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During attempts to prevent and control the COVID-19 pandemic in China, higher education programs shifted their traditional educational models to online models. This paper aimed to explore how Chinese universities organized online teaching and learning during the pandemic. It investigated the factors affecting the implementation of online teaching and provided policy recommendations for improving the quality of education in the post-pandemic period. The primary data for this study came from in-depth interviews with nine students and five teaching and administrative staff at eight major universities in mainland China. Literature was obtained in both English and Chinese from January 2020 to September 2021. Peer-reviewed journals, policy reports, and university documents regarding online education in Chinese universities were reviewed, and their challenges and countermeasures were investigated. The paper found that the implementation of online education was affected by various sources, including technologies, teachers' teaching skills, network information literacy, and students' learning motivations and self-directed learning skills. Based on the insiders' views, the paper suggested that to promote the quality of online education in the post-COVID-19 pandemic, higher education institutes and programs could develop their infrastructure construction, improve teachers' quality of teaching, and focus on students' learning motivations.

Higher education informatization (HEI) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the use and integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education. This paper provides a bibliometric and visual analysis of the research trends, patterns, and topics in this field. Using the Web of Science database, the authors selected and analyzed 199 SCI and SSCI papers on HEI published from 2000 to 2023 by VOSviewer and CiteSpace software. The results indicate that the publication volume of HEI research has grown significantly in recent years. The author network shows the collaboration and contribution of different researchers and institutions, while the journal network reveals the multidisciplinary nature and scope of the field. The keyword network and the burst keyword analysis identify the main research themes and the emerging hot topics in HEI. The co-citation network of sources illustrates the theoretical and methodological foundations and influences of the field. The paper concludes with some implications and suggestions for future HEI research.

Background: The processes of transport decarbonisation are complicated. In this paper, we adopt the Activity-Modal Share-Energy Intensity-Carbon Intensity of Fuel (ASIF) approach and propose a conceptual framework on the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 on transport CO2 emissions. In the Chinese context, changes of carbon emissions associated with passenger and freight transport (including urban, rural, and inter-city transport) across different transport modes are estimated. Scenario analysis is then used to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on total transport carbon emissions up to 2030. Four scenarios, from minimal to significant behavioural changes and global recession associated with COVID-19, are generated. Results: Under the pandemic, the transport system in China was estimated to have produced 28% less CO2 emissions (1044.2 Mt) in 2020, when compared to 2019. Compared with the business-as-usual scenario, the estimated total transport carbon emissions in 2030 would drop by 6%, 15%, and 21% and 23% under the minimal-impact, low-impact, moderate-impact, and severe-impact scenarios, respectively. Conclusions: The results suggest that the processes triggered by COVID-19 alone will not be sufficient to meet the ambitious transport decarbonisation targets. To meet China's pledge under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change, the medium-term effects of COVID-19 must be combined with strong transport decarbonisation measures of modal shift and new energy applications. With these additional measures, it may be possible to advance the transport carbon peak before 2030. Lessons are relevant to other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the whole world is still suffering from the COVID-19 (variants) pandemic that has been lasting for over three years and resulted in countless losses. Since its outbreak at the end of 2019, China has first suffered, but quickly gained the upper hand through strict epidemic control and emergency management. Despite several recurrences of regional epidemics in 2022, both economic growth and people's livelihoods have been effectively safeguarded in China, with a regular prevention system established and social life recovery accomplished orderly. How does China deal with this pandemic? What practical measures taken and decisions made could be adopted and shared with other countries? In this paper, these issues are summarized and discussed as progressive lessons for the rest of the world. Though there's a major shift of pandemic policy in late 2022 and early 2023 in China, this study still provides insightful and beneficial implications to support decision- and policy-makings in future fights against any possible COVID-19 variants until the end of the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At one time monitoring over 900 million people, China’s health code system is arguably the most controversial invention of the pandemic. This study explores how the system emerged and its implications for security governance in urban communities. By analysing 9,533 social media posts published during three key weeks, the study revealed that early pandemic responses in China were heavily shaped by private nodes, such as estate management companies, private security guards and homeowners. Homeowners’ demands for extra security clashed with migrants’ and tenants’ demands for mobility. The health code system was presented as a ‘solution’ to these conflicts. The findings of this study highlight the limitations of consumer-driven pluralisation in policing. Such pluralisation offered limited opportunities for democratisation. Instead, the radical pursuit of ‘club goods’ by consumer-denizens reinforced existing inequalities. Entrenched inequalities tempted marginalised social groups to accept ‘indiscriminate’ surveillance, which paved the way for a neo-panopticon. The study also warns against the alliance of state nodes and big-tech companies. Through collaboration, these powerful players can replace political dynamics in the community with data-driven modulation, thus destroying the foundation of nodal governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous evolution of the coronavirus, the Omicron variant has gradually replaced the Delta variant as the prevalent strain. Their inducing epidemics last longer, have a higher number of asymptomatic cases, and are more serious. In this article, we proposed a nonautonomous time-delayed susceptible-infected-removed (NATD-SIR) model to predict them in different regions of China. We obtained the maximum and its time of current infected persons, the final size, and the end time of COVID-19 epidemics from January 2022 in China. The method of the fifth-order moving average was used to preprocess the time series of the numbers of current infected and removed cases to obtain more accurate parameter estimations. We found that usually the transmission rate β (t) was a piecewise exponential decay function, but due to multiple bounces in Shanghai City, β (t) was approximately a piecewise quadratic function. In most regions, the removed rate γ (t) was approximately equal to a piecewise linear increasing function of (a*t+b)*H(t-k), but in a few areas, γ (t) displayed an exponential increasing trend. For cases where the removed rate cannot be obtained, we proposed a method for setting the removed rate, which has a good approximation. Using the numerical solution, we obtained the prediction results of the epidemics. By analyzing those important indicators of COVID-19, we provided valuable suggestions for epidemic prevention and control and the resumption of work and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the contested politics of global health governance, though we still don't know enough about the dynamics of domestic pandemic responses, or about the relationship between the politics of those responses and the politics of global health governance, both of which have changed significantly in recent decades. Focusing on three cases (HIV/AIDS, SARS, and COVID-19) of cross-border infectious diseases, this article explores the trajectory of China's pandemic responses in the context of globalization. Attending to changing politics at domestic, international, and global levels, I argue that those responses have been a complex combination of China's domestic politics (e.g., priorities, institutions, leadership, and timing), its international relations (especially with the US), and its engagements with global health governance. It is concluded that the increasing divergence of pandemic responses in a time of ubiquitous global health crisis demands urgent attention to the connections (including contestations) between domestic pandemic responses and the evolvement of global health governance from a broader perspective that considers changes in geopolitics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourism industry in China has undergone significant changes due to globalization, technology, and changing consumer preferences. This perspective article, based on a systematic literature review, examines examines trends, challenges, and opportunities in inbound and outbound tourism in China, focusing on the industry's dynamism. Both inbound and outbound tourism have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has prompted new strategies and environmental adaptations. China has changed its priorities within the country to encourage domestic travel and support local firms. The rise in internationalisation and the growing middle class in China have led to an unprecedented rise in outbound travel. Chinese travellers are affecting travel habits and spending all around the world in the tourism sector. Language barriers, cultural differences, and safety concerns are some of the challenges that come with travelling abroad. To reach its full potential, China needs to adapt to the shifting global environment and take into account the specifications and preferences of both inbound and outgoing tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]