Government Of China Research Articles

The Emerging Big Data Ecosystem and Digital Transformation of Poverty Governance in China

Big data technology has become increasingly prevalent in facilitating the delivery of government services and public goods in China and beyond. This article seeks to examine how big data can be leveraged in poverty governance in rural China, and what the political implications are. This phenomenon of big data-driven welfare governance is particularly salient considering the broader context of governmental digital transformation, both within China and globally. This research sheds light on how big data usage functions in poverty alleviation, highlighting general motivations and developments in Chinese data-centric welfare governance. More importantly, this article introduces the novel concept of “digital cybernetic capacity” to examine public sector modernization as big data transforms the landscape of welfare delivery and governance. By delving into the intersection between technology and social welfare, we explicate how the use of big data in social welfare policies can go beyond merely improving information capacity to redefine state capacity. This article argues that such a new governance ecosystem, driven as it is by data technologies, not only provides insights about the transformative resilience of Chinese governance but also opens a new theoretical frontier for research into other countries.

Making agile governance work: the community grid as a ‘safety valve’ institution during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for agile governance to effectively address and prevent future global crises. Scholars have examined China’s grid system and its application by local governments in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Our research supports these findings, and we further argue that the grid system enhances responsiveness, inclusiveness, and transparency in governance, thereby benefiting both the government and its citizens. Through a detailed case study of grid governance in the M District of Shanghai from July 2020 to August 2022, we explore the operational mechanisms of the grid system. By incorporating the safety valve theory, we propose that the community grid, the smallest administrative unit in China, functions as an institution to issue pre-emptive warnings, integrate communities, and alleviate pressures during times of crisis, contributing to governance agility. As grid governance has constantly been strengthened, this research not only advances our comprehension of the effectiveness of grassroots governance in China, but also offers valuable insights pertaining to crisis management in mega-cities worldwide.

The Evergrande Story: A Look into Chinese Corporate Law and the Redefinition of Privately Owned Enterprises and Their Relationship to State-Owned Enterprises in the Chinese Economy

Abstract In December 2021, Evergrande, the second-largest private property developer in China, defaulted on its debt and became the most indebted firm in the world with over $300 billion in liabilities. Its default marked the beginning of a real estate crisis in China, one that is still in the process of being resolved. The Chinese State, through its State-owned enterprises (SOEs), has played an enormous role in mitigating the crisis. Had it not, it is very unlikely that Evergrande would remain in existence today, with huge ramifications for Chinese society and the national economy. This article undertakes a case study of Evergrande, a privately owned enterprise (POE) that exhibits SOE characteristics, to shed further light on the web of interactions between large enterprises in China. It reconsiders how ‘private’ some POEs are in the Chinese economy and argues that, at a certain level, both SOEs and POEs operate in a co-dependent manner. Not only does this challenge the conventional distinction between SOEs and POEs, but it also has wide-ranging implications for corporate governance in China. Indeed, SOEs find themselves having to bail out POEs and are exerting control over POEs in which they have no equity stake. SOEs are thus financially burdened with protecting all large enterprises including POEs, whereas POEs can operate in an unregulated fashion and receive rents from their close ties to SOEs. Altogether, this article’s analysis showcases the operation of various themes of Chinese corporate governance and contributes to the existing literature seeking to understand the unique role of the State in Chinese enterprises.

Quality adjustment and analysis of human resource prices in China: Based on a hedonic price model.

The competition in the world has shifted from natural resources and capital resources to human resources. The human resources have become the real power source of the economic growth. Firstly, the price of human resources in China is calculated. Secondly, in order to measure the human resources quality adjustment index, the indicators system is constructed. Third, the Hedonic method is used to calculate the human resources "pure price" of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) in China. The "pure price" has no the factor of human resources quality. Lastly, comparing the price of human resources before and after quality adjustment. The results show that: first, the number of human resources in China increased continuously during 1995-2015 and decreased during 2016-2020. Second, the price of nominal human resources in China keeps rising. In 2020, the nominal price is 39,087 yuan per person which is 15.44 times as many as in 1995. Thirdly, after the quality adjustment, the price of human resources has decreased significantly. The multiple between the actual and nominal price of human resources is between 1.75 and 2.12. Fourthly, the province with high human resource quality adjustment index generally have high quality human resource level or quantity. Fifth, the top five provinces of actual human resource prices are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, Tianjin, Zhejiang, the bottom five provinces are Guizhou, Yunnan, Henan, Xizang, Gansu. Finally, the paper puts forward some policy recommendations: Improving the data collection mechanism of human resources accounting to provide a basic guarantee for the accurate accounting of human resources. Improving the price of human resources in the central and western regions to attract the talents to transfer to the central and western regions. Enhancing the skills training of human resources to improve the quality of human resources in the western region.

Digital Transformation and the Frontier of China’s State Governance

Digital transformation has emerged as a significant area of interest for scholars in global political science and public administration. The advancement of digital technologies is driving a comprehensive transformation across the economy, society, and governance, thereby profoundly affecting the state governance of China. The introduction of new technologies has altered traditional power dynamics, leading to centralization and empowerment—the power redistribution issue of the digital era, which is a fundamental concern in China’s state governance. The effects of technological power, including empowerment and disempowerment of various entities, give rise to or reinforce four secondary issues: the problem of data silos and collaborative governance in internal government operations, the challenges related to technological deficits and platform regulation in market regulation, the issues of the digital divide and social justice in social governance, and concerns about privacy, transparency, and rights asymmetry. This paper integrates specific cases from China’s digital transformation and digital government initiatives to examine these cuttingedge issues and to analyze the impact of digital government reforms implemented by local Chinese governments on traditional government theories.

The Role of the Informal Institution: How Does It Shape the Trust Relationship Between Government and Social Organizations in China?

This paper analyses the influences of informal institutions on interorganizational trust. Based on a case study, it identifies five impact paths of informal institutions operating between government and social organizations in China: internal referencing, direct entrustment, office visits, favor provision, and key figure decision-making. Most of these function to maintain relationships and facilitate affection. Trust in these informal institutions is particularistic, exclusive, limited in transferability, discrete, and information based. Accordingly, this paper shows that while informal institutions can foster simple cooperation between a particular government and social organization, they can also strengthen the power imbalance between these two subjects and undermine basic public values.

The Impact of Financing Constraints on the Efficiency of Investment and Construction: Evidence from Municipal Infrastructure in China

Imperfect external capital market and internal soft budget constraints are important reasons for the issue of enterprise financing constraints. This paper studies the impact of financing constraints and influencing factors of financing constraints in municipal infrastructure investment and construction for local governments by using the panel data from 2003 to 2018 in China. The results show that, first, there are great financing constraints in municipal infrastructure investment and construction for local government in China. Second, the increase of self-financing capacity and external financing capacity can reduce the level and uncertainty of financing constraints, thus improving the efficiency of municipal infrastructure investment and construction. Third, the expansion of the city scale may reduce the uncertainty of financing constraints, but improve the level of financing constraints thus reducing the efficiency of municipal infrastructure investment and construction.

Issues and strategies for the modernization of biotechnology ethical governance in China

Issues and strategies for the modernization of biotechnology ethical governance in China

Rural revitalization mechanism based on spatial governance in China: A perspective on development rights

The effective allocation of rural development rights is crucial for achieving the ambitious goal of rural revitalization. However, China's current urban-rural spatial development rights system, with its differentiated allocation logic, has suppressed rural development rights, hindering the successful implementation of rural revitalization policies. In response to these challenges, there is a pressing need to innovate the rural spatial governance model. This paper aims to construct a comprehensive framework for analyzing rural development rights, grounded in the spatial governance concept of “matter-organization-ownership”. It explores the implementation path for rural development rights, encompassing spatial development and utilization rights, spatial value dominance rights, and spatial self-development rights. To illuminate the internal mechanisms driving the realization of rural development rights within a rural spatial governance context, this study focuses on empirical research conducted in Houwei village, Nanjing, China. The findings reveal that Houwei village has effectively mobilized diverse stakeholders, encouraging their active participation in the rural spatial governance system, particularly through the promotion of rural tourism. This innovative approach has integrated “top-down” spatial control transmission with a “bottom-up” spatial innovation model, catalyzing rural spatial development and utilization rights. Furthermore, the comprehensive governance of multidimensional space in Houwei village has clarified property rights over space, fostering the appreciation, realization, and circulation of rural space values, thus enhancing rural spatial value dominance rights. Additionally, the strengthened spatial relationship system has empowered local farmers to engage in self-organized learning, innovation, and development. By advocating for a comprehensive approach to rural spatial governance, this paper outlines an implementation path towards realizing rural development rights. It aims to provide valuable insights for refining rural revitalization strategies and practices, contributing to the overarching goal of sustainable rural development.

Does natural resource dependence influence the impact of financial technologies on corporate ESG and digital governance in China's listed enterprises?

In recent years, the concept of ESG has emerged globally and received widespread attention. In theory, financial technology in resource-dependent regions is expected to contribute to the development of corporate ESG. However, this has yet to be verified. This article selects 16,146 A-share listed companies in China as research samples from 2009 to 2019 and empirically analyzes the relationship between financial technology, natural resource dependence (Nrd), and ESG. The study shows that FinTech enhances corporate ESG, while Nrd constrains FinTech's enhancement impact on corporate ESG. This conclusion still holds after the endogeneity test and robustness test. Besides, Nrd constrains FinTech's effect on ESG in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), state-owned enterprises, firms in the Middle East, and heavily polluting industries. FinTech can impact corporate ESG by easing financing constraints and driving digital transformation. This study provides a rationale for the rapid development and broad application of FinTech and digital governance in companies' drive for sustainable development.

“A bloodless social revolution”: Land reform and multiple cropping in Cold War Taiwan, 1950–1979

Societal Impact StatementMultiple cropping, the cultivation of several crops on the same land in a year, occupied an important part of Taiwan's agricultural research from 1950 to 1970. This research originated in the context of Taiwan's land reform and diversification programs and their connections to the government's political ambition to maximize food production. The study of how multiple cropping was politicized and depoliticized by different actors helps to expand the narratives of the Green Revolution in Asia, analyze their legacies, and highlight Taiwan's role in the international exchange of visions of agricultural development during the Cold War.Summary Scholars have recently expanded the history of the Green Revolution to move beyond the narrative of North–South technological diffusion. This article enriches the scholarship with the case of multiple cropping in Taiwan and its connection to Cold War geopolitics. Rice productivity in postwar Taiwan was boosted through a land reform launched by the Sino‐American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR) in the 1950s. Backed by American aid and staffed by scientists from the Republic of China (ROC) government, the JCRR envisioned to turn tenant farmers into landowners so as to encourage labor input and adoption of seeds and fertilizers. By 1960, the JCRR presented its reform as a “bloodless social revolution” and extended its focus to multiple cropping through a diversification program. The JCRR further created the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) in 1971 to spread Taiwan's breeding and cropping techniques. The ROC's diplomatic isolation in the 1970s, however, prompted the center to reinterpret Taiwan's success in multiple cropping from a political achievement to a technological triumph, thus reinforcing the technology‐driven narrative used by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Through Taiwan's influences on IRRI's rice breeding and multiple cropping research, this paper illustrates that the history of the Green Revolution requires more complex narratives. In addition, with Taiwan's political and economic transition since the 1980s, farmers began to reclaim their voice and influence agricultural policies. The case thus highlights the need of democratic participation in agricultural research, a concern that remains relevant today.

Spatio-temporal evolution and scenario analysis of end-recycling governance in China: based on GM-SVR-BP combined forecasting model

ABSTRACT End-recycling governance is the core link for achieving high-quality development of circular economy. This study uses data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021 as research samples, constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system, and analyzes the achievements and progress of end-recycling governance in China over the years. Based on scenario analysis, a GM-SVR-BP combined model is further used to explore the development trends of end-recycling governance performance in 30 provinces in China from 2022 to 2030. Research finding: (1) The end-recycling governance performance of Chinese provinces presents a dynamic upward trend, but overall, it is low. (2) The barycenter of end-recycling governance in China migrated to the southeast, and the transfer speed was stable, showing a northeast-southwest pattern. There are pronounced differences among different regions. (3) There are apparent spatial autocorrelation characteristics in China’s end-recycling governance. The overall spatial agglomeration degree showed a weakening trend during the observation period. (4) The development trend of end-recycling governance performance in various regions in China during 2022–2030 follows the differentiation characteristics of the observation period in this study. Among them, technological breakthrough is one of the effective ways to improve the performance of end-recycling governance. The effect of the improvement of emotional level on the performance of end-recycling governance showed apparent regional heterogeneity. This study provides a clear and reliable decision-making basis for promoting the improvement of regional end-recycling governance performance and system construction, and has certain reference value for promoting national and regional resource conservation and environmental protection.

Translation Studies on Xi Jinping: The Governance of China—A Systematic Literature Review

This paper conducted a systematic literature review of the previous studies within China and other countries within the period from October 2014 to July 2023 with the purpose of investigating the research foci on the English translation of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. This study revealed that scholars in Chinese Mainland mainly focused on three fields: research on translation strategies of political documents, cultural translation in foreign publicity translation, the external dissemination of political documents and the construction of national image. Besides, an emerging field with discourse analysis-related theories to explore discourse theory paradigms, evaluate discourse quality, and conduct corpus analysis of discourse has provided multivariant academic thinking in translation studies. Compared with Chinese scholars’ studies, there was minimal discussion about the foreign scholars’ exploration of the translation strategies and methods or other translation-related topics, which implied the urgent need of mutual academic communication between Chinese scholars and the foreign academic circles to promote the further development of Chinese political document translation studies.

Assessing Narratives in the Translation of Chinese Political Discourse: A Perspective from the Narrative Paradigm

In the global era, translating Chinese political discourse is key to enhancing international understanding and diplomacy. This research employs the narrative paradigm to assess the translation of Chinese political discourse, with the goal of enhancing the effective narrative comprehension of such translations for international communication. It applies Fisher’s narrative paradigm and Baker’s assessing narratives to investigate the application and impact of the principles of narrative coherence and fidelity in the translation of Chinese political discourse for international audiences. Employing a qualitative research approach, it conducts an analysis based on translations from volumes III and IV of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, as primary case studies. The research finds that translations of Chinese political discourse face specific challenges and opportunities in maintaining narrative coherence and fidelity. The principle of narrative coherence emphasizes the importance of creating coherent, accessible narrative structures in translation, while the principle of fidelity demands fidelity to the source’s cultural information and political connotations, reflecting distinctive Chinese characteristics. Highlighting the significance of adopting the narrative paradigm in the international communication of Chinese political discourse, this research provides theoretical and practical insights for assessing narrative comprehension of Chinese political discourse translation. Moreover, the results offer a new perspective on narrative assessment for comprehension in cross-cultural and international communication, pointing directions for future research.

Navigating Environmental Governance in China’s Hog Sector: Unraveling the “Race to the Bottom” Phenomenon and Spatial Dynamics

Navigating Environmental Governance in China’s Hog Sector: Unraveling the “Race to the Bottom” Phenomenon and Spatial Dynamics

Abstract 433: BCAT1 promotes HCC metabolic reprogramming and survival through HIF-1α stabilization

Abstract Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly lethal primary liver malignancy characterized by hypoxia, a common feature of solid tumors, particularly in HCC. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) play a pivotal role in mediating various cellular processes, such as metabolic adaptation, to support the survival of hypoxic cells. The cytosolic form of branched-chain amino transferase (BCAT1) is responsible for the reversible transamination reaction between branched-chain keto-amino acids (BCKAs) and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), facilitating the interconversion between α-ketoglutarate (α-KG) and glutamate. Interestingly, we found that in the context of HCC, BCAT1 consumes α-KG, thereby favoring the stabilization of HIF-1α through suppressing the α-KG-dependent prolyl hydroxylase (PHD). Knockdown (KD) or knockout (KO) of BCAT or BCAT inhibitor (ERG245) suppressed HIF-1 stability, as well as HIF-1 dependent transcriptomic and metabolic changes. Mass spectrometry (MS)-based isotopic carbon tracing showed that KD/KO or ERG 245 suppressed hypoxia/HIF-1-induced glycolytic flux. Interestingly, ERG245 effectively inhibited the proliferative output of hypoxic HCC cells and suppressed HCC growth. ERG245 also profoundly inhibited HCC growth in vitro and in vivo together with Sorafenib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) used in HCC by increasing the apoptotic cell death. Furthermore, we confirmed that the expressions of BCAT1 and the HIF-1α-targeted metabolic genes are positively correlated in human HCCs. Our findings unequivocally demonstrate that BCAT1 confers a growth advantage to HCC cells by stabilizing HIF-1α and orchestrating HIF-1α-mediated metabolic reprogramming. Consequently, targeting BCAT1 emerges as a promising therapeutic strategy for HCC patients. Funding Support: This work was supported by the Centre for Oncology and Immunology under the Health@InnoHK initiative funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission, The Government of Hong Kong SAR, China and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (82173123, C.C.-L.W.) Citation Format: Misty Shuo Zhang, Kenneth Kin-Leung Kwan, Weixing Li, Adonia E. Papathanassiu, Irene Oi-Lin Ng, Carmen Chak-Lui Wong. BCAT1 promotes HCC metabolic reprogramming and survival through HIF-1α stabilization [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 433.

Influence of capital allocation on interregional inequality of public services: differentiated evidence of investment by the government and market in China

ABSTRACT Interregional inequality of public services is accompanied by their combined supply by government and market. This study investigates whether the spatial allocation of regional investment influences inequality and explores the differentiated source of such influence, distinguishing between government investment and private investment in China. Results suggest that the interregional inequality of public services is spatialised by the distorted spatial allocation of investment, which manifests itself as capital market segmentation, and it is aggravated by government investment but relieved by private investment. Such effects derive from differences in local protectionism, interregional competition and capital flow between government investment and private investment.

Social Embeddedness, Power Balance, and Local Governance in China

Why are informal institutions beneficial to local governance in some context but harmful in others? This research argues that local governance outcomes are jointly determined by social embeddedness – the extent to which local community leaders connect with their community members through informal ties, and power balance – the extent to which political power is balanced among local ruling elites to prevent it being captured by informal groups. We test our theory by investigating how informal lineage groups interact with formal political power to influence village governance in China. Using a four-round survey (2005–2016) in rural China, we find that village political leaders whose power is oligopolistically shared by two large clans distributed higher land-taking compensation to land-dispossessed households, while village leaders whose power is monopolized by one large clan paid less. This is because socially embedded village officials from the monopolized ruling clan are better able to fragment collective resistance, buy off aggrieved villagers, and collude with the state. The research reconciles the positive and negative perspectives of the role of informal institutions in local governance and highlights the effect of social embeddedness on local governance is conditional on the balance of power among local ruling elites.

When blame avoidance meets transparency: local governments’ bandwagon strategy in environmental information disclosure in China

ABSTRACT Despite the ample literature on government transparency, our knowledge about local governments’ strategic responses to transparency mandates, especially those in non-democratic regimes, is limited. This study sets out to fill this gap by investigating local governments’ strategic behaviours in implementing environmental information disclosure (EID), a specific form of government transparency, in the context of China. We assert that local governments in China are largely steered by the motivation of blame avoidance (BA) in EID and tend to adopt the bandwagon strategy, a specific form of anticipatory BA strategy. Moreover, having patronage ties with political superiors weakens local governments’ tendency to engage in the bandwagon strategy. Using city-level governments as the unit of analysis, we apply spatial econometric models in various specifications and find strong evidence that substantiates our arguments.

A corpus-based approach to the reception of Chinese television dramas streamed overseas

In recent years, the state government of China has vigorously supported the export of cultural projects. As the carrier of cultural output, television dramas carry important missions of cultural communication. In the age of convergence when the practice of watching television involves more viewer engagement, audience reception investigates how audiences may engage in a broad range of interactive experiences and activities. This paper focuses on the reception of Chinese television dramas streamed overseas on two prominent video streaming sites, YouTube and Rakuten Viki. Adopting a corpus-based approach, it first identifies the top ten most popular Chinese television dramas on the two sites. Subsequently, user-generated reviews and comments for the selected dramas are collected, and a corpus analysis is conducted on the data derived from the two platforms. The findings reveal that a) viewers exhibit a notable preference for Chinese contemporary dramas, and in particular, modern romance dramas; b) the predominant concerns underlying the reception of Chinese television dramas revolve around storylines, actors/characters and subtitles; c) reviews and comments related to subtitling can be categorized into distinct themes, which reveal the major concerns of international viewership. Through the investigation, this paper attempts to promote the translation and reception of Chinese television dramas and expand the export market of Chinese productions.