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This paper conceptualises digital displacement as both a way through which the digital, dynamic and fragile spatialities of contentious politics can be examined and as a geographic critique of censorship. Digital displacement, understood here as the act of removing users from the digital places and spaces they wish to remain in and use, often through the act of deletion, is conceptualised through the digital displacement of two contentious political groups that attempted to contest the forced eviction of migrants from Beijing in 2017; hashtag focused #BeijingSurgery# and instant messaging group using BeijingTogether. Explored through participant observation, interviews and playful digital exploration, this paper examines the spatialities that made multiple digital displacements possible and the activist spatialities that emerged during and post‐displacement. In exploring this, I develop a flexible vocabulary around digital place, space, scale, territory and mobility to analyse the practices of digital displacement, to understand the socio‐spatial positionality of activists involved in digitally centred contentious politics and to contextualise their territorial positionality within Chinese digital territory and global digital territories. Through the examination of #BeijingSurgery# and BeijingTogether, the article highlights: the importance of digital territorial positionality for both activists and the digital places and spaces used for contentious politics; that within systems of digital spatial governance, deletion and displacement can be effective strategies of repressive governance with wide‐ranging displacement effects; and that while digital displacement is not necessarily the ending point of contentious politics, the re‐production of activist spatialities is more difficult when the authority being protested against governs the digital territory used for protest. This paper conceptualises digital displacement as: a way through which the digital, dynamic and fragile spatialities of contentious politics can be examined; a way to understand China's digital territorialization project; and as a geographic critique of censorship. Digital displacement is conceptualised through the ethnographic research conducted in Beijing and examines efforts to contest the forced eviction of migrants from Beijing in 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper conducted a comparative analysis of the conference publications published by Chinese scholars from 2006 to 2019. The main results are as follows. First, the conference papers are unevenly distributed among the 31 provincial administrative regions. The annual number of conference papers published by scholars from different regions fluctuated during the study period. Second, there are different disciplinary distributions of China Proceedings of Conferences Full‐text Database (CPCD) papers and Conference Proceedings Citation Index (CPCI) papers, and the CPCI publications have a relatively centralized disciplinary distribution. Third, it is noteworthy that there are more CPCD papers than CPCI papers. With the introduction of the new science and technology evaluation standards of the Ministry of Science and Technology, there should be more conference papers in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese humanitarian actors have worked frequently with the Chinese diaspora in disaster‐affected areas, but little, if any, research has been conducted into the important role of the diaspora in disaster response and humanitarian assistance. This paper investigates what local knowledge the Chinese diaspora has offered to humanitarian actors from the People's Republic of China (PRC), and how this has contributed to their effectiveness. Based on a case study of the semi‐autonomous Indonesian province of Aceh in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, this paper argues that the diaspora can serve as a linchpin in local and international humanitarian action. It can do so by strengthening networks and bringing together local ethnic communities, local governments, and the PRC's humanitarian actors, while also offering local knowledge in the form of contextual memory. Such local knowledge may have to be fully utilised to address any underlying ethnic tensions in disaster‐affected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how public servants in aid‐recipient countries perceive and encounter the development structures and normative discourses of South–South partnerships. The paper draws on interviews with senior public servants in the Antigua and Barbuda government who interface directly with Chinese aid delivery. The public servants perceive that ‘Northern’ development models have largely failed and that ‘Southern’ donors can facilitate alternative development pathways. They understand that South–South partnerships give aid‐recipient countries greater control over their development futures, invoking some of the original radicalism of South–South partnerships. The public servants also perceive that Western critiques of Chinese aid are underpinned by orientalism, and they reject notions that they are being passively integrated into the Chinese government's global vision. Yet, they do not passively internalise the normative discourses on South–South partnerships. This paper advances a multi‐scalar postcolonial geographical analysis of South–South partnerships and will be of interest to those exploring how aid‐recipient countries navigate the politics and power relations of the contemporary global aid landscape. The paper also advances debates on how subaltern geopolitics play out in the context of increasing South–South partnerships. Finally, with its focus on South–South partnerships, the paper contributes to the aid ethnographies literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human geographers are increasingly concerned with how 'futures' are imagined and rendered governable, yet mostly their methods lack the sensitivity to explore the functioning of complex relations between heterogeneous actors across places. The world's electric vehicle (EV) sector is booming, presaging a widely expected decarbonised future, associated with a restructuring of the automobile industry as anticipated by proactive players. This paper interrogates the spatiality and politics of the EV future‐making through disentangling the translocal practices involved in realising Tesla's Gigafactory in Shanghai (TGS) as assemblage. Informed by interviews with industrial insiders and opensource information in Chinese and English, the article finds that, first, TGS's imagined future embodies a multiplicity of interdependent but divergent expectations, the coherence of which underlies the formation and operation of the TGS assemblage by virtue of the concerted actions of its member‐actors. Second, such coherence is conditional as designed by TGS's central planners—namely, Tesla and Chinese government agencies at central and local levels—for their differentiated but overlapping interests. The TGS's imagined future is rendered actionable, enrolling other agents at certain moments, through anticipatory practices of regulatory changes, strategic arrangements interweaving land and financing, firm acquisition and intra‐firm reorganisation linking up places in and outside China, as well as the selection of key suppliers and technological use of critical raw materials. Concluding after a sketch on the TGS's 'possible futures' and broader implications, the paper contributes an assemblage‐informed approach to disentangle futuremaking practices and generates timely insights into the 'future‐oriented' restructuring of the automobile industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how Chinese transnational investments, as (re)framed in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), contribute to changes in urbanisation processes in Southeast Asia. On the ground, the BRI becomes contextualised and intersects with local and national development trajectories. The growing presence of Chinese actors in the region intensifies urban dynamics, especially in secondary cities and emerging urban sites, where the BRI is used as a lever for local internationalisation strategies. The heterogeneous nature of the links between the BRI and various large urban projects is demonstrated on the basis of case studies involving changing consortia of private and public Chinese and Southeast Asian actors. A regional approach allows us to identify connections and shared processes across Southeast Asian countries. It provides a historically grounded understanding of how the BRI incorporates long‐term interactions with China and more recent partnerships in Southeast Asian countries. The paper paves the way for a research agenda that contests the image of China as a monolithic actor implementing the BRI uniformly and consistently. Further analyses are needed to examine systems and networks of actors as well as the local urban politics that affect the BRI on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how latecomer firms manage to achieve industrial upgrading through strategic coupling with global lead firms in automotive production networks. Drawing upon the example of the Guangzhou Automotive Corporation in southern China, this paper theorizes 'cross‐scalar tension' as a key factor to explain why the four cases of strategic coupling between lead firms, the same domestic firm and state ended in different results, from decoupling to a sustainable coupling with local upgrading. This paper contributes to the pertinent literature by demonstrating that cross‐scalar tension is inherent to the nature of global production networks, and unreconciled tension concerning different corporate strategies on technological transfer, localization and product development could lead to decoupling. Importantly, good coordination and matching on corporate strategies between lead and domestic firms could relieve cross‐scalar tensions, thus fostering local industrial upgrading and sustainable strategic coupling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the perceptions and mechanisms of doctoral student job decisions regarding the pursuit of careers in the government sector in China. Through the lens of social cognitive career theory (SCCT), we analysed 30 semi‐structured interviews that had been conducted with doctoral students from two prestigious Chinese universities who wish to work as civil servants. This study describes doctoral students' understanding of careers in government employment from the perspectives of work content, promotion channels and professional norms. The mechanisms influencing student career choices include personal goals, self‐efficacy, outcome expectations and environment. The clear goal of political ambition and work–life balance directly drives doctoral students to choose government institutions for employment. The diploma signal of doctoral degree itself and academic training give doctoral students a high sense of self‐efficacy, which is necessary for their choice of employment in the government. Occupational safety, occupational benefits and occupational value constitute the expectations of positive outcomes providing doctoral students with good feedback. In the current environment, the labour market situation and the impetus of universities combine to form a push force and the preferential recruitment policies of the state form a pull force, which jointly promote doctoral students to make decisions to work in government sector. In this paper, the fact that the Chinese government introduced the 'special selected graduates' scheme for doctoral students from prestigious universities in hope of recruiting intellectual elites to improve the quality of civil servants and the modernization level of social governance. Universities encourage PhD graduates to enter the government, hoping that this would enhance their social influence and reputation, thereby safeguarding their status as prestigious universities. From an institutional perspective, the process of doctoral students becoming civil servants can be said to be a form of cooperation between the government and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrialized world's workforce is aging. China, as one of the important representative countries in the Asia‐Pacific region, is also experiencing an aging trend. Older people are often viewed as inflexible and unwilling to proactively change their environment or themselves to some extent. Prior studies have also found a negative association between age and proactive behavior. Therefore, breaking this negative cycle of age and proactive behavior becomes significant for the literature on age and management practices regarding older employees. In this paper, we identified job variety as a critical boundary condition and suggested that it would moderate the relationship between age and future time perspective, ultimately affecting proactive behavior. Our model was tested using a multilevel and multisource sample including 36 managers and 193 employees in China. The results showed that when job variety is high, the negative relationship between age and behavior becomes nonsignificant. Further, the interaction between age and job variety influenced proactive behavior through individuals' future time perspective. By identifying the important role of job variety, our study contributes to human resource management interventions for the aging workforce in China and other Asia‐Pacific countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Nurses are the frontline professionals caring for patients who have attempted suicide. When clinical nurses learn from medical records or nursing handover, or are proactively informed by patients or family members, that the patients they are caring for have suicidal tendencies, they often experience pressure and face challenges. However, little attention has been given to the experiences of the nurses caring for patients with suicidal intent on medical and surgical wards. We aimed to address this knowledge gap. The purpose of this study was to explore medical and surgical nurses' experiences, especially the internal conflicts they might experience while caring for patients who have a history of attempted suicide. A qualitative descriptive design and semi‐structured interviews were used in this study. Twenty‐three nurses were recruited and interviewed individually. Data were analysed by qualitative content analysis. The focus of this paper is to examine the emergent theme of intrapersonal conflict experienced by the participants. Nurses' experiences can be clustered into two themes: (1) Pity and annoyance and (2) Hard work does not necessarily pay off. Intrapersonal conflict was identified by participants as considerable fear and anxiety about the possibility of a patient's suicide, as well as a mixture of pity for and annoyance with the patients. Nurses feel sorry for such patients, but they are also annoyed by the extra work required to prevent suicide attempts in the ward. Additionally, having limited time and ability, they see that their hard work does not necessarily pay off and may sometimes lead to punishment. Our findings raise serious concerns about the adequacy of the knowledge of the nurses, their competence and their difficulties in caring for such patients. In addition, there is a need to provide them with appropriate on‐the‐job education and immediate emotional support relevant to caring for survivors of suicide attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores China's African public relations and image‐building effort, focusing on Nigeria. Thus, the paper's purpose is twofold: first, to investigate whether China's conduct of public diplomacy through its soft power resource—development assistance—has effectively shaped positive Nigerian public perception of China, and second, to determine the media's role in advancing China's public diplomacy in Nigeria. Specifically, it explores the interaction of economic development assistance, media, and public relations. I do this by comparing China's foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria (2010–2019) with the public's perception of the FDI's influence on the Nigerian economy (2016 and 2020) and the media's role in shaping public support toward the investments. Utilizing a range of datasets, I find that Chinese economic investment alone is insufficient to substantially shape positive Nigerian public perception of China. Within a framework of mediated public diplomacy, I demonstrate that the Chinese image‐building effort in Nigeria would likely enhance when the country links economic investments with public relations to make the investments more visible through effective media representation. Related Articles: Ayhan, Kadir Jun, and Nancy Snow. 2021. "Introduction to the Special Issue—Global Korea Scholarship: Empirical Evaluation of a Non‐Western Scholarship Program from a Public Diplomacy Perspective." Politics & Policy 49(6): 1282–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12440. Hodzi, Obert, and John H. S. Åberg. 2020. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Strategic Deployment of the China Model in Africa." Politics & Policy 48(5): 804–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12378. Huijgh, Ellen. 2017. "Indonesia's 'Intermestic' Public Diplomacy: Features and Future." Politics & Policy 45(5): 762–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12221. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the spatial‐temporal evolution of urban spatial structure across 269 Chinese prefectural cities from 2002 to 2019. Our analysis identifies a consistent trend toward a more polycentric configuration in the 25 Chinese mega‐cities during this period, primarily due to population growth and a supportive policy environment. However, the evolutionary pathways of small‐ and medium‐sized cities unfolded in a rather complex and diverse manner, with some becoming more polycentric while the majority adhering to a monocentric trajectory. In these cases, population growth is usually associated with a more monocentric pattern, characterized by rapid expansion of the urban core, while polycentric development is primarily attributed to specific spatial policies that support the emergence of subcenters. We conclude that polycentric development, while potentially suitable for mega‐cities to alleviate diseconomies of scale, may be less appropriate for small‐ and medium‐sized cities as it may constrain growth associated with agglomeration economies. We suggest that the development and implementation of regional spatial policy should be considerate of local historical paths and contextual factors. Finally, we propose a stylized framework to more accurately reflect the diverse and complex nature of urban spatial structure evolution in Chinese prefectural cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uneven changes in potential evapotranspiration (PET) in response to temperature rise are called the 'evapotranspiration paradox' phenomenon, which is expected to intensify further under a warming climate. In this paper, we explored the spatial–temporal changes in the future 'evapotranspiration paradox' phenomenon over China and its 10 major river sub‐regions under different climate change scenarios. Thus, this paper uses four global climate model outputs under seven shared socioeconomic pathway‐based scenarios (SSP1‐1.9, SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, SSP4‐3.4, SSP4‐6.0 and SSP5‐8.5) from the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). Considering the latest IPCC's 6th Assessment Report (AR6), this research emphasizes the 2021–2040 (near‐term), 2041–2060 (mid‐term) and 2081–2100 (long‐term) periods to anticipate the 'evapotranspiration paradox' phenomenon. In this study, PET is estimated based on the modified Penman–Monteith (P‐M) method (considering CO2). Furthermore, the paradox phenomenon in this study is defined considering two pivotal conditions: the surface temperature increases but the evaporation decreases (Type I), and the temperature decreases but the evaporation still tends to increase (Type II). The results show that there were only Type I 'evapotranspiration paradoxes' that existed in the historical period, which were dominant especially before the 1990s. Nearly 50% of the areas experienced the Type I 'evapotranspiration paradox' phenomenon that occurred during 1975–1994 and 1995–2014. Spatially, it covered 100% of the area of the Southeast River (SER) and the Liaohe River (LR) during 1975–1994 and the area of the SER, the HAR, the HHR and the LR during 1995–2014. In the future, the interdecadal growth rate of PET in China is projected to be the highest under the SSP5‐8.5 and the lowest under the SSP3‐7.0 with spatial variation. Importantly, the largest areas of approximately 36% and 45% with the Type I phenomenon are inclined to occur under the SSP1‐1.9 and SSP4‐6.0, respectively, over the long‐term period (2081–2100). The area with the Type I phenomenon will be less than 20% in the near‐term, and it is less than 12% in the mid‐term period. For the Type II evapotranspiration paradox, the uppermost 45% of the area is expected to experience the Type II phenomenon under SSP1‐1.9 during the mid‐term period, while it is 30% under SSP1‐2.6 during the long‐term period. However, this study's findings provide the scientific basis for formulating adaptation and mitigation strategies to combat 'evapotranspiration paradox'‐related extremes at regional scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of rangeland governance and tenure in pastoral China has sparked significant controversy and discussion. Several models have been suggested, encompassing private, state and common property systems. However, what does the practical implementation of rangeland governance entail? A review of the history of rangeland governance and policy in Amdo, Tibet tells how land governance is constructed by pastoralists adapting existing norms, formulating rules in various contexts, and negotiating with various groups such as the monastery, religious organisations, and governmental authorities. The governance of rangeland in Amdo, Tibet is characterised by constant negotiations and contestations, including resistance from below, and is shaped by various processes in the real‐world context. Through the notion of assemblage, which involves bringing together an array of agents and objectives to intervene in social processes to produce desired outcomes and avert undesired ones, this paper adds to the existing body of research on land governance by examining how institutions are formed in the case of a hydroelectric dam on the land of the pastoralists. Consequently, the question arises: What does this mean for policy and practice for the rangelands of China? If hybrid rangeland governance is to be considered the prevailing practice, then what implications would this have for the framing of policies and their implementation? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has recently become an agent of intensified agricultural production in Southeast Asia by constructing large‐scale irrigation systems. Funded with Chinese development finance, such infrastructure projects have been interpreted as a 'spatial fix' for capital accumulation in China, which helps explain the shifting balance of power within the region's political economy. However, we argue that explaining the local outcomes of these projects requires mapping out Chinese development finance in relation to the multi‐scalar network of actors, circuits of capital, and struggles over water that produce irrigated landscapes. We draw on our joint research about the Chinese‐funded and built Kanghot Irrigation Development Project in Cambodia. We explain how the construction of Kanghot was shaped by the historical and political relations between China and Cambodia. Since completion in 2016, Kanghot irrigation has transformed agricultural production by enrolling farmers into a network of volatile commodity markets and harmful pest ecologies. There have also been ongoing community struggles over Kanghot's water due to the project's design and institutional management. By broadening the idea of infrastructure as spatial fix to include these material and social processes of agrarian landscape production, this paper advances a political ecology of Chinese development finance in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the 2015 China Household Financial Survey (CHFS) this paper examines the effect of culture on the gender gap in financial literacy. We exploit geographical differences in culture in China, comparing outcomes between rural and urban areas and between areas in the east and west (Shanghai and Chongqing). Using the Blinder‐Oaxaca decomposition we show that, nationally, the gender gap in financial literacy is entirely the product of differences in the way men and women acquire financial literacy. It is a result consistent with cultural effects. When considering just women in Shanghai and Chongqing we observe a raw financial literacy differential of 13% (favoring Shanghai). This gap is also the product of differences in the way financial literacy is acquired. It provides additional evidence as to the importance of culture when it comes to understanding financial literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the notion of working time flexibility of platform takeaway riders and its impact on them in China. Drawing on 25 interviews with platform and takeaway delivery company managers and takeaway riders as well as secondary data, the study finds that the management model adopted by the platform companies and their agency companies often encourages riders to extend their working hours by being designed into the rider's earning system, status level and various incentive schemes. Driven by profits, takeaway delivery platform companies pursue speed and impose harsh punishments for poor customer reviews. Severe competition and the platforms' aggressive pricing and commissioning practices mean that takeaway riders' remuneration is tightly squeezed, with no subsidies or overtime payment, and with rules for bonuses that make it increasingly difficult to earn. Working excessively long and intense hours is the only way that riders can increase their income, which suggests that rider-oriented working time flexibility is virtually non-existent. We propose the notion of fragmented employment relationships and fragmented working time to conceptualise working time flexibility in the takeaway delivery context in China. We accentuate the need to examine the quality of working time flexibility when examining this practice. We call for state interventions to provide a greater level of social protection than the takeaway riders are currently experiencing to advance the decent work agenda as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of the Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP) has gained increasing currency in Russian foreign policy. The Russia–China partnership has been presented as its bedrock through a partnership between the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road Initiative, further expanding to include other regional powers from across East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and Middle East as well as nonwestern multilateral groupings (SCO, ASEAN). Given the centrality of Asia‐Pacific to this expansive concept, GEP has to deal with the challenges posed by the evolving regional geopolitics of the East and the rise of the Indo‐Pacific amidst heightened US–China rivalry. The paper seeks to conduct a policy review of GEP and its proposed development format in light of ongoing changes in the East to determine the likely future of the concept in a contested region that also remains at the center of this expansive Russian vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the career paths of 33 graduates from Swiss Hospitality Management schools in China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), exploring the nuances of international credential valuation. It identifies two key factors influencing access to management positions: (1) the degree of internationalization in major cities, which impacts the significance of international versus local skills and (2) individual cosmopolitan capital's role in shaping local career opportunities. The paper introduces a post‐colonial conceptualization of cosmopolitan capital, encompassing institutionalized, embodied and objectified forms, challenging Western‐centric views. By doing so, it reveals how mechanisms of racialization influence the assessment of international qualifications. In Hong Kong and Shanghai, returning Chinese are prospering in corporate head offices by mobilizing both local/national and international capital, challenging the white privilege of Western managers in this sector. Meanwhile, in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the competition is for a pool of ‘international talent’, even though being perceived as ‘Arab’ or ‘white’ seems to improve career prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the link between the urban network and institutional context has been well established, there has been less work on the effect of shifting political economy on the mechanism of its intercity flows. In this paper, the investment dataset of Chinese publicly listed firms is used to construct corporate‐based urban networks with different ownership structures. Two straightforward but effective comparative analyses are conducted. The first distinguishes between networks formed by state‐controlled and nonstate‐controlled firms, and the second distinguishes between subnetworks formed by central‐ and local‐state power. By surveying the distinctions from the perspectives of state–market relations and central‐local government relations, we argue that the urban network in China is shaped by the varied forms in which the central government, local governments, and the private sector interact. To gain a more proper knowledge of the geographical patterns, this research recommends further field research into enterprise‐based linkages of multiple ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholars have extensively investigated the post‐study career experiences of international students, there has been a dearth in the literature on the mediation of intersubjectivities in the local valorisation of international education, particularly neglecting the perspective of recruiters. Through the lens of geographical imaginaries and drawing on qualitative data from recruiters in professional sectors and returned students in China, this paper reveals the significant role of imaginaries in shaping the perceptions and practices of both parties during the university‐to‐work transitions. The findings underscore that overseas credentials, codified knowledge, and embodied competencies were central to recruiters' and returnees' imaginaries regarding international education. However, conflicts in these imaginaries between recruiters and graduates resulted in the distinct valorisation of the socioeconomic value of overseas education between the two groups and created challenges for returnees' transitions from overseas education to local professional employment. This study emphasises the importance of emplaced intersubjectivities in comprehending international student mobilities as an ongoing transnational process across global educational spaces and local labour markets. It also underscores the role of local contexts and networks in valorising and mediating the value of international education, creating place‐specific patterns of university‐to‐work transitions among returnees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature has explored how different firm behaviours and strategies in different institutional contexts result in variegation in network structures. Based on those studies, this paper first examines how networks have been shaped by China's institutional transition in general and the process of marketisation in particular. Furthermore, we stress that the rise of networks in China's film industry has in return boosted the development of private firms and subsequently pushed forward the process of marketisation in this industry. Empirical results show that private firms have benefitted more from the complementarity between direct knowledge spillovers via inter‐firm networks and indirect knowledge spillovers via inter‐city networks, while state‐owned enterprises are incapable of coping with the competition effects stemming from inter‐city networks and fail to benefit from trans‐local knowledge spillovers in networks. Our main contribution is thus to direct attention to the interaction between network dynamics and institutional transition, which remains underexplored in the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates household behavioral response to disruptions in the food supply chain, with a focus on the role for risk and its effects on household food stocks and food waste. We present an empirical analysis based on data from Chinese consumers over multiple periods in 2019 and during the COVID‐19 crisis of 2020. We investigate how household behavior changed during the COVID‐19 crisis, documenting both food stockpiling and increased food waste. The econometric analysis relies on a control function approach to handle endogeneity. We decompose the effects of increased risk on waste during the crisis into two components: the direct effect reflecting household decisions conditional on food stock; and the indirect effect associated with induced adjustments in food stock. Both effects on food waste are found to be positive, reflecting difficulties households have in managing large food stocks. We present evidence that one percentage point increase in household stocks during a period of supply disruption contributed to a 0.055–0.297 percentage point increase in food waste across food categories. We also present evidence that these effects may persist over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to debates about the globalisation of higher education by providing a pioneering geographical exploration of Chinese–foreign cooperation in running transnational higher education, or TNHE, programs. Departing from widespread neoliberal and postcolonial critiques of TNHE, which tend to emphasise liberal market forces and Anglo‐American hegemony in the circulation of academic knowledge, our study examines how the Chinese state's developmental targets, strategic policies, and political–ideological considerations have shaped the evolutionary trajectory, geographical distribution, and cross‐border connections of China's TNHE programs. We demonstrate that the place‐based development of TNHE is mediated by governments' interventionist policies and embedded in existing higher education regimes, especially in the context of East Asian developmental states. By maintaining a higher education system dominated by public universities and by being the ultimate examination and approval authority, the Chinese government both determines the status of TNHE in the national higher education system, constrains the typologies and sources of knowledge flows, and shapes the national landscape of TNHE development. The territorial geographies of TNHE thus reflect complicated interactions between the state and the market, the global and the local, and economic and political/cultural forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To what extent do expert opinions affect public opinion in policy making? While most existing studies were conducted in democracies, experts' influence under authoritarian settings is still understudied. This paper examines how expert opinion and vocational affiliation influence public attitudes toward genetically modified (GM) food in China. Through a survey experiment with over 1600 respondents, we find that experts' endorsement can increase policy support for GM food but that their opposition exerts no influence. Different vocational affiliations do not generate significantly different effects, although endorsement from foreign experts has larger effects than endorsement from domestic counterparts, who have closer connections with the Chinese government. We finally discuss the policy implications of expert involvement in policy making and promoting GM food in China based on the above findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world's second largest economy, China plays an important role in our global trade. As a rule, however, more attention is paid to trade in barter or currency form rather than to virtual modes, such as virtual‐water, ‐energy, ‐land, and‐labor trade, in spite of the fact that the latte can also be crucial. Previous studies focused on one single form and could not get a comprehensive understanding of trade. A term of generalized trade was applied when taking all these trades into consideration. This paper aimed to investigate China's role in our global trade under the generalized trade framework. Results indicate that China has been not only the largest physical trader but also one of the largest virtual traders, and its role has been even more essential than expected when considering both physical and virtual trade. In practice, generalized trade would occur in other economies, which should shift additional attention from traditional physical trade to generalized trade when building our community with a shared future for mankind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impacts of a government‐led e‐commerce expansion project on household income. We find that the project has led to increases in rural household income. The positive impacts are more prominent for lower‐income rural households. The income‐increasing effects are driven by the reduction in information search costs and transportation costs. The provision of complementary interventions for e‐commerce, such as promoting the internet‐related skills of farmers and the expansion of formal financial credit support is also important for the program's success. The results provide policy implications for the design and implementation of government‐led e‐commerce policies in developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small mammal species richness and relative abundance vary along elevational gradients, but there are different patterns that exist. This study reports the patterns of distribution and abundance of small mammals along the broader elevational gradient of Mt. Qilian range. The study was conducted in the Mt. Qilian range, north-western China, from June to August 2001. Removal trapping was conducted using a standardized technique at 7 sites ranging between 1600 and 3900 m elevation within three transects. Correlation, regression and graphical analyses were used to evaluate the diversity patterns along this elevational gradient. In total, 586 individuals representing 18 nonvolant small mammal species were collected during 20 160 trap nights. Species composition was different among the three transects with 6 (33%) of the species found only within one transect. Elevational distribution and relative abundance of small rodents showed substantial spatial variation, with only 2 species showing nonsignificant capture frequencies across elevations. Despite these variations, some general patterns of elevational distribution emerged: humped-shape relationships between species diversity and elevation were noted in all three transects with diversity peaks at middle elevations. In addition, relative abundance was negatively correlated with elevation. Results indicate that maximum richness and diversity of nonvolant small mammals occurred at mid-elevations where several types of plants reached their maximum diversity and primary productivity, and where rainfall and humidity reached a maximum. It is demonstrated that the mid-elevation bulge is a general feature of at least a large portion of the biota on the Mt. Qilian range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left‐behind children who live away from their migrant parents in rural China have received widespread media attention, especially around their vulnerability and delinquency. To examine the media construction of this population and responsibility attribution for the incidents occurring to them, we used the phronetic iterative approach to analyse 348 news reports published by The Paper, one of China's leading digital media outlets. Our findings revealed that the media constructed a stereotypical portrayal of these children and their families. Moreover, structural inequalities existing in social policies were shifted into personal responsibility in media discourses. This study offers empirical support for the role of news media in shaping public perceptions through their construction and framing processes. We highlight the need to identify structural factors that affect media portrayals of rural families and call for more social support for left‐behind children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in comparative law research, this paper compares differences in the regulation of online child pornography in China and the United States. The United States began regulating child pornography through criminal law in the 1970s, gradually refining the laws to distinguish between child pornography and obscenity and prohibit the possession of child pornography and virtual child pornography. In contrast, China treats child pornography on an equal footing with adult pornography, but imposes more lenient penalties on disseminating child pornography, which has led to the proliferation of child pornography. By comparing the two countries' policies and laws on child pornography, this review makes four recommendations for other countries: (i) define child pornography in criminal law; (ii) distinguish between obscenity and child pornography; (iii) prohibit virtual child pornography on the internet; and (iv) increase criminal penalties for child pornography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung had a lifelong interest in the I Ching after discovering it in 1919. Jung's interest in the I Ching is arguably more practical than purely theoretical or intellectual, and references to I Ching divination appear frequently in his various publications, seminars, letters and clinical practice records. After a few observations on the history of the study of the I Ching in China, the author categorizes Jung's three uses of the I Ching as physical use (to preview future potentials of outer reality), psychological use (to reveal one's psychological state), and psychical approach (to engage with the divine through "神"["shen", spiritual agencies]). Finally, the author discusses the current Jungian engagement by demonstrating clinical cases in contemporary times. Some Jungian analysts practise I Ching divination to obtain insights into the physical and psychological state of therapeutic relationships and for personal development. This paper is a historical and critical engagement of the Jungian practice of I Ching divination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lobbying, and its role in the policy process, has been extensively studied in democratic states, but much less is known about similar practices in authoritarian political systems. Although a few studies have identified lobbying in China, most have focused on big businesses and national policy making, and some have argued that it is unaffected by differences in political institutions. Our paper challenges this portrayal of business lobbying in autocracies. Through a study of the lobbying activities of business associations based on documentary research and fieldwork in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin between 2011 and 2013, we show that although business associations have similar lobbying motivations to their counterparts in democracies, their specific practices are often shaped by authoritarian political institutions. While they are similar in seeking to build informal relationships with public officials, provide expertise to shape policies, and raise their profile through public relations activities and media engagement, they differ in focusing their relationship‐building efforts on helping officials with routine work, helping Communist Party organizations establish cells in businesses, and brokering between businesses and government. Rather than donating to political campaigns like their counterparts in democracies, they become legislators themselves, hire retired officials, and seek positions on advisory bodies. Rigged elections, an unreliable legal system, and restrictions on media and freedom of movement are key authoritarian institutions that shape these distinctive lobbying practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessments of treatments for 'subjective symptoms' are problematic and potentially contentious. These are symptoms without ascertainable pathophysiology, also referred to as 'medically unexplained.' Treatments of them may be assessed from different perspectives, and an assessment as seen from one perspective may be discrepant with an assessment as seen from another perspective. The observational study described in the paper represents one perspective. Patients in the study were treated with acupuncture for the subjective symptom of low back pain in a Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic in China; acupuncture is a form of TCM, which is indigenous to China. Shortly after treatment began and six months afterward, patients reported 'clinically important improvements' on a variety of standard, cross‐culturally validated outcome measures, including pain intensity, physical functioning, and emotional functioning; this assessment is consistent with numerous assessments of acupuncture in China and other Southeastern Asian countries. On the other hand, clinical trials represent another perspective from which to assess acupuncture. Although assessments based on trials are not uniform, several assessments based on them, including those published in journals such as Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine, conclude that acupuncture is not effective. These trials, however, were mainly situated in the U.S., western European countries, and other WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) countries. This is notable, because the population of China, the indigenous context of acupuncture, is greater than populations of WEIRD countries combined. Patients' expectations of a treatment such as acupuncture and their prior familiarity with it vary among contexts, and patients' experiences of treatment outcomes may vary accordingly. In short, although clinical trials constitute a test of truth in biomedicine and inform authoritative assessments in WEIRD countries, they do not necessarily represent the truth from the perspective of those experiencing outcomes of especially indigenous treatments for subjective symptoms in non‐WEIRD contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information asymmetry is prevalent in the vertical bureaucratic structures of unitary systems. Drawing upon the institutional collective action (ICA) framework and the literature on information politics, this paper investigates the formation of the vertical ICA dilemma and the motivations underlying the collaborative mechanisms to address information asymmetry within the hierarchical bureaucratic structures of the Chinese government. Taking the Targeted Poverty Alleviation campaign as a case, we find a mixture of collective solutions, including informal networks, intergovernmental contracts, delegation, and imposed authority, as alternatives to alleviate the information asymmetry between vertical governments. Our case studies contribute to the literature on central–local relations, information politics, and the development of the vertical ICA framework, which notably incorporates the extent of lower level government autonomy into the determinants of integration mechanisms. In the conclusion, we connect this research to the broader ICA research agenda and studies of the cross‐level policy process, with implications for multi‐level governance in unitary systems like China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religion is permitted in China, but its practice is tightly regulated by the state. This paper uses individual‐level longitudinal data to investigate the association between religious regulation and religious outcomes in China. Measures of regulation are constructed from instances of state action against Christians as well as Christian perceptions of unfair treatment by the government. In summary, as regulation increases, an individual is less likely to identify with a religion and less likely to say that religion is important. For those individuals without religious identification in either wave, regulation is negatively associated with religious importance. Yet, for those individuals with identification in one or two waves, regulation is either unassociated or even positively associated with importance. These findings contribute to research on regulation of religion and religion in China. More broadly, they demonstrate the state can wield considerable power over people's private lives but also that this power has limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to position socialist China in the mobility of global socialism in the context of Cold‐War politics. It examines how the techno‐politics of China and the Soviet‐bloc's socialist tropical architecture differently reconfigured thermal exchanges between the environment, human body and a series of other multi‐scalar things in Africa during the 1960s−1980s. Drawing on the theories of thermal material culture, techno‐politics and science and technology studies (STS), it constructs a cross‐cultural comparison between China and Soviet‐bloc, aiming to achieve a more nuanced techno‐political understanding of mid‐late twentieth century socialist architecture in the Global South. It also hopes to contribute to recent scholarship about thermal comfort and governance in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, the central government enjoys paramount authority in (re)writing national history, and its interpretation is promoted through various channels to shape people's national identity. Over the past two decades, the Chinese government has promoted a nationalistic history to promote a Han‐dominant Chinese identity. This nationalistic approach to Chinese history stands in contrast to China's multicultural society and the government's affirmation of multicultural aims as the core values and future goals of the nation. It was expected that the government would rethink and revise nationalistic history to recognize diverse groups and accommodate their needs in the Xi Jinping era. However, this paper shows that the current government continues to emphasize a version of national history that encourages a nationalistic sentiment and discourse. This approach to Chinese history risks strengthening xenophobic sentiments and behaviour in China, and could become coercive for Chinese people who hold different interpretations or expect a more comprehensive interpretation of national history. I argue that a critical multicultural approach can help develop a more inclusive and balanced national history and identity in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the productivity advantage of large cities for creative industries (CIs) in China. Using Chinese firm‐level data for CIs from 2012 to 2014, we find that agglomeration economies, rather than firm selection, determine the difference between the productivity distributions of CIs in large and small cities. There are heterogeneous effects of agglomeration economies, with stronger impacts on productive firms and firms in broadcasting and TV & film. We also find that the productivity advantage of large cities for CIs is stronger when the cities have better communication and transportation infrastructure. Our results imply that the efficacy of place‐based policies for developing CIs depends on local infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this secondary data‐based research paper examined the role of China's mining companies' adherence to CSR within the context of its engagement with Zambia. The central question grappled within this paper is whether there is a practise of CSR as a corporate ethic strategy to further social good which must be interpreted even beyond the firm or companies' interests, all required by the internal laws of Zambia. The central objective is to analyse CSR which ought to be applied to enhance high ethical standards, reduction of legal risks, and positive public relations. As such, this paper argues that there is a deficit literature and/knowledge existing which outlines the role of Chinese mining corporates' CSR in the Zambian mining industry. Implying that there are limited policy blueprints or scholarly documents, outlining how Chinese mining companies are expected to conduct themselves. The only scholarly relevant available knowledge at our disposal in respect to the subject under scrutiny exists in Euro‐American Multimedia video‐sharing engines such as Youtube and Twitter. These knowledge systems are North [ern] angled, contributing to an imbalanced body of knowledge, that triggered the adoption of Afrocentricity as the alternative theoretical telescope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on a 'biographical' approach to national boundaries, this paper traces the history of the China‐Myanmar border—its formations, disappearances and rematerializations. In doing so, it identifies three alternative imaginaries that have characterized and shaped these borderlands throughout the past one and a half century. These imaginaries—terrain, technology and trade—sketch out some of the ways in which borderlands are seen, perceived and therefore acted upon by state authorities and powerful outsiders. They are central to how the boundary was demarcated, and to how it is managed today. These imaginaries, then, are reflected into specific practices—and thus have direct impact on everyday life along the China‐Myanmar border. Drawing on both archival and long‐term ethnographic research, this paper thus sheds light on the embedded processes of anticipation that underscore how the borderlands are envisioned today in dominant narratives centred around Belt and Road promises and fears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In autocracies facing widespread corruption, the allocation of the scant attention available for fighting corruption strongly affects corruption control. Although research has found that authoritarian regimes tend to fight corruption selectively, it is unknown whether and how autocracies allocate attention across different policy areas to combat corruption. We propose that single‐party authoritarian regimes can steer anticorruption attention to the policy domains prioritized by the central authority through the mechanism of cross‐organizational policy coordination. Using original datasets compiled from Chinese governmental and procuratorial policy papers from 1998 to 2016, we demonstrate that Chinese prosecutors direct anticorruption attention to the policy domains accentuated in the central government's major reforms. Our field interviews support this finding and reveal possible disruption of anticorruption efforts in policy domains falling off the central government's top list. Thus, we extend the research on political influence over anticorruption agencies and show that single‐party regimes can instrumentalize anticorruption to serve the government's policy agenda, driving the allocation of limited anticorruption attention across policy areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can the enforcement of policies in the past influence a society's future adoption of information communication technologies (ICTs)? In this paper, we tackle this question by exploring how past e‐governance policies influence citizens' willingness to use the health QR code, which is a COVID‐19 tracing app widely used in China's pandemic control. Past policies regarding smart‐city development in China involve two aspects: the construction of electronic infrastructure and the applications of specific technologies. Empirical analysis based on a nationwide dataset in China suggests that past policies exhibit persuasive effects and influence citizens' acceptance of the health QR code. Specifically, e‐governance applications in cities significantly enhance citizens' acceptance through the demonstration of their usefulness. However, the construction of e‐governance infrastructure per se does not have the same impact on citizens' acceptance. By connecting citizens' acceptance of new technology with past e‐governance policies, the study illustrates a nuanced policy feedback mechanism through which past policies can substantially reshape public opinion by policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of religious belief in disasters has attracted increased scholarly interest in recent years. This paper shows that religious belief can generate disaster resilience through the pathways of disaster framing, mental health, and disaster behaviours. Drawing on interviews conducted with Tibetan Buddhist believers in the Yushu earthquake area of China, this study indicates that notions of Tibetan Buddhism, as well as religious practices, helped locals to make sense of the 2010 event, obtain spiritual support in its aftermath, foster a sense of community, and develop a prosocial post‐earthquake environment. These religious notions and practices also assisted in sustaining a faith‐based network composed of two kinds of important local social relationships, layperson–layperson and layperson–monk, which increased local disaster resilience at the level of response behaviour. The findings enrich our understanding of the religious source of disaster resilience and yield insights into disaster risk reduction in religious regions, especially where Buddhist belief is prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Using pooled data from the 2010, 2012, and 2014 China Family Panel Studies, this paper elucidates the internal heterogeneity among non‐arranged marriages by examining changing patterns and determinants of mate selection in China from 1950 to 2014. Background: Previous research has documented a decline in arranged marriages and a rise in self‐initiated marriages in the Asian context. Methods: This study uses two measures to capture the nuanced nature of mate selection, namely, arranged versus non‐arranged marriages among all couples, and introduced versus self‐initiated marriages among non‐arranged couples. Results: While arranged marriages declined rapidly and were replaced mostly by introduced marriages before 1980, after 1980, self‐initiated marriages began to increase. Urbanization and better education led to more non‐arranged marriages, particularly through self‐initiated means. The influence of county‐level per capita GDP on mate selection is quadratic. Conclusion: The two‐stage transitions in mate selection reflect the importance of accounting for both structural and ideational factors in explaining these changes. Implications: We challenge the assumed unilinear change from arranged marriages to self‐initiated marriages along the processes of economic development. The intensified economic pressures may have driven some young adults back to introduced, even arranged, marriages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research involving international research communities has been advocated in the field of behavior analysis (Dymond et al., 2000; Martin et al., 2016). The purpose of the present study was to report the status of behavioral research in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, in terms of number of publications, types of research, and frequency of collaboration with international researchers. Fifteen behavioral journals were selected from the list by Cooper et al. (2020). These were searched by hand to find publications conducted in or authored by researchers from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan dating from each journal's inception to December 2021. The earliest publication we found appeared in 1980 in The Psychological Record. Over the following four decades (1980–1989; 1990–1999; 2000–2009; 2010–2021), the number of publications per decade increased dramatically and continues in recent years to rise. Publications include research reports, review papers, and conceptual articles, with the majority being basic research reports published in Behavioral Processes. Approximately half the publications involve collaboration with international researchers, mostly in North America. Implications for behavioral research, practice, and policy in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a significant public health issue in China. Understanding factors associated with chronic HBV is important to enable targeted screening and education and to improve early diagnosis and prevention of disease progression. This systematic review and meta‐analysis aimed to identify and describe correlates of chronic HBV among Chinese adults. Searches were conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE and grey literature up to 25 June 2020. Eligible papers included observational studies in adults of the general population in China that reported factors associated with chronic HBV, measured by Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Meta‐analysis was performed using fixed‐effect models of HBsAg prevalence among factors, and of adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for chronic HBV associated with each factor. Overall 39 articles were included, covering 22 factors, including a range of sociodemographic, behavioural and medical factors. In meta‐analysis of eligible studies, a range of factors were significantly associated with higher HBsAg prevalence, including middle age, male sex, being married, rural residence, lower education, smoking, having a HBsAg positive household contact, family history of HBV, history of surgery or blood transfusion. The adjusted ORs varied, from 1.11 (95% CI 1.05–1.18) for smoking to 5.13 (95% CI 4.99–5.26) for having a HBsAg positive household contact. In Chinese adults, a range of factors are associated with chronic HBV infection, which may help inform targeted screening in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental externalities of place‐based policy have generally been overlooked despite their welfare consequences. This paper studies the air‐pollution effect of development zones in urban China using a geo‐coded data set of 2720 counties from 1998 to 2016. By adopting the generalized difference‐in‐difference framework to resolve the problem of endogenous locational selection for place‐based policies, we find that development zones reduce ambient PM2.5 concentration by around 1.8%, leading to a total social gain of $7.75 billion USD. The environmental benefit varies by the zone's dominant industry, geographical region, administrative affiliation and time of establishment. We further show that development zones are comparably cleaner due to the incentives of central and local governments, manifested by the desire to administratively promote development zones, the attempt to satisfy residential demands for higher quality‐of‐life cities, and the employment of the national environmental monitoring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on my accompanied returning‐home fieldwork in China with a dear friend, Yun, this paper critically reflects on the ideas of friendship in fieldwork and its enabling and enhancing role in managing safety concerns and negotiating data collection. The contribution is two‐fold. First, it advances current fieldwork scholarship in Humanities and Social Sciences that predominantly focuses on the researcher–informant friendship formed in the field by engaging with the companionship of pre‐existing friends. This diversifies our understandings of fieldwork friendship in individually, socially and culturally unsettling ways. Second, this study furthers ongoing conversations calling for greater visibility and support of different forms of accompanied fieldwork by focusing on the accompaniment of pre‐existing friends. Three potential directions are outlined to normalise the model of accompanied fieldwork in efforts to promote equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in geography fieldwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 has caused major disruptions to agricultural supply chains around the world. Researchers and policy-makers are interested in identifying means to reduce the disruptive effects caused by the pandemic. We investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the operation of e-commerce stores (in short, e-stores) specialising in agricultural inputs. The difference-in-differences method (DID) is employed to estimate the causal relationship between COVID-19 and online sales of agricultural inputs using data from 54,244 agricultural input e-stores registered in 118 prefecture-level cities across 15 provinces and hosted on two major Chinese e-commerce platforms. The results show that COVID-19 led to a substantial growth in monthly sales of agricultural input e-stores, and this growth of online sales varied across store scales and by types of agricultural inputs. In particular, e-stores selling seeds and seedlings experienced a larger growth in sales than stores selling agricultural machinery and implements, and the mid-and larger-scaled e-stores experienced more growth of sales than micro-and small-scaled e-stores. Further analysis reveals that the growth of online sales of agricultural inputs was driven mainly by an increase in the quantity of customer orders (QCO). The findings of this paper underscore the importance of e-commerce in ensuring the resilience of the agricultural supply chain during the pandemic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the difference‐in‐differences method, this paper employs a unique government land transaction dataset at the individual level and investigates how much extra government revenue is generated by the Shanghai Disney Resort through land value appreciation in nearby areas. The results suggest that the Shanghai Disney project significantly increases the nearby land value and then increases local extra government revenue. The average annual extra growth rate was 9.81% (37.01 billion CNY) of Shanghai government revenue from 2009 to 2015 through nearby land value appreciation after the approval of the Shanghai Disney project in 2009. There also exists a heterogeneous impact of the Shanghai Disney project on different types of land value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]