Municipalities In China Research Articles

China’s intra- and inter-national carbon emission transfers by province: A nested network perspective

Since China carries an increasingly significant responsibility in carbon emission reduction, a systematic assessment from the multi-scale and multi-regional perspective is essential to examine the region-specific carbon emissions and different kinds of carbon transfer patterns. By identifying carbon emission flows among 31 domestic provincial administrative regions and 184 foreign countries/economies, this work examines the domestic and foreign carbon emission flows of Chinese provinces/municipalities based on the intra- and inter-national relations. Overall, the provinces and municipalities in China are divided into 4 patterns according to carbon emission flows, among which inland provinces mainly engage in domestic carbon emission transfers, western regions generally receive carbon emissions with main carbon outflows in northeastern and central provinces, and coastal regions play an essential role in balancing carbon emission surpluses and deficits between domestic and foreign regions. For different sub-regions in China, recognizing carbon emission transfer relations contributes to the synergetic and sustainable regional development from a tele-connected perspective. With the nested network analysis, the multi-scale and multi-regional assessments focusing upon China’s provinces and municipalities extend the existing research to both national and global scales, providing a solid foundation for sustainable regional development in China.

A pilot study on the epidemiology of hyperuricemia in Chinese adult population based on big data from Electronic Medical Records 2014 to 2018.

We performed this study based on big data from Electronic Medical Records (EMR) of outpatients and inpatients from 52 hospitals in China to investigate the prevalence of hyperuricemia in Chinese adults. In this retrospective, descriptive study, a total of 3,363,016 subjects from 52 hospitals in 13 provinces and municipalities in China were enrolled. Eligible subjects were 18 years and older performing serum uric acid test between 2014 and 2018. Subjects were divided into the total group (including the subjects from all the clinic departments) and department-amended group (including the subjects from all the departments except endocrinology, orthopedics, and rheumatology and immunology departments). The prevalence of hyperuricemia in the department-amended group was lower than that in the total group (23.06% and 23.42% in 2018, respectively; P<0.0001). From 2014 to 2017, the prevalence of hyperuricemia increased year by year (18.29%, 20.02%, 20.16% and 23.06%, respectively) in the department-amended group. Besides, the prevalence of hyperuricemia was higher in men than that in women (38.00% and 11.89%, respectively; P<0.0001) and higher in southern region than in northern region (25.84% and 9.79%, respectively; P<0.0001) in department-amended group in 2018. Projections from our study estimate that about 271 million Chinese adults aged 18 years and older may have had hyperuricemia in 2018. These findings will be useful for the future researches and healthcare decision.

Expert consensus on nursing management for patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expert consensus on nursing management for patients undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Effect o f Inward a nd O utward F oreign D irect Inv estment on Regional Innovation Performance: Evidence from China

Purpose: This study examines how IFDI (Inward FDI) and OFDI (Outward FDI) of China affect the regional innovation performance using a panel data of Chinese provinces and municipalities. Design/methodology/approach: We use the system Generalized Method of Moments(GMM) estimation method to correct for the endogeneity of the dependent variable. A balanced panel data set of 30 provinces and municipalities in China over the period 2003- 2017 is employed in the analysis. We measure the regional innovation performance on two scales: the number of patent grants per 10,000 inhabitants and new product sales. Findings: The empirical results show that IFDI and OFDI have significantly positive impact on innovation performance and that the impact of IFDI is bigger than that of OFDI in new product sales. We also identify three positive variables- R&D intensity, absorptive capacity, and GDP growth, while the other variables cannot be concluded because of their different signs depending on the model. Research limitations/implications: This research is not without limitations. First, this study failed to take account of the overseas destination and the motives of OFDI due to the data limitations. Considering these factors may produce different results. Second, this study considered only high-tech industry in calculating the industrial specialization and diversification index because of the data limitations. Expanding the scope of the industry would result in different values of the indices, and thus our empirical results would be changed accordingly. Originality/value: Firstly, we provide evidence for the potential positive impact of OFDI and IFDI on regional innovation performance for the extended period until 2017. China’s OFDI rose significantly during the second decade of the 21st century. So it was necessary to conduct a research on the extended period. Secondly, we do not include OFDI and IFDI as independent variables in the same equation, but use them separately in different equations because the inclusion of them in the same equation raises the concern of potential multicollinearity as China’s OFDI and IFDI have a very high correlation, which is also what is different from preceding studies.

Impact of green finance on economic development and environmental quality: a study based on provincial panel data from China

The goal of green finance is to pursue the coordinated development of financial activities, environmental protection, and ecological balance. This study aims to examine the impact of green finance on economic development and environmental quality. Data concerning green finance, economic development, and environmental quality for 30 provinces and municipalities in China from 2010 to 2017 are used. First, the global principal component analysis is adopted to develop a green finance development index. Second, a model of the impact of green finance on economic development is constructed, which indicates that the development of green finance plays a role in promoting economic development. Next, emissions of industrial smoke (powder) dust, industrial solid waste, and carbon dioxide are used to represent the environmental variables, and a model of the impact of green finance on environmental quality is proposed. The model shows that green finance has a positive effect on environment improvement. However, the impact of green finance on environmental quality varies for different levels of economic development. Finally, based on the theory of the environmental Kuznets curve, a model of the impact of green finance on the relationship between economic development and environmental quality is developed. The model indicates that green finance can significantly improve this relationship, creating a win-win situation regarding economic development and the environment.

Rational use of face masks in the COVID-19 pandemic

Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that caused coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the use of face masks has become ubiquitous in China and other Asian countries such as South Korea and Japan. Some provinces and municipalities in China have enforced compulsory face mask policies in public areas; however, China's national guideline has adopted a risk-based approach in offering recommendations for using face masks among health-care workers and the general public.

Quality Assessment of the Clinical Trial Protocols Regarding Treatments for Coronavirus Disease 2019

Background: With the global spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an increasing number of clinical trials are being designed and executed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of various therapies for COVID-19. We conducted this survey to assess the methodological quality of registry protocols on potential treatments for COVID-19. Methods: Clinical trial protocols were identified on the ClinicalTrials.gov and the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. Protocols were screened by two investigators independently against pre-defined eligibility criteria. Quality of the included protocols was assessed according to the modified 14-item SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) 2013 Statement. Findings: We included 82 randomized controlled trial (RCT) protocols investigating treatment modalities for COVID-19. These ongoing trials are being conducted in 16 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities of China, and study interventions were either Western medicines (n=56) or traditional Chinese medicine (n=26). Findings of our quality assessment indicated that the existing trial protocols could be further improved on several aspects, including selection and definition of outcome measures, descriptions of study interventions and comparators, study subject recruitment time, definition of study inclusion and exclusion criteria, and allocation concealment methods. Descriptions of random sequence generation methodologies were accurate for the majority of included trial protocols (n=64; 78·05%); however, reporting of allocation concealment remained unclear in 63 (76·83%) protocols. Therefore, the overall risk of selection bias across these RCTs was judged to be unclear. A total of 52 (63·41%) included RCT protocols were open-label trials and are thus associated with a high risk of performance bias and detection bias. Interpretation: Quality of currently available RCT protocols on the treatments for COVID-19 could be further improved. For transparency and effective knowledge translation in real-world clinically settings, it is important for trial investigators to standardize baseline treatments for patients with COVID-19 and assess clinically important core outcome measures. Despite eager anticipation from the public on the results of effectiveness trials in COVID-19, robust design, execution and reporting of these trials should be regarded as high priority. Funding Statement: The authors received no specific funding for this work. Declaration of Interests: All authors declare no competing interests.

Environmental regulation, hidden economy, and China's outward foreign direct investment

The need to balance economic growth and its environmental impact continues to be a serious issue in China. As environmental regulation in China increases in importance, it is critical to understand how it impacts economic growth drivers such as outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) to formulate effective policies. One consideration should be the hidden economy, which can weaken the effects of environmental regulation on OFDI. This study investigates the scale of the hidden economy in 30 provinces and province-level municipalities in China in the period 2004 to 2015. The study uses the multiple indicators and multiple causes (MIMIC) model and the systematic generalized method of moments (GMM) test to analyze the impact of environmental regulation and the hidden economy on China's OFDI. The results show that stronger environmental regulation promotes OFDI. However, the hidden economy inhibits China's OFDI, as the positive effects of environmental regulation that drive OFDI are distorted. From a regional perspective, stronger environmental regulation promotes OFDI as well, while the hidden economy inhibits it. The interaction between environmental regulation and the hidden economy also inhibits it significantly.

The Effects of Leadership and Reward Policy on Employees' Electricity Saving Behaviors: An Empirical Study in China.

Excessive energy consumption and carbon emission damages the ecological environment and socially sustainable development in China. Organizations are major energy consumers, and should be principally responsible for energy saving. Despite that many organizational leaders know it is urgent to manage the energy saving behavior of employees, “how to effectively manage” receives less attention in both academic and practical fields. To fill this gap, this study adapts charismatic leadership theory to develop a theoretical model and explores how organizational leaders manage the electricity saving behavior of employees. This model was tested with a survey of 627 full-time employees from 14 provinces and municipalities of China. Results show that sustainable development vision, electricity saving cues, inspiration and role modeling significantly increase the electricity saving responsibility of employees, which in turn positively influences their electricity saving behavior. Moreover, organizational reward policy buffers the positive relationship between responsibility and behavior. This study contributes to energy conservation literature by explaining what characteristics of leadership improve the electricity saving behavior of employees and how leader characteristics match with organizational policy to effectively manage this. The practical implications for electricity saving management are also discussed.

College students’ views of ethical issues in classroom assessment in Chinese higher education

ABSTRACT Classroom assessment is an effective way to collect evidence about student learning, and a teacher’s professional responsibility in assessment is to use high quality, fair, and ethical assessment information to make decisions about students’ learning and teachers’ instruction. This study used a scenario-based survey and investigated college students’ perceptions about the ethicality of classroom assessment practices in Chinese higher education. Participants included 2711 college students from 177 universities located in 23 provinces and 4 municipalities in China. The results revealed that students reported very different levels of agreement with experts on the scenarios, and it appeared to be more challenging for them to recognize unethical assessment practices in comparison with ethical assessment practices. Students valued using multiple assessment methods but reported inconsistent views with experts regarding grading effort. Confidentiality and communication about grading were found to be the key assessment issues to be addressed in Chinese educational context.

Government annual report: decision usefulness, information accessibility and policy communication efficiency – Observations from 19 Chinese cities

ABSTRACT Using data from a questionnaire survey of residents in 15 sub-provincial cities and 4 provincial-level municipalities in China, this paper presents an analysis of the political communication efficiency of the government annual report (GAR). The study had three findings. First, GARs’ relevance, reliability, and clarity impacted its communication efficiency; but, some demographic characteristics like gender, profession, age, and education, also had effects on efficiency. Second, political embeddedness and psychological distance also affected GARs’ communication efficiency; for example, public servants and regular viewers of CCTV news had higher awareness of GARs. Finally, accessibility was a factor of policy communication efficiency for GARs. Through a combination of using the indirect channels found in the private sector, and further developing its own direct channels like government websites, China's governments can greatly improve their efficiency of policy communication.

An Empirical Study on the Efficiency of Basic Research in Chinese Universities Based on SE-DEA

Basic research is the basis and source of vitality for independent innovation, and an important way to realize the strategic goal of our national development. By analyzing the important components of input and output of basic research in universities, this paper establishes an evaluation index system, and then makes an empirical study on the efficiency of basic research of universities in 26 provinces and municipalities in China from 2009 to 2016 by using super-efficiency DEA method. The results show: (1) The efficiency of basic research in Chinese universities needs to be improved in general, but in recent years it has been rising steadily with a good development trend. (2) There are obvious differences in the efficiency of basic research among provinces and cities in China, and there are serious imbalances in the development of basic research among different regions as well

Characteristics of compensatory mutations in the rpoC gene and their association with compensated transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The aim of this study was to characterize rpoC gene mutations in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and investigate the factors associated with rpoC mutations and the relation between rpoC mutations and tuberculosis (TB) transmission. A total of 245 MTB clinical isolates from patients with TB in six provinces and two municipalities in China were characterized based on gene mutations through DNA sequencing of rpoC and rpoB genes, phenotyping via standard drug susceptibility testing, and genotypic profiling by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing. Approximately 36.4% of the rifampin-resistant isolates harbored nonsynonymous mutations in the rpoC gene. Twenty-nine nonsynonymous single mutations and three double mutations were identified. The rpoC mutations at locus 483 (11.3%) were predominant, and the mutations at V483G, W484G, I491V, L516P, L566R, N698K, and A788E accounted for 54.5% of the total detected mutations. Fifteen new mutations in the rpoC gene were identified. Rifampin resistance and rpoB mutations at locus 531 were significantly associated with rpoC mutations. MIRU-VNTR genotype results indicated that 18.4% of the studied isolates were clustered, and the rpoC mutations were not significantly associated with MIRU-VNTR clusters. A large proportion of rpoC mutation was observed in the rifampicin-resistant MTB isolates. However, the findings of this study do not support the association of rpoC mutation with compensated transmissibility.

Impact of High-speed Rail on Destination Accessibility: A Case Study of China

ABSTRACT The massive construction of high-speed rail (HSR) in China has changed tourists’ choice for transportation and shortened travel time, thus improving the accessibility of destinations. The principal goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of HSR on accessibility. With the ArcGIS network analysis toolkit, this paper calculates the market potential of destination cities, using 336 prefecture level municipalities in China as samples. It then measures the impact of HSR on accessibility to these cities, giving consideration to multiple modes of transportation, namely: aviation, high-speed rail and expressway. The study finds that HSR has become the top priority of transport in the context of short and medium-range travel distance for tourists. Meanwhile, thanks to HSR, the market potential of all cities in China has increased by 12.8%, the improvement being more significant for small- and medium-sized cities especially. In addition, HSR also strengthens the centrality of city with the hub airport. Lastly, regional differences in accessibility are expanded by HSR at a national level.

The psychological typhoon eye effect in responses to terrorism

Terrorist attacks can occur anywhere. As the threat of terrorism develops, the China-Eurasia Expo held in Ürümqi, China is attracting fewer potential visitors. A nationwide survey of 2034 residents from 31 provinces and municipalities in China was conducted to examine the relation between the distance to respondents’ city of residence from Ürümqi and their levels of concern for safety and security concerning the Expo. The two were found to be positively related: the closer the respondents lived to Ürümqi, the less concerned they were with the safety and security of the Expo. This is consistent with the “psychological typhoon eye” effect, which states that people living closer to the center of an unfortunate event (whether natural or man-made hazards) are less concerned with the event’s negative consequences. This effect appears to hold for terrorism. There are implications of this finding for international counter-terrorism practice, tourism, and research.

Measurement of Regional Industrial Ecological Efficiency in China and an Analysis of Its Influencing Factors

In recent years, with the rapid advancement of industrialization and urbanization, China's economy has experienced a period of rapid development. However, while China has become the world's second largest economy, it has also become a veritable resource consumer and environmental polluter. So China must need to transform its economic development model and vigorously promote ecological progress. We use interprovincial panel data from 2012 to 2016 to calculate and analyze the industrial ecological efficiency of 31 provinces in China, and then discuss the factors that influence efficiency. The results show that, during the research year, the industrial eco-efficiency of 31 provinces and municipalities in China has been rising steadily in time series but differs significantly in regional cross-sections. Moreover, the eco-efficiency of the eastern region was higher than the central and western regions. Among the influencing factors, the per capita GDP, the proportion of the secondary industry's output value to the regional GDP, and the population density all had a positive impact on industrial eco-efficiency, and the overall industrial eco-efficiency level of the eastern region is higher than the central and western regions. Therefore, the keys to improving regional industrial eco-efficiency are as follows: increasing the income of residents, accelerating the ecological transformation of traditional industries, optimizing the population lay out to alleviate the conflict between people and land, and narrowing the regional development gap.

African swine fever in China: a new twist to an emerging crisis

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Environmental Tax Reform and the "Double Dividend" Hypothesis in a Small Open Economy.

In this paper, we build and analyze a general equilibrium model to evaluate the effects of environment tax reform on a small open economy in a “suboptimal environment” with existing tax distortions. We then use the macroeconomic data from the Chongqing Municipality in China to conduct simulations to empirically test our analytic results. Our main findings include the followings. First, an increase in environmental tax rate can effectively reduce the use of polluting consumer goods by households as well as investment in polluting factors by enterprises. Hence, an increase in environmental tax rate can improve environmental quality and obtain “environmental dividend”. Second, an increase in environmental tax rate can negatively impact employment, family income and economic growth. Hence, there is no “non-environmental dividend” effect. Third, an increased environmental tax rate has both substitution effect and income effect on household consumption. On the one hand, it motivates households to substitute polluting consumer goods with clean consumer goods. On the other hand, it lowers the total consumption level of households. Fourth, we show that the “double dividend” hypothesis on environmental tax is invalid. And the optimal environmental tax under the suboptimal environment is lower than the Pigouvian tax rate. Finally, we discuss the policy implications of our results.

A molecular epidemiological investigation of PEDV in China: Characterization of co-infection and genetic diversity of S1-based genes.

Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) is an emerging and re‐emerging epizootic virus of swine that causes substantial economic losses to the pig industry in China and other countries. The variations in the virus, and its co‐infections with other enteric viruses, have contributed to the poor control of PEDV infection. In the current study, a broad epidemiological investigation of PEDV was carried out in 22 provinces or municipalities of China during 2015–2018. The enteric viruses causing co‐infection with PEDV and the genetic diversity of the PEDV S1 gene were also analysed. The results indicated that, of the 543 diarrhoea samples, 66.85% (363/543) were positive for PEDV, and co‐infection rates of PEDV with 13 enteric viruses ranged from 3.58% (13/363) to 81.55% (296/363). Among these enteric viruses, the signs of diarrhoea induced by PEDV were potentially associated with co‐infections with porcine enterovirus 9/10 (PEV) and torque teno sus virus 2 (TTSuV‐2) (p < .05). The 147 PEDV strains identified in our study belong to Chinese pandemic strains and exhibited genetic diversity. The virulence‐determining S1 proteins of PEDV pandemic strains were undergoing amino acid mutations, in which S58_S58insQGVN–N135dup–D158_I159del‐like mutations were common patterns (97.28%, 143/147). When compared with 2011–2014 PEDV strains, the amino acid mutations of PEDV pandemic strains were mainly located in the N‐terminal domain of S1 (S1‐NTD), and 21 novel mutations occurred in 2017 and 2018. Furthermore, protein homology modelling showed that the mutations in pattern of insertion and deletion mutations of the S1 protein of PEDV pandemic strains may have caused structural changes on the surface of the S1 protein. These data provide a better understanding of the co‐infection and genetic evolution of PEDV in China.

Effect of natural and anthropic factors on the spatiotemporal pattern of haze pollution control of China

Abstract Considering the economic and geographical correlation among cities, this study uses the economic geography matrix as the spatial weight and integrates government regulation, social, economic and natural factors into the research framework. The spatial econometric model is used to quantitatively analyze each index to measure the temporal difference and spatial dependence of haze pollution among different regions, and to test its spatial spillover effect. The results show that there is a significant positive correlation between PM2.5 in various provinces and municipalities in China, and the spatial distribution pattern presents spatial agglomeration. Environmental regulation follows a “U” pattern relationship with PM2.5. GDP follows an inverted U pattern relationship with PM2.5. Population density and air temperature are negatively correlated with PM2.5. From the perspective of spillover effects, per capita GDP first has a positive effect and then negatively and indirectly impact on neighboring provinces and municipalities. These findings are conducive to policymaking and improving haze pollution control and reduction. Effective measures should be further implemented with regional heterogeneity being taken into consideration.