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In 2008 a new notebook manufacturing cluster was established in Chongqing in western China. By 2013 it accounted for some 25% of world output by volume. Chongqing’s ability to attract this manufacturing supply chain was driven by several factors that permitted strategic coupling: the existence of complex networks of cooperation and economies external to the firm but internal to contemporary global production networks; changed conditions in southeast and east China; and the creation by Chongqing Municipal People’s Government with central state support of hard and soft infrastructures and externalities that drove down logistic and production costs and permitted constant product innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Global economic restructuring and technological change are transforming the map of global production and the global division of labor. Based on the perspectives of global value chains and global production networks, this study analyzes the production networks, value chains, and spatial organization of the computer industry in China. It was found that the notion of a symmetric, bell-shaped smiling curve is a highly idealized conceptual framework, and for a developing country like China where leading firms have yet to become top-tier transnational corporations, the smiling curve more likely exhibits a flattened saucer shape. China is also increasingly being integrated into global production networks, and a new form of spatial organization, centered on emerging global cities and globalizing cities, is emerging. An investigation of the global-local networks of the computer industry showed that the embeddedness of transnational corporations (TNCs) is heavily influenced by industrial characteristics and geographical/institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fatal fire in Beijing's Lanjisu Internet café in June 2002 raised nationwide concern about the country's burgeoning Internet cafés. This paper revealed China's ambivalent attitude toward Internet cafés after the fire: on the one hand, the public, especially the parents, became irritated with problems surrounding Internet cafés such as Internet addiction, physical safety, and online violence & pornography; on the other hand, people recognized that Internet cafés made great contributions to the popularization of the Internet as well as the advancement of social and economic well-being in this country. An important question thus was how the Chinese governments responded to the problems caused by Internet cafés. Through a general review and two case studies, this study found that after the Lanjisu fire the governments executed tighter control on Internet cafés nationwide. Furthermore, this study found that multiple government agencies were involved in the establishment of the national and local regulatory regimes; and that various regulatory measures were employed, including the chain-store management model of the Ministry of Culture and the Joint Committee regulatory system of the Shanghai municipal government. While the former measure largely failed, the latter one arguably produced better results. This paper discussed the implications of such regulatory mechanisms as well as the direction of future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers an analysis of the spatially uneven evolution of China's Internet industry. It argues that the disparity in the provision of Internet services is related to the interplay of place- and path-dependence. It also describes how the substantial and persistent regional imbalance in China's "new economy" was caused by uneven endowments in relevant industrial and entrepreneurial resources. It also includes a survey that shows a total of 253 Internet users in China, which indicates that the country has overtaken the U.S. as the largest Internet market in the world.

Purpose - To study how the collocational networks method could be used to analyze textual contents in listed companies' annual reports written in Chinese, in an attempt to identify hidden facts that are not released in a listed company's financial statements. Design/methodology/approach - This research extended the collocation network analysis method from English textual contents to Chinese textual contents. The extended collocation network method was used to analyze an Information Technology company, Clever, listed in Shanghai stock exchange of China. Findings - Using the extended collocational networks method, some hidden facts about a Chinese listed company's financial status could be identified, which were not reported in company's officially released financial statements. Practical implications - The extended collocation network method may supplement the commonly practiced fundamental financial analysis method in helping investors have a better understanding about the financial soundness of listed companies. This is especially important to investors in stock markets of some developing countries, including China. In addition, this method may help regulators of stock market, especially in developing countries, to identify possible loopholes of existing financial regulations as well as some inappropriate practices of some listed companies in disclosing misleading or incorrect financial data in their financial statements. Originality/value - The first study using the collocational networks method to analyze annual reports of Chinese corporations listed in Shanghai stock exchange, a newly established stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The paper seeks to identify the sources of confusion in the Chinese personal computer market and the confusion reduction strategies used. Design/methodology/approach — A self-completion questionnaire with a sample of 140 respondents was used. Findings — Technological complexity is the major source of confusion. Word of mouth is the most common source of information used to reduce confusion due to its credibility and reliability. Practical implications — Technical confusion leads to similarity confusion and overchoice confusion. Manufacturers and retailers need to address technical confusion to reduce the overall level of confusion in the PC market. Originality/value — The paper examines confusion in an Eastern culture, whereas previously it has been predominantly investigated in Western cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce and China are two widely discussed business topics. Despite the political, legal and infrastructure obstacles, the potential of e-commerce in China (PRC) is too great to ignore. This paper addresses the perceptions of Chinese concerning the obstacles and benefits of conducting e-commerce. Analysis identifies the rank-order of benefits and obstacles to conducting e-commerce in China (PRC). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During the 1970s and early 1980s China tried to develop a full line of computer hardware and software incorporating indigenous technology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]