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Gaining wide prominence in the global health arena, scaling-up increases the coverage of health innovations emerging from pilots and experimental projects to a larger scale. However, scaling-up in the health sector should not follow a linear 'pilot-diffusion' pathway in order to better facilitate local adaptation and policy refinement. This paper puts forth 'scaling-up through piloting' as a distinctive pathway for the strategic management of scaling-up in the health sector. It analyses the recent development of provider payment reforms in China, focusing particularly on the ongoing pilot programmes, namely diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) and diagnosis-intervention packet (DIP), that are being piloted in a dual-track fashion since 2020. Data were drawn from extensive documentary analysis and 20 in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, including decision-makers and implementers. This paper finds that scaling-up through piloting helps Chinese policymakers minimize the vast uncertainties associated with complex payment reforms and maximize the local adaptability of provider payment innovations. This pathway has forged a phased implementation process, allowing new payment models to be tested, evaluated, compared and adjusted in a full spectrum of local contexts before national rollout. The phased implementation creates a 'slower is faster' effect, helping reduce long-term negative consequences arising from improperly managed scaling-up in a complex system. Error detection and correction and recalibration of new policy tools can support national-level policy refinement in a more robust and dynamic fashion. Several key factors have been identified as crucial for strategic scaling-up: necessary central steering, a pragmatic piloting design, strong technical capacity and effective policy learning mechanisms [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of hypertension in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using the results of a regional study. The studies were reviewed using PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Biology Medicine, Wan Fang Data and Chinese Science Citation Database. After screening articles and data extraction, Stata V.16 was used for statistical analysis. This study was registered in the Prospective Register Systematic Reviews (CRD42020170649). A total of 2126 articles were identified, and nine papers were finally included. Random-effects modelling showed that the pooled prevalence of hypertension among Chinese patients with T2DM was 54% (95% CI 47 to 61%). Subgroup analysis showed that the prevalence in men (59.8%; 95% CI 49.0 to 70.7%) was higher than that in women (40.2%; 95% CI 29.3 to 59.2%). The prevalence in North China was higher than that in East China. The prevalence in institution-based settings (56%; 95% CI 48 to 64%) was higher than that in community-based settings (51%; 95% CI 34 to 69%). Appropriate preventive measures should be undertaken, such as health education, to control and reduce the risk of hypertension in diabetic patients and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops case studies of the UK and China to analyse divergent national financial regulatory approaches to FinTech as a novel political economy of platforms. Regulating with platforms is core to the approach taken in the UK, where start-up and early-career platforms are enrolled into an innovation-friendly financial regulation regime that promotes consumption and competition balanced with stability. In China, meanwhile, measures are being instituted to enhance rules and restrictions imposed on FinTech platforms. BigTech-led FinTech expansion was encouraged to expedite financial reforms to fuel economic growth and ensure authoritarian state control, but regulation is now shown to be working against the furtherance of platform power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health management information systems (HMISs) are essential in programme planning, budgeting, monitoring and evidence-informed decision-making. This paper focuses on donor transitions in two upper-middle-income countries, China and Georgia, and explores how national HMIS adaptations were made and what facilitated or limited successful and sustainable transitions. This comparative analytical case study uses a policy triangle framework and a mixed-methods approach to explore how and why adaptations in the HMIS occurred under the Gavi Alliance and the Global Fund–supported programmes in China and Georgia. A review of published and grey literature, key informant interviews and administrative data analysis informed the study findings. Contextual factors such as the global and country context, and health system and programme needs drove HMIS developments. Other factors included accountability on a national and international level; improvements in HMIS governance by establishing national regulations for clear mandates of data collection and reporting rules and creating institutional spaces for data use; investing in hardware, software and human resources to ensure regular and reliable data generation; and capacitating national players to use data in evidence-based decision-making for programme and transition planning, budgeting and outcome monitoring. Not all the HMIS initiatives supported by donors were sustained and transitioned. For the successful adaptation and sustainable transition, five interlinked and closely coordinated support areas need to be considered: (1) coupling programme design with a good understanding of the country context while considering domestic and external demands for information, (2) regulating appropriate governance and management arrangements enhancing country ownership, (3) avoiding silo HMIS solutions and taking integrative approach, (4) ensuring the transition of funding onto domestic budget and enforcing fulfilment of the government's financial commitments and finally (5) investing in technologies and skilled human resources for the HMIS throughout all levels of the health system. Neglecting any of these elements risks not delivering sustainable outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled facial recognition technology (FRT) in the provision of vital services that depend on accurate identification of individuals within China's public and private sectors prompted an urgent need to foster discussions regarding regulatory, societal, and ethical concerns. While there are safety and efficiency gains to be obtained through the use of FRT where establishing identity is necessary, these result in potential trade-offs against the individuals' fundamental rights, most notably, the violation of the right to privacy, and personal information where individuals are neither informed of nor consented to the collection, use, or storage. To address such concerns, China has put in place laws. The adequacy of which in addressing the concerns remains. This paper argues that, while significant progress has been made with the promulgation of several legislations, much more needs to be undertaken in terms of ensuring transparency in decision-making on public uses and obtaining prior mandatory authorization before the deployment of FRT. The paper further suggests the engagement of a multi-disciplinary team of experts to support and guide research, development, and deployment of AI-enabled FRT and other biometric technology as a positive step forward together with the possible adoption of adaptive governance as a framework for future policy design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Chinese economy shifts from factor-driven to innovation-driven growth, Chinese firms are increasingly lacking highly skilled talents. In this context, attracting high-skill returnees might represent an effective strategy to access knowledge. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between high-skill returnees and innovation of Chinese publicly listed firms. We construct a unique dataset of 2,499 firms over the period 2002–16 by combining three different data sources (i.e. Chinese Research Data Services Platform, China Stock Market & Accounting Research Database, and LinkedIn). Our results show that different typologies of returnees (employees, technologists, and managers) with different experiences abroad (work vs study) may bring back different skills and impact differently on firm innovation. Our main findings show that (1) returnee employees and technologists are positively associated with firm's patenting; (2) returnees' overseas work experience matters more than study experience; and (3) the positive role of returnees is subject to contingencies related to firm characteristics such as ownership, location, and size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This structured review aimed to discuss the existing literature on therapeutic hypothermia for moderate to severe neonatal encephalopathy exclusively in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).Methods: Medline, Embase, CINHAL and Cochrane Registry were searched for original papers with therapeutic hypothermia (TH) for treating neonatal encephalopathy in LMIC with no language restrictions. The search identified 1413 papers from 1990 to 31 August 2021.Results: Twenty-one original papers were included after duplicates removal and full-text screening in the final review. Fourteen randomized control studies and seven non-randomized studies were discussed with various modes of cooling (servo-controlled, phase changing material, traditional methods), complications during cooling, mortality and long-term neurodevelopmental assessment. Although there is sufficient evidence in LMIC favouring cooling for the reduction in mortality and improving the neurodevelopmental outcomes, nonetheless these studies were widely heterogeneous in terms of method of cooling, tools for assessing developmental outcomes, age at assessment and variations in neuroimaging tools and reporting.Conclusion: Therapeutic hypothermia is beneficial in LMICs with low certainty of evidence in reducing mortality and improving neurodevelopmental outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The popularity of social networks turns them into a legal method for promoting a healthy lifestyle, which benefits not only people but also different countries' governments. This research paper aimed to examine the Keep fitness app integrated into WeChat, Weibo and QQ as regards long-term improvements in health-related behaviors (physical activity, nutrition, health responsibility, spiritual growth, interpersonal relationships and stress management) and assess the associated risk of increased social media addiction. Students from Lishui University in China (N  = 300) participated in this study, and they were formed into control and experimental groups. The Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale and Social Media Disorder Scale were used as psychometric instruments. The Keep app was found to improve respondents' scores on the parameters of physical activity, nutrition and health responsibility (P  = 0.00). However, the level of dependence on social media did not change in either the control or the experimental group during the year of research (P  ≥ 0.05). It is concluded that fitness apps can be an effective tool to promote healthy lifestyles among young people in China and other countries. The feasibility of government investment in fitness apps to promote healthy lifestyles is substantiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Bank today faces parallel challenges to its operations and governance. The institution has since its founding provided financing on favourable terms to developing country governments to support national development efforts. Alongside these country demands, there are now calls for a new set of mandates and activities associated with global public goods. Advocates would have the Bank allocate large sums toward climate mitigation, pandemic response and preparedness, and other activities that may or may not align with national priorities in developing countries. The ability of the World Bank to strike an appropriate balance between country demands and global goods depends on the institution's shareholders. Yet, the deterioration in the bilateral relationship between the United States and China now threatens to undermine effective governance at the institution. This paper considers the challenge of competing demands on World Bank resources and the degree to which a resolution could depend on an agreement between the United States and China, one that sets the strategic direction of the institution and addresses the growing impasse on the question of China's shareholding in the Bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining eight years of panel data with an event study approach, this study shows that rural Chinese women's labor supply falls following the birth of a child. In contrast, men's labor supply does not fall after birth. Furthermore, a woman's labor supply falls more following the birth of a son than a daughter. Following the birth of a son relative to a daughter, household cigarette consumption declines, and a mother's leisure time, her probability of school enrollment, and her participation in decision-making increase. There are no increases in other investments in boys complementary to mothers' time, such as food expenditures, breastfeeding, or immunizations. These results are consistent with the idea that mothers are rewarded more for having a son, leading them to have more leisure and work less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on policy coordination between government agencies reveals little about how coordination is managed in centralized political systems. This paper, therefore, presents a dynamic and quantitative analysis of policy coordination in China based on the science and technology (S&T) policy documents issued by China's central government agencies in the period 1978–2019. From a series of snapshots depicting inter-agency policy development in five historical stages over this timeframe, we find that (1) policy coordination has developed steadily and has mainly occurred to interpret macro strategies and put in place more detailed implementation measures. (2) Ministries under the purview of the State Council have played a leading role in policy coordination, while other types of agencies have cooperated in more supporting roles. (3) Coordination efforts have mainly focused on inclusive and national demand-oriented themes, such as high-tech industrialization, rural S&T, and social development. This research offers a panoramic view of policy coordination trajectories and mechanisms in centralized political systems. As such, it adds to the analysis methods available for quantitatively studying policy documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates whether the devolution reform of forestland to household management improves allocative efficiency and household welfare through participation in forestland rental markets. Using a household panel dataset from three Chinese provinces, we find positive effects of the emerging forestland rental markets: with the reform, forestland was transferred to forestland-constrained and labour-rich households and households with higher levels of productivity in forestry. Participation in forestland rental markets increases household per-capita income and decreases the likelihood of income falling below the poverty line. We do not find any support for forestland captured by land-richer, wealthier, larger or powerful households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of policy capacity is often used to explain the success or failure of governments or countries in conceiving of, developing, and implementing policies, but is often poorly systematised. Wu et al provide a framework for understanding types of policy capacity, arguing that three kinds of capacity, distributed across policy systems, are needed for effective implementation. This paper applies that framework to a discussion of China, a country that has been managing a fundamental transformation since at least the late 1970s, which has underpinned the country's growth and development. The paper focuses on a subset of China's reforms - reforms to the healthcare system since the 1990s. Discussion of policy capacity shows (1) that policy capacity is dynamic and adaptive, in response to changing challenges due to rapid transformation in the country; (2) that the development and distribution of capacities has, overall, been government-directed, with strong research and analytical support from public think tanks and universities; (3) that understanding of policy capacity is evolving, with government paying increasing attention to the need to develop a learning state and society in response to increasingly complex problems of development. Examination of the Chinese case has relevance for how other countries develop and adapt policy capacities over time to manage rapid transformation, uncertainty and shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subnational disparities in most health systems often defy 'one-size-fits-all' approach in policy implementation. When local authorities implement a national policy in a decentralized context, they behave as a strategic policy actor in specifying the central mandates, selecting appropriate tools and setting key implementation parameters. Local policy discretion leads to diverse policy mixes across regions, thus complicating evidence-based evaluations of policy impacts. When measuring complex policy reforms, mainstream policy evaluation methodologies have tended to adopt simplified policy proxies that often disguise distinct policy choices across localities, leaving the heterogeneous effects of the same generic policy largely unknown. Using the emerging 'text-as-data' methodology and drawing from subnational policy documents, this study developed a novel approach to policy measurement through analysing policy big data. We applied this approach to examine the impacts of China's Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) on individuals' out-of-pocket (OOP) spending. We found substantial disparities in policy choices across prefectures when categorizing the UEBMI policy framework into benefit-expansion and cost-containment reforms. Overall, the UEBMI policies lowered enrollees' OOP spending in prefectures that embraced both benefit-expansion and cost-containment reforms. In contrast, the policies produced ill effects on OOP spending of UEBMI enrollees and uninsured workers in prefectures that carried out only benefit-expansion or cost-containment reforms. The micro-level impacts of UEBMI enrolment on OOP spending were conditional on whether prefectural benefit-expansion and cost-containment reforms were undertaken in concert. Only in prefectures that promulgated both types of reforms did UEBMI enrolment reduce OOP spending. These findings contribute to a comprehensive text-mining measurement approach to locally diverse policy efforts and an integration of macro-level policy analysis and micro-level individual analysis. Contextualizing policy measurements would improve the methodological rigour of health policy evaluations. This paper concludes with implications for health policymakers in China and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss the process of financialisation of developing countries and emerging economies (DEEs) from the perspective of critical realism (CR). We argue that the emergence of financialisation depends on the inherent tendency of the imbalance between the accumulation of productive and financial capital being actualised, and emphasise how government's intentional actions under current social structures relate to this process. We use China as a case study to illustrate how DEEs can resist financialisation and maintain productive accumulation during development. We elaborate on various institutional and policy adjustments undertaken by China during different phases that promoted productive accumulation and how China avoided financialisation for much of its growth period. Our discussion helps to explain why China's limited financialisation compared to other DEEs who experienced financialisation featured by dependency. We conclude by highlighting new potential risks and sources of financialisation faced by the Chinese economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent shifts in political sociology have moved away from reification of the state to focus more on symbolic and everyday sociocultural perceptions of political units. Yet the launching points for most research has been state-led programs. To remedy this gap, this paper takes a relatively non-political activity, domestic tourism, and builds a theoretical model of how the circulation of tourist bodies provides legitimation for the material, symbolic, and territorial projects of the nation-state. Using qualitative content analysis of online travel diaries for domestic vacations taken in China from 2006–2019, I find that travel practices are integral to perceptions of and bodily engagement with the geography, history, ethno-culture, and modernization projects of the nation-state. I argue that tourist practices naturalize and confirm knowledge and classifications about the nation-state, making abstract political conceptions into experiential realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From global production network (GPN) theory, this study explores the configurations of emerging Southern market-driven production networks through the case of China's industrial robot industry which has emerged with increasing automation in production. This paper argues that to serve the Chinese high- and middle-end customers, global lead firms from Western economies have established regional production networks by localising production, connecting with global component suppliers in/outside China and collaborating with Chinese system integrators. However, Chinese capable firms have organised domestic production networks for the low and middle-end through integrating with domestic component suppliers and system integrators. This study adapts the GPN framework, mostly highlighting Western markets, by examining markets and firms in the Global South and revealing new configurations of production networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For regions that are deeply integrated into the global economy, the question of how to remain competitive and resilient in times of uncertainty is a key concern. While strategic coupling is a useful concept for understanding local-global economic dynamics, the idea that a region can simultaneously couple into multiple production networks organised at different spatial scales and that regional actors can increase their autonomy by creatively combining different coupling scenarios has been little explored. This paper explores how regional institutional innovations can facilitate such multiple couplings. We focus on the industrial chain chief model in China's Zhejiang province, which emerged against the backdrop of the U.S.-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that this institutional innovation offers a different way of thinking for regions that have long been exposed to the influence of globalisation, and that it increases the agency of local actors in global production networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Urbanization in developing countries is usually accompanied by migration to cities, making it a challenge to unpack the independent relationships between migration, urbanization and health, particularly in the presence of health-selective migration. Since 1978, unprecedented planned urbanization has taken place in China and further increases to the urban population are expected. This paper explored the impacts of urbanization in China through a comparative study of in situ urbanized population.Methods: Using the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a nationally representative dataset for people aged 45 years or older, we compared self-assessed general health, depressive symptoms and waist circumference among three groups: (i) in situ urbanized-rural residents; (ii) rural residents; and (iii) urban residents. Using a model informed by the literature on the social determinants of health in later life, we investigated the patterning and drivers of differences in health outcomes between these three groups, in order to explore the impact of urbanization independent of the impact of migration.Results: There are consistent advantages in health and less depression among urbanized-rural residents compared with the rural group; and this group has even better health outcomes than the urban group after adjusting for early life differences. However, this relationship is reversed for waist circumference. Socioeconomic circumstances and factors related to a planned urbanization partly explain these effects.Conclusions: Urbanization in China has, on average, had an independent and positive effect on health and well-being. Planned urbanization could benefit people's health in developing countries. It is likely that improved infrastructure is a key driver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the early 2000s, Chinese government has sought to encourage the growth of private health insurance (PHI) while simultaneously expanding the breadth of coverage in its social health insurance (SHI) system. This paper examines how the prevalence of PHI has changed during this period and the extent to which PHI contributed to the growth of horizontal and geographical inequities with a focus on healthcare utilization. National data from China Health and Nutrition Survey between 2000 and 2015 were analysed using a multilevel modelling approach. The analysis investigated the impact of SHI membership as related to PHI uptake, PHI enrolees' utilization of health services and out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses. This study found being covered by an SHI scheme reduced the uptake of PHI between 2004 and 2015. Having PHI caused an increase in utilizing outpatient care but did not affect OOP expenses. Coverage prevalence of PHI in a residential community was positively associated with the average level of healthcare utilization. Coverage prevalence of PHI and its effects on healthcare utilization varied geographically. The findings suggest that expanding the role of PHI was not effective without clear support from government policy. Furthermore, the expansion of PHI may cause an increase in horizontal and geographical inequities in healthcare utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bonus system used in Chinese hospitals has been criticized for eroding doctors’ professional ethics and aggravating patient expense. This research article focuses on one system to improve hospital performance, the balanced scorecard (BSC). We use three data sources to examine the diffusion and implementation of the BSC in China: a questionnaire survey in Shandong Province, a print-media indicators and content analysis of the published BSC papers and semi-structured interviews with managers of Chinese hospitals that use the BSC. The research evidence shows that bonus systems are important, partially because of the poor pay of hospital professionals, and the BSC is perceived as providing a fair system to award such bonuses. This helps explain the relative endurance of the BSC in Chinese hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In China, the government has encouraged the participation of private sector facilities in primary care to improve health care quality.Objective: We compare health care utilization patterns among patients who select private versus public community health centres (CHCs) for reimbursed outpatient services.Methods: This paper uses data from the Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance scheme from 2013 to 2016 in one of the largest cities in China. We used a Poisson model and a logistic model to examine outcomes on monthly outpatient visits and the probability of hospitalization, respectively.Results: Compared with being a user of a public CHC, being a user of a private CHC is associated with a 26.2% lower incidence rate of outpatient visits to hospitals [95% confidence interval (CI): 30.1-21.8%] and no difference in rates of visits to CHCs or hospitalization. Among patients with diabetes or hypertension, being a user of a private CHC is associated with a 12.9% lower incidence rate of outpatient visits to CHCs (95% CI: 19.8-5.4%), a 25.6% lower incidence rate of outpatient visits to hospitals (95% CI: 21.4-19.5%) and 22.3% higher odds of hospitalization (95% CI: 3.5-44.7%).Conclusion: Being a user of a private CHC is associated with a reduction in outpatient visits to hospitals, which aligns with the goal of reducing hospital congestion at the outpatient level. For patients with chronic diseases, being a user of a private CHC is associated with a higher probability of hospitalization. More research is needed to understand the reason for this difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the medical activities of Hu Tingguang, an early nineteenth-century Chinese healer who specialized in treating traumatic injuries. Hu aimed to improve the state of medical knowledge about injuries by writing a comprehensive treatise titled Compilation of Teachings on Traumatology, completed in 1815. This work notably included a set of medical cases describing the experiences of Hu and his father, which Hu used to teach readers how to employ and adapt different therapies: bone setting, petty surgery, and drugs. By examining how Hu dealt with different forms of damage to the body's material form, this paper shows how manual therapies could be a focus of medical creativity and innovation. It also contributes to a growing corpus of scholarship exploring the way that awareness of and concern with the structure of the body historically shaped Chinese medical thought and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, as elsewhere, the number of a firm's patent applications is regularly considered to be an indicator of its innovation capability. China's patent system, however, is peculiar in that government subsidies and official targets play a notable role in influencing individuals' patenting behaviour. Using company survey data, this paper examines the influence of firms' formal ties with the Communist Party of China (CPC) on their patenting behaviour. Taking the example of private small and medium-sized firms in the electronics industry of the Pearl River Delta, it establishes that the presence of CPC offices can be the strongest single predictor for patenting even when other factors are taken into account. This seems particularly noteworthy because earlier studies found that small and medium-sized firms in the Pearl River Delta were less susceptible to central government influence than other Chinese firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of quality in scientific research is a complex problem. The use of more objective scientometric indices in research evaluation emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. These scientometric indicators, among which the most common one is probably the journal impact factor (IF), are increasingly employed to evaluate the quality of scientific research performed by individual scientists, research groups, or institutes. In China, the IF is used not only to measure a journal's scientific influence, but has become increasingly important as a basis for recruitment or promotion, awards of research funding, grants, and authors' academic advancement. But in fact, the assessment of research mainly based on the IF will cause much academic 'froth', so it is necessary for universities and research institutions to reset the academic assessment system in China. In the assessment of scientific research, more research activities, like the organization of conferences and seminars, the coordination of research groups, and the participation to conferences, should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the reforms to powers of Chinese state agencies to deal with drug-dependent people introduced by the PRC Drug Prohibition Law 2008. Whilst professing to take a more humane approach to problems of drug dependency, the law retains a police-centred approach to regulation. The law provides for a set of interconnected police powers that include: registration; imposition of a three year term of community rehabilitation; administrative detention for two years; and the possibility of a further supervised rehabilitation order upon release. In the absence of detailed implementing regulations, this paper examines the different ways local agencies are interpreting and implementing these powers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a novel multilevel gravity model of migration to study the under-researched topic of urban to urban migration in China. Many previous studies have looked at rural to urban migration in the context of urbanisation and economic development, and at return migration. Very few have looked at what is becoming more important in increasingly urbanised countries, which is the movement from one urban location to another. In the study, we develop a new method that allows for the interconnections between migration flows: between those that share an origin, those that share a destination, and where there is a reciprocal flow between places. A conventional gravity model of migration ignores those connections, risking erroneous estimation of the regression parameters and of their statistical significance. It also ignores that those connections are of substantive interest—they reveal the interconnections between places regarding the numbers of migrants that they send and receive. We motivate and illustrate the advantages of our approach using 2010 interprovincial migration census data for China. The results obtained from the model confirm the effect of distance, of population size and of regional income levels. They show that there is greater variation in the numbers of migrants received by provinces than there is in the numbers sent, and that reciprocal migration between pairs of provinces is an important feature of what is happening in China, especially between the neighbouring provinces of Sichuan and Tibet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideational definition of culture has hindered a meaningful debate of the role that culture plays in the discipline of International Relations. Focusing on the behavior side of culture instead, this paper proposes the Cultural Constructivist approach that takes account of both the cultural and the social in interstate relations. Academic puzzles in contemporary China's relations with Japan, the former Soviet Union, and the United States are better explained by taking into account China's cultural behavior pattern and its role in the country's identity construction of these other states. Cultural Constructivism is a falsifiable theory that enables us to see under which circumstances culture intervenes in a country's foreign policy making. A cultural behavior pattern has complicated the PRC's relations with Japan and the former Soviet Union, but material constraints and cultural differences prevented its ascendance to the main stage of Sino- US relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the largest and most rapidly growing emerging economy in the world. Its dynamic growth is accompanied by severe pollution problems and large emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2)—it now has the largest annual emissions in the world. China will also be one of the main victims of climate change, should no action be taken to shift the global economy to cleaner modes of production and consumption. It is therefore in China’s self-interest to take action to reduce CO2 in the very near term. However, doing so would require a fundamental change in economic growth patterns and a transformation of economic structure. This paper argues that such changes are feasible, and further that strong and active government interventions to facilitate these changes are justified. The paper explores the policy options, including in relation to carbon pricing and innovation policy, and the major challenges to implementing such structural reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although an authoritarian regime is often assumed to manipulate its various statistics for political needs and to maintain its legitimacy, we know little about how such manipulation is accomplished and under what circumstances. Using data collected from yearly published official crime reports, a unique source for crime victim surveys, interviews with the police and detailed ethnographic work in Guangzhou city, this paper demonstrates how the manufacturing of official crime statics serves to legitimize the authoritarian regime in China. In particular, I examine the myth of the 'great crime decline' in the first decade of 21st century when official crime statistics declined by more than two-thirds in the city and argue that the decrease is a result of statistical manipulation instead of a reflection of the actual crime situation. I argue that, compared with Western democracies, crime statistics should be more fully understood as part of a legitimization apparatus in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health insurance coverage and the risk protection it provides may improve enrollees' subjective well-being (SWB), as demonstrated, e.g. by Oregon Medicaid's randomized expansion significantly improving enrollees' mental health and happiness. Yet little evidence from low- and middle-income countries documents the link between insurance coverage and SWB. We analyse individual-level data on a large natural experiment in China: the integration of the rural and urban resident health insurance programmes. This reform, expanded nationally since 2016, is recognized as a vital step towards attaining the goal of providing affordable and equitable basic healthcare in China, because integration raises the level of healthcare coverage for rural residents to that enjoyed by their urban counterparts. This study is the first to investigate the impact of urban–rural health insurance integration on the SWB of the Chinese population. Analysing 2011–18 data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in a difference-in-difference framework with variation in the treatment timing, we find that the integration policy significantly improved the life satisfaction of rural residents, especially among low-income and elderly individuals. The positive impact of the integration on SWB appears to stem from the improvement of rural residents' mental health (decrease in depressive symptoms) and associated increases in some health behaviours, as well as a mild increase in outpatient care utilization and financial risk protection. There was no discernible impact of the integration on SWB among urban residents, suggesting that the reform reduced inequality in healthcare access and health outcomes for poorer rural residents without negative spillovers on their urban counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the crisis era, while considerable attention was given to Chinese management of its currency’s exchange rate with the US dollar, the frequent alteration of rebates on value-added taxes (VAT) paid by exporters on the inputs they have imported has been overlooked. In this paper the relevant Chinese policy changes are documented and evidence presented to gauge the relative importance of what turns out to be a systematic form of export management. Given the relatively high shares of imported content used in Chinese exports and the low profit margins of Chinese exporters, an increase in the VAT rebate of a single per cent is estimated to increase the profitability of beneficiary exporters by 12 per cent for the typical Chinese exporter, and by 18 per cent for those Chinese exporters operating in export processing zones. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Few countries have increased their expenditure on R&D as rapidly as has China in recent years. However, so far, little academic attention has been paid to how decisions are taken and priorities set in Chinese research policy. This paper analyzes priority-setting in China's recent research policy. We find that China's research policy is driven by a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, objectives, leading to a multitude of often overlapping initiatives. Secondly, mission-and excellence-driven research dominates over institution- and capacity-building and diffusion objectives. Thirdly, the process of setting research priorities is characterized by a combination of central goal articulation--top-down decision-making--and decentralization, deliberation and stakeholder consultation--bottom-up mechanisms. Aside from contributing to the understanding of China's research and innovation policy and system, this paper provides insights into policy change in China more generally and also into the processes which shape priority-setting in transition economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the empirical relevance of the 2009 World Development Report's 3D framework for the explanation of spatial productivity disparities within Chongqing municipality's non-primary sector. In doing so, it presents evidence of a significant role for distance in determining these disparities, especially within the municipality's Southeast wing. The evidence of a role for density is more mixed, however, with findings of agglomeration economies depending on the method of estimation used. These results have important policy implications both for the municipality itself and China overall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In view of the smuggling out of democratic leaders after the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 and China's resumption of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, China applied a ‘united front’ tactic to recruit Hong Kong triad societies to the Communist camp. Consequently, triad leaders were able to set foot in China and bridge up with officials and state enterprises. Against this backdrop, this paper argues that when political dynamics is involved, both the traditional structural and social network approaches are insufficient to explain triad-organized crime. Therefore, social capital perspective is proposed. Using two case studies, it was discovered that the triad leaders converted the social capital they developed in mainland China into economic capital through illegitimate means in the stock market. The paper concludes by highlighting the similarities and differences between this triad-organized crime and other forms of Chinese organized crime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aims: In this paper, we highlighted some key progresses in mangrove conservation, restoration and research in China during last two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we propose a new concept of convergence which is based on the metric entropy measure recently proposed by Granger et al. (2004, Journal of Time Series Analysis 25, 649–69) to investigate economic convergence in China. This entropy measure compares whole distributions of growth rates across individual provinces. Separately, based on this same entropy measure, we also implement cluster analysis to identify any convergence clubs. Our four main conclusions are: (1) while we certainly reject the null hypothesis that there exists a nationwide convergence, we do find that there exist convergence clubs for both the pre- and post-reform periods, (2) we find a number of very small convergence clubs. In particular, there are eleven and six convergence clubs for the pre- and post-reform periods, respectively, (3) in comparing the number and size of convergence clubs for both the pre- and post-reform periods, it could be argued that the extent of convergence is more prevalent during the post-reform period than during the pre-reform period and (4) convergence groups cannot be simply characterized by such unique features as region or the extent of policy preference level that are commonly used in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of reliable anthropogenic emission inventories is essential for both understanding the sources of air pollution and designing effective air-pollution-control measures in China. However, it is challenging to quantify emissions in China accurately, given the variety of contributing sources, the complexity of the technology mix and the lack of reliable measurements. Over the last two decades, tremendous efforts have been made to improve the accuracy of emission inventories, and significant improvements have been realized.More reliable statistics and survey-based data have been used to reduce the uncertainties in activity rates and technology distributions. Local emission factors and source profiles covering various sources have been measured and reported. Based on these local databases, improved emission inventory models have been developed for power plants, large industrial plants and the residential, transportation and agricultural sectors. In this paper, we review the progress that has been made in developing inventories of anthropogenic emissions in China. We first highlight the major updates that have been made to emission inventory models and the underlying data by source category.We then summarize the sector-based estimates of emissions of different species contained in current inventories. The progress that has been made in the development of model-ready emissions is also presented. Finally, we suggest future directions for further improving the accuracy of emission inventories in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tobacco control in China, the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco, began in the 1980s with the first national prevalence survey and a conference on tobacco held in Tianjin. Since then, there have been dozens of research papers, partial restrictions on smoking and tobacco advertising, public education campaigns, and the ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, but progress has been slow. The state-owned tobacco industry remains a major obstacle to tobacco control. Recent developments: In the last few years, tobacco control efforts have accelerated beyond expectations. The triggering event was the publication on tobacco by the Chinese Central Party School, the ideological think tank of the Communist Party, followed by a spate of activity: directives to government officials; regulations issued by the Ministry of Education, the People's Liberation Army and the Healthy City Standards; tobacco clauses in national advertising and philanthropy laws; the creation of a Smoke-free Beijing; an increase in tobacco taxation; and a national smoke-free law currently in draft. Areas timely for policy research and action: There is a crucial need for China to build upon these recent developments, in accepting the economic research evidence of the debit of tobacco to the economy; in implementing robust, comprehensive legislation; in increasing cigarette price through taxation and, most challenging of all, to tackle the power and influence of the state tobacco monopoly over tobacco control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the illegal networks in tiger parts trading from the demand (client's) and the supply (criminal's) perspective by drawing on fieldwork interview data collected from seven tiger parts trading network across three Chinese cities--Lhasa, Xining and Kunming, in 2011. The networks in the three cities were all centralized and independent of each other. Such structure derives from the low risk of arrest and is best suited to deal with the limited number of tiger part products. None of the traders involved were full time, professional tiger parts products traders and should be classified as opportunistic criminals. This article contributes to a broader understanding of criminal networks and to the development of green criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's three-decade infrastructure investment boom shows few signs of abating. Is China's economic growth a consequence of its purposeful investment? Is China a prodigy in delivering infrastructure from which rich democracies could learn? The prevalent view in economics literature and policies derived from it is that a high level of infrastructure investment is a precursor to economic growth. China is especially held up as a model to emulate. Politicians in rich democracies display awe and envy of the scale of infrastructure Chinese leaders are able to build. Based on the largest dataset of its kind, this paper punctures the twin myths that (i) infrastructure creates economic value, and that (ii) China has a distinct advantage in its delivery. Far from being an engine of economic growth, the typical infrastructure investment fails to deliver a positive risk-adjusted return. Moreover, China's track record in delivering infrastructure is no better than that of rich democracies. Investing in unproductive projects results initially in a boom, as long as construction is ongoing, followed by a bust, when forecasted benefits fail to materialize and projects therefore become a drag on the economy. Where investments are debt-financed, overinvesting in unproductive projects results in the build-up of debt, monetary expansion, instability in financial markets, and economic fragility, exactly as we see in China today. We conclude that poorly managed infrastructure investments are a main explanation of surfacing economic and financial problems in China. We predict that, unless China shifts to a lower level of higher-quality infrastructure investments, the country is headed for an infrastructure- led national financial and economic crisis, which is likely also to be a crisis for the international economy. China's infrastructure investment model is not one to follow for other countries but one to avoid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China the use of public procurement as an innovation policy instrument has been closely associated with the drive to promote indigenous innovation. Implementation was largely through the use of catalogues intended to signal and to formally accredit the supply and demand of technologically-oriented products. This paper reviews these experiences by examining the wider context and three case studies. Accreditation is shown to carry a risk of protectionism. Signaling performs a function analogous to a technology roadmap and was assisted by giving listed technologies priority for public procurement. For both types of instrument the intended mechanism did not work as planned but the broader role they sought to fill was an important factor in bringing innovations to market. The appropriateness and effectiveness of such instruments are shown to be dependent upon the state of both the innovation and the procurement systems in which they are set. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last century and a half, global technological leadership has shifted from Great Britain to the USA. In this paper we argue that China is positioning itself to assume global leadership in technology within the coming few decades. We identify three sources of competitive advantage for China's ascent in the global technology stakes: its massive domestic market, its centralized power and willingness to employ state-sponsored industrial policy and government support, and the process of globalization that continues to transform markets worldwide. After acknowledging skep- tical views of China's capacity to achieve global technology leadership, we survey the present state of affairs and assess its prospects for growth based on statistical evidence and multiple examples. We argue that the three sources of competitive advantage we explicate offer China a path to imminent global technological leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese universities have undergone a massive transformation in recent decades. In addition to a dramatic increase in the number of universities and students, universities have shifted from primarily providing education to emphasizing research. Omnipresent political control is to be replaced by stronger academic self-organization. The result so far is a growing stratification of Chinese universities, with a few select research universities receiving the bulk of government research funding and a large number of universities with very little public funding for research which focus primarily on education. The rapidly changing landscape, with growing numbers but also increasing stratification and with conflicting relations between political control and selforganization, has given rise to tensions within universities and within the higher education system. In this paper, we identify these tensions and discuss their implications for China's quest to establish world-class universities and to achieve the transition to an innovationoriented nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the theory and concepts of health promotion, this paper proposes a logic model for HIV/AIDS prevention and control which provides a structure for describing planned actions and predicted impacts/outcomes from comprehensive HIV prevention interventions. The potential usefulness of the model is examined by reviewing the evolution of HIV prevention and management in China, drawing on evidence from interventions reported from a mixture of study designs and formats. It reports that HIV interventions in China can be considered in two distinctive phases, before and after 2003 when China commenced its 'official' response to the HIV epidemic. The logic model was useful in comparing actions taken over these two periods highlighting the importance of political leadership in distinguishing between the two phases, and the continuing importance of systematic and broadly based public education and communication. We conclude that the logic model can not only be used as a planning model, but can also be applied retrospectively to assess successes and failures in national and local responses to HIV in complex social settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand the roles universities play in regional innovation systems in China. Specifically, it examines how Chinese practice concerning the engagement of the universities with society for promoting regional innovation systems differs from Western practices from the perspective of the Triple Helix. It focuses on China’s leading metropolis, Shanghai, and takes as a case study the Tongji Creative Cluster which, unlike most other clusters in China, is based on knowledge-intensive services rather than high-tech manufacturing. We find that although it is commonly assumed that the statist Triple Helix model characterises the development of the innovation system in China, the practices of the Tongji Creative Cluster take a different approach, combining both bottom-up initiatives in the initial stage and top-down coordination in later developments. We argue that this model is more useful for China’s regional innovation systems as it can overcome many challenges in the statist model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the characteristics of burns caused by moxibustion. A retrospective survey of the medical records of patients was performed on patients who visited our center from January 2009 to January 2017, treating for burns caused by moxibustion. Data were extracted and evaluated, including demographics, site and extent of burns, type and treatment duration of moxibustion, practitioners, and cost. A total of 82 consecutive patients treated for moxibustion-induced burns were included. The average patient age was 42.4 years, with the male to female ratio of 1.2:1. Burns caused by direct and indirect moxibustion were 7 and 75 cases, respectively. Averagely, moxibustion was performed 3.6 times a week for 3.7 weeks and lasts for 16.2 minutes each treatment. The average distance for indirect moxibustion was 3.4 cm (ranged from 2 to 5 cm) away from the acupoints. First-degree and superficial partial thickness burns, deep partial thickness burns, and full thickness burns were present in 16, 59, and 7 cases, respectively. Most of the burns were minor burns, with diameter less than 2 cm (69 cases). The most common sites were the lower extremities (46 cases), followed by abdomen (29 cases) and upper extremities (5 cases). The average cost for inpatients and outpatients was 5 164 and 2 192 RMB, respectively. Majority of moxibustion-induced burns are minor burns, and there is a high probability of the burn being deep if it occurs in the lower extremities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background With the rapid development of the global economy and the acceleration of urbanization, air pollution has become a major environmental problem threatening human health. There is limited evidence on the acute effects of air pollution on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods From 2014 to 2019, we collected data on daily admissions for COPD patients from a city in China. We used the generalized additive model together with distributed lag models to fit the associations of air pollutants with hospital admissions. Results We observed significant increments in the number of daily admissions (0.086–0.109%) for COPD for a unit range increase in air quality index, PM 2.5 and PM 10 over four lag days. The impact of air pollution on the number of daily admissions was mainly reflected in the COPD patients who were hospitalized through outpatient departments and tertiary hospitals. Discussion Short-term exposure to outdoor air pollution may induce the occurrence or exacerbation of COPD patients; therefore, government departments should strengthen the management of air pollution, improve supervision and control mechanisms, pay attention to the quality of medical services, and reduce the adverse effects of air pollution on patients' health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, China has become a distinctive and increasingly important donor of development assistance for health (DAH). However, little is known about what factors influence China's priority-setting for DAH. In this study, we provide an updated analysis of trends in the priorities of Chinese DAH and compare them to comparable trends among OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors using data from the AidData's Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset (2000–2017, version 2.0) and the Creditor Reporting System (CRS) database (2000–2017). We also analyse Chinese medical aid exports before and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic using a Chinese Aid Exports Database. We further explore the potential factors influencing China's shifting priority-setting processes by reviewing Chinese official documents following Walt and Gilson's policy analysis framework (context–actors–process–content) and by testing our conjectures empirically. We find that China has become an important DAH donor to most regions if measured using project value, including but not limited to Africa. China has prioritized aid to African and Asian countries as well as to CRS subsectors that are not prioritized by DAC donors, such as medical services and basic health infrastructure. Chinese quarterly medical aid exports almost quintupled after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Noticeably, China has allocated more attention to Asia, eye diseases and infectious disease outbreaks over time. In contrast, the priority given to malaria has declined over the same period. Regarding factors affecting priority shifts, the outbreaks of SARS and Ebola, the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative and the COVID-19 pandemic appear to be important milestones in the timeline of Chinese DAH. Unlike stereotypes of China as a 'lone wolf' donor, our analysis suggests multilateral processes are influential in informing and setting Chinese DAH priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]