perceived effectiveness. In addition, perceived value and perceived effectiveness are positively related to purchase intentions, while perceived risk is negatively correlated with consumers' purchase intentions. On the basis of these findings, we discuss the policy implications of EVs and provide suggestions for future development.

Validation of the ultra‐short scale for measuring work engagement among social workers in Chinese contexts

AbstractBased on 683 valid questionnaires collected among a convenience sample of social workers from Hong Kong, Macau and three other cities in mainland China, this study investigated the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the three‐item ultra‐short Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (C‐UWES‐3). The results of confirmatory factor analyses supported the discriminant validity of C‐UWES‐3 by differentiating its three items from other five items measuring emotional exhaustion and role ambiguity. The concurrent validity of C‐UWES‐3 was supported by its superior explanatory power to the original nine‐item version of the scale (C‐UWES‐9) in relation to explaining social workers' turnover intention. The convergent validity of C‐UWES‐3 was supported by its correlations vis‐à‐vis factors in the job demands‐resources model such as job demands, job resources, turnover intention and collective psychological ownership. The C‐UWES‐3 showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81). Overall, the C‐UWES‐3 demonstrates excellent psychometric properties for informing future research.

Projections of urban built-up area expansion and urbanization sustainability in China's cities through 2030

In the context of socioeconomic initiatives to address world development sustainability such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), China's urbanization with increasing intensity and quickening pace has always been central to debates over the past few decades. Although the United Nations (UN) recommend to estimate and predict the local-scale urbanization sustainability by using the SDG indicator 11.3.1: “ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate (LCRPGR)”, there remains a lack of reliable projections and applicable assessments at the city level, especially for the future urban expansion. Until now, limited knowledge of the urbanization sustainability dynamics in the next decade has been the primary challenge to inform the realization of urban sustainable development goal under the framework of SDGs. To evaluate the geographic region- and population size-specific urbanization sustainability at the city level in mainland China between 2020 and 2030, an integrated downscaling approach of trend extrapolation and regression analysis was developed based on historical statistics of urban built-up area and subnational scenarios of population and gross domestic product (GDP) under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The SSPs-consistent urban built-up area projections across different scales showed that the logistic regression had a better modeling performance than the panel data regression, while there was little difference between the linear and exponential extrapolation methods. Despite the geographical heterogeneity and size-related disparity, the scenario modeling results suggested that the average value of LCRPGR indicator in mainland China was expected to decline continuously, and would reach at the ideal state with a coordination between urban expansion and population growth through 2030. Specifically, the population growth stagnation of cities in Northeast China and the allometric urban expansion of cities in Western China should be the focus of strengthened regulations, and the urban growth of megacities would experience a steady and slower trend compared to their surrounding super-large cities and large cities. In summary, China's urbanization process might have headed toward a more sustainable and coordinated future under feasible SSPs scenarios. The local-scale forecasts will not only fill the data gap of SSPs-consistent urban land demand for all county- and prefecture-level cities in mainland China, but can also provide a reference for forecasting and assessment of urbanization sustainability to meet the SDGs in urban areas such as indicator 11.3.1.

Study on the development patterns of ecological civilization construction in China: An empirical analysis of 324 prefectural cities

Ecological civilization construction is a task of paramount importance for China's sustainable development. To explore the performance and development patterns of ecological civilization construction in China, this study established an indicator system to evaluate the ecological civilization construction at the city-level. A double-benchmark progressive method and the key functional zone weighting assignment were used to improve the evaluation process. On this basis, this study analyzed the levels of ecological civilization construction and its changes in 324 prefecture-level cities in mainland China from 2015 to 2019. Furthermore, criteria for classifying the development patterns of ecological civilization construction were proposed based on the socio-economic development and eco-environmental performance of cities. According to the findings: (1) China's ecological civilization construction had made great progress with the scores increase of approximately 8%. The score of China was 71 in 2019 and more than half of the evaluated cities scored higher than 70. (2) Cities under “harmonious coexistence” (both economy and environment performing well) and “antagonistic development” (economy developing with environment requiring improvement) patterns accounted for the highest proportion with a total of 62%. The proportion of cities under the “harmonious coexistence” pattern constantly increased, while that of cities under the “antagonistic development” pattern declined 28% from 2015 to 2019. This study analyzed the patterns of China's ecological civilization construction in prefecture-level cities, providing a mode for green and sustainable development of areas with different natural endowments.

Association of functional variant of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 with acute myocardial infarction of Chinese patients

BackgroundThe variant of ALDH2 was thought to be associated with Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) due to the consumption of alcohol. This study focused on how ALDH2 variant acts as an independent risk factor for AMI, regardless of alcohol consumption.Methods and resultsWe used the case–control INTERHEART-China study which took place at 25 centres in 17 cities in mainland China. Cases were patients with AMI and matched by age, sex, and site to controls. Information about alcohol consumption and genotype were collected. We divided cases and controls by alcohol consumption: alcohol intake group and no alcohol intake group. Then, calculated the Odd Ratio (OR) value with confidence interval (CI) at 95% level to find the association between ALDH2 variant and AMI. Results were then adjusted by sex, age, BMI, and other common risk factors of AMI. The study involves a total of 2660 controls and 2322 AMI patients. The no drink intake group showed that there was a correlation between the ALDH2 variant and AMI (OR = 1.236, 95% CI = 1.090–1.401, p = 0.00092). After adjustment of different risk factors this association remained (OR = 1.247, 95% CI = 1.099–1.415, p = 0.00062). Similar results were also obtained from the no alcohol intake group (OR = 1.196, 95% CI = 0.993–1.440, p = 0.05963), however, due to the limited sample size, the result was not significant enough statistically.ConclusionFrom our results, ALDH2 variant is associated with the risk of AMI even in population that has no alcohol consumption. This suggests that ALDH2 variant may act as an independent risk factor for AMI.

Urban Sprawl and Haze Pollution: Based on Raster Data of Haze PM2.5 Concentrations in 283 Cities in Mainland China

Incorporating the urban sprawl and its quadratic term into the analytical framework of the environmental Kuznets curve and considers the spatial and threshold effects of pollution, this paper used the raster data of haze PM2.5 concentrations in 283 cities in mainland China to verify the non-linear effects of urban sprawl on urban haze pollution. It finds that: the inter-city spillover effect of haze pollution is significant, and the environmental Kuznets curve holds on haze pollution; there is an inversed “U” relationship between urban population size and haze pollution; the enlarge of the urban built-up area of city would increase haze pollution significantly; the impact of urban population size on haze pollution has a threshold effect that it would decline with the urban built-up area expansion; the coordination between population urbanization and land urbanization has an notable effect on haze pollution that its incoordination in China’s urbanization has aggravated haze pollution in city and this impact would lagged 1–2 period in time.

A structural equation model linking health literacy, self efficacy and quality of life in adults with coronary heart disease

BackgroundCardiovascular disease is the world major cause of death. There is sufficient evidence that patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) experience poor quality of life. Health literacy and self efficacy are modifiable psychosocial factors that could affect quality of life, and these factors should be considered as targets for intervention. As the relationships among health literacy, self efficacy, and quality of life in the CHD population have not been well understood. Thus, we constructed the structure equation model in these valuables.MethodsA cross-sectional study of a convenience sample among 200 patients with CHD were participated from outpatient clinics in three tertiary general hospitals in Baoding City in mainland China, from December 2018 to June 2019. Data regarding demographic features, health literacy, self efficacy and quality of life were assessed. A structure equation model was used to construct and validate the pathways.ResultsThe mean age of the study sampled patients was 65.37 years old. The average level of health literacy, self efficacy and quality of life were 9.6 ± 3.5, 28.8 ± 13.9 and 381.8 ± 130.1 respectively. Significant associations were observed from health literacy to quality of life, and self efficacy played a partial mediating role between health literacy and quality of life in the CHD population. Health literacy and self efficacy explained for 59.6% of the variance in quality of life.ConclusionsHealth literacy had a direct influence on quality of life, and an indirect influence on quality of life via self efficacy in the patients with CHD.

Analysis of the Implementation Practice of National English Curriculum Standards for Common Senior High School from the Perspective of Teacher Change

It has been five years since the Ministry of Education in People’s Republic of China issued the National English Curriculum Standards for Common Senior High School, an educational policy that covers all provinces and cities in Mainland China. This paper, from the perspective of teacher change, conducts analysis in the implementation of this curriculum policy and discuss how to facilitate this educational change from school level and government level respectively.

Achieving Carbon Neutrality – The Role of Heterogeneous Environmental Regulations on Urban Green Innovation

This article examines the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on urban green innovation using panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities in mainland China from 2008 to 2019. From the perspective of green patents, this article utilizes a two-way fixed-effect model and the mediation effect model to examine the mechanism of the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on urban green innovation in China. Results show that the urban green innovation development in China is relatively slow and can be easily influenced by national policies. More specifically, the relationship between the command-based environmental regulation and urban green innovation presents an inverted non-linear U-shaped model, whereas the relationship between the market-based and voluntary environmental regulation presents a positive U-shaped model. Further investigation of this mechanism concludes that the progression of regional green innovation is primarily accelerated by technological development, effective energy allocation, and industrial structural upgrading. However, the implementation of relevant environmental regulations varies, resulting in various green innovation progression rates. Therefore, in order to achieve the carbon neutrality goal that China proposes, the effectiveness of environmental regulation implementation should be improved. Moreover, the development of various environmental regulation tools should be better coordinated.

Self-Efficacy and Professional Development: An Investigation of Music Teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools in China

In an era where teachers are increasingly expected to perform at their level best, issues of self-efficacy and professional development continue to be an area of continuous debate. A random sample of primary and secondary school teachers in five cities in mainland China was selected to respond to the self-evaluation questionnaire, and 300 valid questionnaires were collected. The research was carried out to (1) investigate the levels of self-efficacy of music teachers in primary and secondary schools, (2) determine the factors that influenced music teachers' self-efficacy, and (3) explore the relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and professional development. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, T-test, analysis of variance, and regression. First, the results showed that the mean value of music teachers’ self-efficacy was 7.16. Second, the middle school teachers reported lower self-efficacy compared to teachers in the primary schools. Third, although teachers aged between 20 to 50 years old reached their highest level of self-efficacy, it decreased to a lower value after an extended period. Additionally, the study also revealed a significant difference in self-efficacy among teachers with different teaching experiences. Although educational backgrounds, gender, and training hours did not influence self-efficacy, a positive correlation was reported between self-efficacy and professional development. Prospective research might better consider developing music teachers’ self-efficacy and education across primary and secondary schools.

Efficiency in the evolution of metro networks

Metro systems extended rapidly in China, especially in the last decade, developing over a half-century. This work explores the dynamical evolution of the structural efficiency of metro systems interpreted as complex networks for 14 large cities in mainland China. Based on the empirical observations, we find that the global efficiencies scale with the number of stations and counter-intuitively decreases as the metro networks expand, which shows a long-tail characteristic. The evolution of metro networks is, in essence, the improvement of the relative ratio of average nodal efficiency in the core compared to global efficiency. These relationships are in good agreement with the temporal structure of metro networks. Besides, we find that the metro stations with the higher efficiencies are those surrounding the urban center, and most of them dwell within the core and gradually expand the branches in space. Our findings suggest that the evolution properties of metro systems influenced by numerous geographical, historical, and social activities suggest that underlying, universal mechanisms are at play during their evolution in the spatial–temporal dimension.

Differential impacts of urbanization characteristics on city-level carbon emissions from passenger transport on road: Evidence from 360 cities in China

Although it's well known that the carbon intensity from passenger transport of cities varies widely, few studies assessed the disparities of that in city-level and its underlying factors due to the limited availability of data, and thus developed effective strategies for different types of cities. This study is the first to present a comprehensive inventory of emissions from passenger transport on road for 360 cities in mainland China for 2018, based on the data from 5 transport modes and evaluated by combining distance-based and top-down fuel-based methods. In 2018, passenger transport on road in China emitted 1076 MtC. A large portion of CO2 emissions was identified in the southern and eastern coastal areas and capital cities. GDP, population, and policy were the major factors determining the total CO2 emissions, but not carbon intensity. Clustering analysis of carbon intensity and 9 socio-economic predictors, using a tree-based regression model, clustered the 360 cities into 6 groups and showed that higher carbon intensities occurred in both affluent city groups with a high active population share and less affluent city groups with a low population density but high density of trip destinations. Forward-and-backward stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that constructing a compact city is more effective for city groups with a high income and high active population share. Enhancing land-use mixed degree is more critical for city groups with a high income and low active population share, while shortening travel distance by intensifying infrastructure construction is more important for the less affluent city groups.

City classification for municipal solid waste prediction in mainland China based on K-means clustering

Cities in mainland China are usually classified according to geographical locations. This traditional city classification system is limited to relative fixed factors, which lives out a gap in terms of the spatial differences of municipal solid waste (MSW). Developing a more comprehensive city classification system is essential for MSW generation prediction and waste management. In this study, six economic, social and climatic indicators that affect MSW generation: population, per capita GDP (PCGDP), environmental sanitation investment (ESI), average temperature, average precipitation, and average humidity, are selected. Weights were calculated for each indicator using a combination of CRITIC weight method and Pearson correlation coefficient prior to cluster analysis. The k-means clustering algorithm was used to classify all cities into four clusters, which differed significantly in the relationships between MSW generation and influencing factors. The results of Kruskal-Wallis test also show that cities in different clusters show different distributions in terms of the indicators selected. The cross-prediction results of the model further validate the reliability of the clustering results from a quantitative perspective. By establishing a city classification system, cities with similar relationships between MSW generation and influencing factors can be placed into one cluster. The model established in one certain city cluster can be used to predict the MSW generation for cities in the same cluster that lack historical data. This may also help to formulate appropriate regional policies according to different relationships between MSW generation and influencing factors, especially for the four city clusters in the mainland China.

Associations between psychological ownership and the service impact among Chinese disability support workers.

Ambiguous perceptions of job roles by service providers may lead to poor service quality. This study sought to examine the relationship between role ambiguity and service impact among disability support workers, and further, to compare the mediating effects of job-based and collective psychological ownership in the role ambiguity-service impact link. Data were derived from a longitudinal survey conducted in 56 cities in mainland China in 2019. 1153 social workers working in disability and rehabilitation services sectors completed the questionnaire. Structural equation modeling analyses and bootstrapping were applied to test the proposed model. The results revealed that role ambiguity is a risk factor for disability support workers' service impact. Furthermore, psychological ownership serves mediating roles in the relationship between role ambiguity and service impact among disability support workers. Even more, job-based psychological ownership plays a more critical buffering role than collective psychological ownership does among Chinese disability support workers experiencing role ambiguity. The main findings imply that human service organizations in China face the dilemma of insufficient organizational capacity, with employees tending to resolve problems by relying more on their own resources than organizational resources. Therefore, policymakers and human service organizations should develop the organizational capacity of human service organizations to help employees overcome role ambiguity.

Changes in Demographic Factors’ Influence on Regional Productivity Growth: Empirical Evidence from China, 2000–2010

Improving total factor productivity is an important way for China’s economy to avoid the middle income trap. Demographic changes are believed to have significant impacts on productivity growth. Using the census and socioeconomic data of 358 prefecture cities in mainland China, this paper analyzes the changes in the global and local spatial dependence of total factor productivity. We then employ spatial regression methods to investigate the role of changes in population factors in productivity growth in 2000 and 2010. We draw three observations from the analysis. First, population density plays an important role in both years. There is an inverted U-shaped relationship between population density and productivity growth. Second, human capital stock has a significant positive impact while human capital inequality becomes insignificant in 2010. This is likely a result of China’s education equality policies. Third, the impact of the aging of workers and their migration status on productivity growth also changed over the decade. Different cohorts of workers and migrants have had different influences on productivity growth because of their different access to higher education. The study provides important insights over how demographic factors impact China’s productivity growth.

Impact of socio-economic environment and its interaction on the initial spread of COVID-19 in mainland China.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has strongly impacted society since it was first reported in mainland China in December 2020. Understanding its spread and consequence is crucial to pandemic control, yet difficult to achieve because we deal with a complex context of social environment and variable human behaviour. However, few efforts have been made to comprehensively analyse the socio-economic influences on viral spread and how it promotes the infection numbers in a region. Here we investigated the effect of socio-economic factors and found a strong linear relationship between the gross domestic product (GDP) and the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases with a high value of R2 (between 0.57 and 0.88). Structural equation models were constructed to further analyse the social-economic interaction mechanism of the spread of COVID-19. The results show that the total effect of GDP (0.87) on viral spread exceeds that of population influx (0.58) in the central cities of mainland China and that the spread mainly occurred through its interplay with other factors, such as socio-economic development. This evidence can be generalized as socio-economic factors can accelerate the spread of any infectious disease in a megacity environment. Thus, the world is in urgent need of a new plan to prepare for current and future pandemics.

PRIAS: An Intelligent Analysis System for Pesticide Residue Detection Data and Its Application in Food Safety Supervision.

Pesticide residue is a prominent factor that leads to food safety problems. For this reason, many countries sample and detect pesticide residues in food every year, which generates a large amount of pesticide residue data. However, the way to deeply analyze and mine these data to quickly identify food safety risks is still an unresolved issue. In this study, we present an intelligent analysis system that supports the collection, processing, and analysis of detection data of pesticide residues. The system is first based on a number of databases such as maximum residue limit standards for the fusion of pesticide residue detection results; then, it applies a series of statistical methods to analyze pesticide residue data from multiple dimensions for quickly identifying potential risks; it uses the Apriori algorithm to mine the implicit association in the data to form pre-warning rules; finally, it applies Word document automatic generation technology to automatically generate pesticide residue analysis and pre-warning reports. The system was applied to analyze the pesticide residue detection results of 42 cities in mainland China from 2012 to 2015. Application results show that the system proposed in this study can greatly improve the depth, accuracy and efficiency of pesticide residue detection data analysis, and it can provide better decision support for food safety supervision.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Based Smartphone App for Smoking Cessation in China: A Single-Group Cohort Study

BackgroundPrevious research has suggested that mobile phone applications (apps) may potentially increase quit rates. The purpose of this single-group cohort study sought to examine the feasibility and acceptability of a novel smartphone-based smoking cessation app designed for smoking cessation in China: smoking quit rate.MethodsA total of 180 smokers from two cities of mainland China with willingness to make a quit attempt were invited to this smoking cessation app program, a cognitive behavioral theory (CBT)-based smoking cessation intervention via a smartphone app. Participants received 37- to 44-day intervention (including 7- to 14-day pre-quit preparation and 33-day intervention from quit date). Feasibility and acceptability of the program, and smoking status were assessed at baseline stage (initial installation), pre-quit stage, and post-quit stage (days 7, 15, and 33 after quit date).ResultsA total of 163 (90.6%) participants completed the study. Among them, 76–89% of the participants logged into the app ≥1 time per day across stages (at baseline, during pre-quit stage, and on days 7, 15, and 33 of post-quit stage); approximately 90% of the participants were satisfied with the app across stages. A significant rise in self-reported overall satisfaction with the app is observed from baseline (93% at Time 1) to the end of the program (98% at Time 2, 33 days after quit date) (p = 0.021). Participants who believed/agreed this app can help them to quit smoking significantly increased from 69% at baseline to 97% at day 33 after quit date (p < 0.001). Participants were satisfied with most (80–90%) of the features, especially the information feature. Intention-to-treat analysis showed that the percentage of 33-day self-reported continuous prevalence abstinence was 63.9%, and 7-day point prevalence abstinence rate was 81.7, 87.2, and 77.8% on days 7, 15, and 33 after quit date, respectively.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of the smartphone app intervention for smoking cessation and introduced a new digital treatment model, which is expected to overcome barriers facing accessing traditional in-person smoking cessation services and extend nationwide smoking cessation services in China.

Mapping global financial networks: a spatial analysis of Chinese companies’ overseas listings

Drawing on the case of Chinese companies’ overseas listings on US stock exchanges, this study unpacks the geography and network structure of China’s integration into global financial networks (GFNs) by taking a city network approach based on inter-firm service and collaboration linkages. The results show that New York and Hong Kong are the dominant international financial centres facilitating this process. The Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands are the key offshore jurisdictions in which the Chinese companies are incorporated. Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen are more likely to be connected with GFNs than other cities in mainland China. The financial and business service firms involved in the overseas listings are mostly located in these cities. These strategic nodes have varied functions in GFNs. Several key city-dyads within the networks are identified, which further indicates the importance of those strategic nodes mentioned above. Despite the growing importance of Chinese firms and financial centres within GFNs, the continuing integration of China’s economy via overseas listings on US stock exchanges has strengthened rather than challenged the existing global financial order dominated by the west.

Optimum spatial scale of regional tourism cooperation based on spillover effects in tourism flows

This research investigates the optimum spatial scale of regional tourism cooperation based on the tourism flows spillover in Mainland China. Using panel data from 341 prefecture-level cities in Mainland China, spatial econometric modeling is employed to estimate the spillover effects to determine the optimum spatial scale of regional tourism cooperation. The findings reveal that there are spatial correlations of tourism flow. In addition, tourism economic fundamental factor, surrounding market factor, tourism transportation facility factor, and tourist attraction factors have a positive and significant impact not only on local tourism flows but also on the surrounding areas. Finally, it is found that the optimum spatial scale of the regional tourism cooperation in Mainland China is [5, 15] cities, whereas for the eastern, western, southern, and northern regions, the optimum scale of the regional tourism cooperation is [5, 21], [5, 26], [5, 26], and [5, 11] cities, respectively.