Top-level Design Research Articles

Designated Accountability: Pair-Making Mechanisms and Evolving Central-Local Relations in China’s Targeted Poverty Alleviation

ABSTRACT Top-level design and campaign-style governance have reshaped the dynamics of central-local relations in China during the Xi Jinping era. With an empirical focus on targeted poverty alleviation—a politically charged national agenda in China—this article examines three types of pair-making mechanisms, including the fixed-point paired support mechanism (FSM), the horizontally-twinned support mechanism (TSM), and the subnational peer-to-peer support mechanism (PSM), which are instrumental in both centralizing power and decentralizing responsibilities. Under the current leadership, these pair-making mechanisms have become more politicized, institutionalized, penetrative, and action-focused, with an expanded toolkit for enforcing accountability. They establish a nuanced, comprehensive duty system that transcends hierarchical, regional, and sectoral boundaries, collectively giving rise to a novel form of top-down accountability, conceptualized in this research as ‘designated accountability’. By engineering these pairs, central power has burgeoned. Not only can it prompt various parties to fulfill bureaucratic functions better, but it can also designate and impose tasks beyond their official roles, holding them accountable and ultimately claiming credit for achievements. Designated accountability not only provides fresh insights into new central-local dynamics and broader political implications in the Chinese context but also holds the potential to add to the general theory of political accountability.

Research on Rural Labor Transfer: Data Analysis from Northeast China

Based on a comprehensive big data analysis of the local and migrant workers in the three northeastern provinces, we have obtained insights into the scale distribution, migration flow, employment situation, and challenges faced by this workforce. This analysis aims to inform the top-level design and create a conducive environment for the development of rural electricity, thereby promoting the rationalization of rural labor transfer and sustainable development in the region. The data reveals a diverse pattern in the distribution of migrant workers, with some provinces experiencing a higher influx of migrant labor than others.

Local Inter-Governmental Cooperation in Regional Innovation in China: Historical Evolution and Logic of Change

Under the innovation-driven development strategy, inter-governmental cooperation in regional innovation has proliferated, but the historical change logic of local government participation in innovation cooperation has not been explained yet. Based on the theoretical paradigm of historical institutionalism, this paper attempts to construct a "structure-history-action" analytical framework for local government participation in innovation cooperation. Based on the theoretical paradigm of historical institutionalism, this paper attempts to construct a "structure-history-action" analytical framework for inter-governmental cooperation in regional innovation. In the course of more than forty years of change, inter-governmental cooperation in regional innovation in China can be divided into four stages. In the course of more than forty years of change, inter-governmental cooperation in regional innovation in China can be divided into four stages. Firstly, it has been driven by structural conditions in macro-institutional change; secondly, 'path dependence' Firstly, it has been driven by structural conditions in macro-institutional change; secondly, 'path dependence' caused by political and cultural genes, administrative institutional traditions and the 'key nodes' that drive change. Finally, the perceptions and interests of local governments, as micro-actors, have profoundly shaped the direction of change. On this basis, the development path of inter- governmental cooperation in regional innovation is proposed: strengthening the top-level design of innovation cooperation and optimizing.

Key technologies of earthquake early warning system for China’s high-speed railway

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to introduce the top-level design ideas and the overall architecture of earthquake early-warning system for high speed railways in China, which is based on P-wave earthquake early-warning and multiple ways of rapid treatment.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the key technologies that are involved in the development of the system, such as P-wave identification and earthquake early-warning, multi-source seismic information fusion and earthquake emergency treatment technologies. The paper also presents the test results of the system, which show that it has complete functions and its major performance indicators meet the design requirements.FindingsThe study demonstrates that the high speed railways earthquake early-warning system serves as an important technical tool for high speed railways to cope with the threat of earthquake to the operation safety. The key technical indicators of the system have excellent performance: The first report time of the P-wave is less than three seconds. From the first arrival of P-wave to the beginning of train braking, the total delay of onboard emergency treatment is 3.63 seconds under 95% probability. The average total delay for power failures triggered by substations is 3.3 seconds.Originality/valueThe paper provides a valuable reference for the research and development of earthquake early-warning system for high speed railways in other countries and regions. It also contributes to the earthquake prevention and disaster reduction efforts.

Institutional Change in the Governance of Chinese Football: The Era of ‘Top-Level Design’ Under the Leadership of Xi Jinping

This article explores the dynamics of institutional change in the governance of Chinese football in the Xi Jinping era, focusing on the concept of ‘top-level design’. Since Xi Jinping took over as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012, Chinese football has been at the centre of a series of far-reaching policy reform programmes, driven by Xi’s vision to promote the sport and improve China’s position in world football. To date, no study has examined whether institutional change has occurred in Chinese football from the theoretical perspective of actor-centred institutionalism. The aim of this study is to investigate whether there has been an institutional shift towards ‘top-level design’ in Chinese football governance under the leadership of Xi Jinping and, if so, what key aspects can be identified. Given the post-hoc character of the theoretical approach of actor-centred institutionalism, the qualitative method of process tracing was chosen to reconstruct and explain possible institutional changes. The data are based on extensive document analysis and complementary interviews with 22 experts. The findings suggest that under Xi Jinping’s leadership, institutional changes towards ‘top-level design’ have taken place in Chinese football in the form of anti-corruption campaigns and the emergence of new actors.

Value Connotation, Current Situation, and Path of Digital Transformation of Teaching in Vocational College

The digital transformation of vocational college teaching is an inherent requirement for the digital reform of vocational education in the digital information age. The digital transformation of vocational college teaching can promote data governance in the teaching process, students’ independent and personalized learning, the achievement of high-quality teaching evaluation, and the construction of digital school-enterprise teaching resources. In response to the practical needs and difficulties of digital transformation, vocational colleges should strengthen the top-level design of digital teaching, establish a sound operational guarantee mechanism for digital teaching, construct digitalized integrated teaching resources, enhance the digital information literacy of all staff, and take multiple measures to achieve the implementation of digital transformation in vocational college teaching.

GREEN BONDS AND CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE GREENWASHING: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

In this paper, we examine the relationship between green bond issuance and corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) greenwashing using Chinese A-share listed companies between 2011 and 2021. The findings indicate that issuance of green bonds effectively mitigate enterprises’ tendencies toward ESG greenwashing, affirming the stability of China’s green bond market. The analysis of the mechanism demonstrates that the issuance of green bonds can effectively mitigate ESG greenwashing by enhancing information transparency and alleviating financing constraints. Further analysis reveals that the issuance of green bonds effectively mitigates E information greenwashing and S information greenwashing, while it does not significantly impact G information greenwashing. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the inhibitory impact of green bond issuance on ESG greenwashing is more pronounced within subgroups characterized by high environmental protection subsidies, elevated environmental protection taxes and fees, executives lacking prior experience in environmental protection, and enterprises with limited social responsibility. The findings provide theoretical supplementation of ESG consequences resulting from green bond issuance and elucidate the mechanism for curbing corporate ESG greenwashing. Practically, it will facilitate other countries to enhance their top-level design of green bonds and contribute to achieving carbon neutrality and peak carbon goals.

Discuss on the Construction of Digital Rural Revitalization Information Service Platform in the New Era

If we want to assume digital rural areas, the focus must be on industrial prosperity, adhere to quality first, green agriculture, and take the structural reform of the agricultural supply side as a guide to further promote the construction speed of modern agricultural industrial system, management system, and production system, thereby improving agricultural productivity, competitiveness, and innovation, and promoting the realization of an agricultural power. In the new era, the system engineering of digital rural projects is relatively complex. It is necessary to adopt advanced system engineering ideas and methods, arrange top-level design, institutional setting, innovative technology, talent cultivation, and optimize operation modes, in order to achieve an information service platform and achieve digital rural revitalization.

A Simulation of the Spatial Expansion Process of Shrinking Cities Based on the Concept of Smart Shrinkage: A Case Study of the City of Baishan

The coexistence of urban expansion and shrinkage in China has become increasingly apparent; therefore, the current strategic model of growth-oriented urban planning as the top-level design needs to be adjusted. This paper focuses on the city of Baishan, which is a typical shrinking city in China, and explores the feasibility of implementing the concept of smart shrinkage planning in shrinking cities in China by constructing a coupled PLUS-SD model. The results demonstrate the following conclusions: (1) The overall simulation of the coupled PLUS-SD model is superior to that of the PLUS model. In Baishan, the areas with the most changes in construction land will be located at the edges of the landforms by 2030. (2) Using the traditional planning scenario would only exacerbate the rate of construction land expansion in Baishan, deepening the incongruity between the city’s population and construction land. (3) The smart shrinkage scenario will require strict control of the scale of construction land and optimization of the structure of the urban construction land, which would push the city in the direction of healthy and sustainable development. (4) The concept of smart shrinkage planning is a scientific and feasible plan for realizing the efficient and sustainable use of construction land in shrinking cities.

Construction of an evaluation index system for the capability of comprehensive control of mountain - type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis based on the One Health concept

To construct an evaluation index system for the capability of comprehensive control of mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis based on the One Health concept, so as to provide insights into the control and elimination of mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis using the One Health approach. A preliminary evaluation index system was constructed based on literature review, panel discussions and field surveys. Thirty-three experts were selected from 7 provincial disease control and prevention centers in Beijing Municipality, Hebei Province, Shanxi Province, Henan Province, Sichuan Province, Shaanxi Province and Gansu Province where mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis was endemic, and two rounds of expert consultations were conducted to screen the indicators. The positive coefficient, degree of concentration, degree of coordination, and authority of the experts were calculated, and the normalized weights of each index were calculated with the analytic hierarchy process. The response rates of questionnaires during two rounds of expert consultation were both 100.00% (33/33), and the authority coefficients of the experts were 0.86 and 0.88, respectively. The coefficients of coordination among experts on the rationality, importance, and operability of the indicators were 0.392, 0.437, 0.258, and 0.364, 0.335, 0.263, respectively (all P values < 0.05). Following screening, the final evaluation index system included 3 primary indicators, 17 secondary indicators, and 50 tertiary indicators. The normalized weights of primary indicators "external environment", "internal support" and "comprehensive control" were 16.98%, 38.73% and 44.29%, respectively. Among the secondary indicators of the primary indicator "external environment", the highest weight was seen for natural environment (66.67%), and among the secondary indicators of the primary indicator "internal support", the lowest weight was seen for the scientific research for visceral leishmaniasis control (8.26%), while other indicators had weights of 12.42% to 13.38%. Among the secondary indicators of the primary indicator "comprehensive control", the weight was 16.67% for each indicator. An evaluation index system has been constructed for the capability of comprehensive control of mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis based on the One Health concept. In addition to assessment of the effect of conventional mountain-type zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis control measures, this index system integrates the importance of top-level design, organizational management, and implementation of control measures, and includes indicators related to multi-sectoral cooperation.

Element relationship and extension path of clinical evidence knowledge map with Chinese patent medicine

This study aims to construct the element relationship and extension path of clinical evidence knowledge map with Chinese patent medicine, providing basic technical support for the formation and transformation of the evidence chain of Chinese patent medicine and providing collection, induction, and summary schemes for massive and disorganized clinical data. Based on the elements of evidence-based PICOS, the conventional construction methods of knowledge graph were collected and summarized. Firstly, the data entities related to Chinese patent medicine were classified, and entity linking was performed(disambiguation). Secondly, the study associated and classified the attribute information of the data entity. Finally, the logical relationship between entities was constructed, and then the element relationship and extension path of the knowledge map conforming to the characteristics of clinical evidence of Chinese patent medicine were summarized. The construction of the clinical evidence knowledge map of Chinese patent medicine was mainly based on process design and logical structure, and the element relationship of the knowledge map was expressed according to the PICOS principle and evidence level. The extension path crossed three levels(model layer, data layer application, and new evidence application), and the study gradually explored the path from disease, core evaluation indicators, Chinese patent medicine, core prescriptions, syndrome and treatment rules, and medical case comparison(evolution law) to new drug research and development. In this study, the top-level design of the construction of the clinical evidence knowledge map of Chinese patent medicine has been clarified, but it still needs the joint efforts of interdisciplinary disciplines. With the continuous improvement of the map construction technology in line with the characteristics of TCM, the study can provide necessary basic technical support and reference for the development of the TCM discipline.

Current Status and Economic Analysis of Green Hydrogen Energy Industry Chain

Under the background of the power system profoundly reforming, hydrogen energy from renewable energy, as an important carrier for constructing a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, is a necessary way to realize the objectives of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. As a strategic energy source, hydrogen plays a significant role in accelerating the clean energy transition and promoting renewable energy. However, the cost and technology are the two main constraints to green hydrogen energy development. Herein, the technological development status and economy of the whole industrial chain for green hydrogen energy “production-storage-transportation-use” are discussed and reviewed. After analysis, the electricity price and equipment cost are key factors to limiting the development of alkaline and proton exchange membrane hydrogen production technology; the quantity, scale and distance of transportation are key to controlling the costs of hydrogen storage and transportation. The application of hydrogen energy is mainly concentrated in the traditional industries. With the gradual upgrading and progress of the top-level design and technology, the application of hydrogen energy mainly including traffic transportation, industrial engineering, energy storage, power to gas and microgrid will show a diversified development trend. And the bottleneck problems and development trends of the hydrogen energy industry chain are also summarized and viewed.

Development path of a modern rural power grid under dual carbon target based on data analysis

Abstract In China’s economic and social development planning, dual carbon goals and modern rural constructions have become new keywords. It is important to realize the green transformation of energy systems and complete the construction of a modern rural power grid based on data analysis under the guidance of dual carbon goals. Based on the systematic summary of the rural energy structure, this paper assesses the current situation of the scientific and technological development of rural power grids, analyzes the main problems faced by the development of rural power grids, and gives suggestions on the path of energy transformation and the path of rural power grid development. The results show that rural energy transformation plays an important role in the implementation of the dual carbon goals, and the relationship between the long-term and short-term goals of rural energy transformation, top-level design and differentiated development, government regulation and market forces, development stage and energy consumption expenditure must be handled well. In addition, as an important support, rural power grid enterprises should seize the opportunities brought by the construction of rural power grids under the dual carbon goals, make rural power a technology to be valued, and promote the further development of new energy-related technologies.

How will the public health committees develop after COVID-19 pandemic in China? Exploration from mixed methods study in Pingshan District, Shenzhen.

The Public Health Committee has a long-standing presence in the Chinese Constitution. During the pandemic, it served as a grassroots self-governance organization and made significant contributions to China's community epidemic prevention and control system. Currently, 24 provinces in China have promoted the establishment of community public health committees. To gather data, we conducted semi-structured interviews (n = 48) with the heads of superior departments of public health committees, the heads of public health committees, and the heads of community health centers, exploring aspects such as organizational structure, job responsibilities, and job security. In parallel, we administered a capacity-building survey to a sample of 23 community residents (n = 1,986) and performed regression analysis. Finally, we examined the impact of gender, age, and education level on the development of public health committees. Our study reveals that the development of public health committees displays features of administration across various dimensions, including personnel appointment, top-level design, medical professionalism, funding path dependence, and data path dependence. However, the decision-making function of the organization does not exhibit a significant impact. The construction of the Public Health Committee should demonstrate an "autonomization-administration" pendulum effect. Currently, due to the absence of decision-making functions within the Public Health Committee, autonomous organizations are exhibiting characteristics of administration. To prevent excessive autonomization or administrative nature in the development of committees, public health policies are continuously being refined based on the unique characteristics of public health committee construction. During exceptional circumstances or the initial stages of development, the establishment of public health committees should be primarily guided by administrative principles, utilizing political momentum to drive their progress. In contrast, during routine establishment phases or later stages of development, the establishment of public health committees should be primarily led by autonomization, restoring their capacity for self-decision making. It is essential to fully leverage the role of grassroots self-governance organizations, relying on the community to engage in self-management, self-education, and self-service within public health committees.

Political Steering Theory in the Era of ‘Top-Level Design’: The Unexpected Implications of Campus Football in Xi Jinping’s China

Political Steering Theory in the Era of ‘Top-Level Design’: The Unexpected Implications of Campus Football in Xi Jinping’s China

Hard carbon for sodium-ion batteries: progress, strategies and future perspective.

Because of its abundant resources, low cost and high reversible specific capacity, hard carbon (HC) is considered as the most likely commercial anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Therefore, reasonable design and effective strategies to regulate the structure of HCs play a crucial role in promoting the development of SIBs. Herein, the progress in the preparation approaches for HC anode materials is systematically overviewed, with a special focus on the comparison between traditional fabrication methods and advanced strategies emerged in recent years in terms of their influence on performance, including preparation efficiency, initial coulombic efficiency (ICE), specific capacity and rate capability. Furthermore, the advanced strategies are categorized into two groups: those exhibiting potential for large-scale production to replace traditional methods and those presenting guidelines for achieving high-performance HC anodes from top-level design. Finally, challenges and future development prospects to achieve high-performance HC anodes are also proposed. We believe that this review will provide beneficial guidance to actualize the truly rational design of advanced HC anodes, facilitating the industrialization of SIBs and assisting in formulating design rules for developing high-end advanced electrode materials for energy storage devices.

Economic effect evaluation and collaborative development path research of Linyi red tourism

Linyi is rich in red tourism resources, with high quality, strong attraction, and great development potential. In recent years, the red tourism industry in Linyi has achieved significant development. Using econometric analysis models, using the Linyi red tourism development (measured by domestic income of red tourism) and regional economic growth (measured by GDP) from 2000 to 2019 as endogenous variables, a VAR model is constructed to empirically analyze the impact of red tourism development on regional economic growth. Through research, it has been found that a positive impact on the domestic and international income growth rates of Linyi's red tourism has a positive impact on the GDP growth rate, and from a trend perspective, the duration is relatively long; This indicates that the domestic and international income of Linyi's red tourism has a significant promoting effect on Linyi's economic growth. From the results of variance decomposition, it can be seen that the contribution rates of domestic and international income from Linyi's red tourism to Linyi's economic growth are not significant at first, without considering the contribution rate of Linyi's economic growth itself. However, there has been a significant growth trend since the second period. Based on the analysis of the economic effects of red tourism, considering the overall nature of Linyi's red culture, proximity to geographical location, convenient transportation, and government support, this paper analyzes the specific path for the coordinated development of Linyi's red tourism. Construct a top-level design for the coordinated development of red tourism resources from the perspectives of goal coordination, organization and interest coordination, and institutional coordination.

Research on the generative logic and configuration effects of the policy implementation environment in China's grassroots digital construction: Traceability based on grounded theory and the validation of the csQCA method.

Using NVivo12plus software, this study constructs a generation model of the policy implementation environment in China's grassroots digital construction by examining the data from interviews with 37 Chinese grassroots civil servants as its research object. At the same time, with the help of the csQCA method and on the basis of rooted coding, using Tosmana software, the model validation and model expansion of 37 cases were carried out. This study shows that the main components of the policy implementation environment in China's grassroots digital construction include five main dimensions: cognitive, emotional, behavioral, normative and control. At the initial stage of China's grassroots digital construction, the cognitive environment dimension is the most critical link in the environmental governance of policy implementation. The cognitive and normative environments dominate the effect pattern of China's grassroots digital policy implementation. There are six types of motivation patterns for the environmental effect of the implementation of grassroots digital policy: know-doing-norm, cognitive-dominant, know-doing-control, emotion-control, behavior-lacking and regulation-dominant types. Based on the above analysis, there are three main policy suggestions to promote the generation of a productive policy implementation environment and positive policy effects in China's digital construction: "degree", "force" and "sense". These suggestions include strengthening the top-level design, improving the integration and cooperation degree of the environment, taking the root at the grassroots level to improve the adaptability of the environment, as well as increasing publicity and promotion to improve the sense of environmental experience.

Empirical evidence from a survey of the moral construction of university teachers in China

This study was conducted to explore the current situation and enhancement strategies of university teachers’ moral construction in China. Based on the cognitive and behavioral status of university teachers’ morality, we set up and distributed a survey questionnaire on university teachers’ morality. The survey results found that the construction of teachers’ morality in China has been fruitful, but the current level of university teachers’ morality still needs to be improved. On this basis, we put forward some practical strategies to promote the construction of teachers’ morality by strengthening the top-level design, improving the reward and punishment supervision system, inheriting and carrying forward the fine tradition of respecting teachers and attaching importance to education, and enhancing teachers’ subjective consciousness.

Study on Japan’s Cybersecurity Strategy and Regional Cybersecurity Construction in the Face of Global Competition

Abstract Cybersecurity has emerged as a crucial security concern for countries worldwide, and Japan has made significant strides in this area, providing other countries with valuable lessons from its experience. In the context of global competition, this paper presents Japan’s cybersecurity situation, examines the top-level design of the Japanese government’s cybersecurity strategy, and outlines a three-pronged approach to building regional cybersecurity. Aiming to address the shortcomings of the existing DAEDALUS cyber attack warning system, this paper proposes an unknown attack detection algorithm based on an open-set classification network, which improves the algorithm’s recognition accuracy in the face of unknown attacks through loss function optimization and classifier replacement on the basis of a convolutional neural network’s open-set classification architecture. The experimental results demonstrate that, under various openness conditions, this algorithm optimizes the average F1 value of the three recognition models to 78.47 and enhances the detection accuracy of OCN in unknown attacks across two datasets to 84.94% and 76.53%, respectively. This paper demonstrates the accuracy of the OCN algorithm in recognizing unknown attacks.