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The invention of paper has had a significant impact on the world, particularly in the realm of artistic expression. From its earliest precursor, papyrus, used in ancient Egypt, to the development of papermaking in China, paper has played a crucial role in the communication of culture, the advancement of the written word, and the progression of art. Despite the rise of digital media and the push for a paperless society, paper remains important as a surface for all media and as a handmade art form. The evolution of papermaking techniques and its use in various artistic mediums, such as illuminated manuscripts, prints, and watercolors, has contributed to the democratization of art and the exploration of new artistic possibilities. Today, artists continue to value the tactile qualities of paper, even as we move towards a more digital future. [Extracted from the article]

According to the survey of China Paper Association(CPA), in 2022, there are approximately 2,500 paper and paperboard manufacturers in China. Total paper and paper board output registered 124 million tons, up2.64% compared with 2021; paper and paper board consumption was also 124 million tons, down 1.94%; per capita consumption was about 88 kg (population: 1.4 billion). From 2013 to 2022, paper and paper board production grows at an average annual rate of 2.32%, while consumption grows at an average annual rate of 2.67%. In 2022, total pulp, paper, paper board and paper products output amounts to 284 million tons, up 1.32% compared with 2021, in which paper and paperboard output was124 million tons (+2.64%), pulp output was 86 million tons (+5.01％), and paper products output was 74 million tons (-4.65％). Total business revenue registered 1520 billion yuan in 2022, increased by 0.44%; profits totaled 62 billion yuan, declined by 29.79% compared with 2021. According to the Statistics, 2,561 paper manufacturers are included in the survey. From January to December in 2022, their total main business revenue was 890 billion yuan; industrial added value increased by 0.20%; finished goods inventory valued 48 billion yuan, up 12.17%; profit totaled 34 billion, down 37.54%; total assets registered112 million; the asset-liability ratio was 57.64% and liabilities value totaled 645 billion yuan. Among all the paper companies in China, there were 770 companies in the red, taking up 30.07% of all. The import volume of paper and paper board was about 8 million tons (-23.30％), pulp import was 30 million tons (-2.88％), waste paper 570,000 tons (+5.56％), and paper products 160,000 tons (-42.86％).The export volume of paper and paperboard was about 8.6 million tons (56.86％), pulp export was 266,800 tons (+73.02％), waste paper 300 tons (-75.00％), and paper products 5 million tons (+13.70％). 2022 is the most difficult year for China 's paper industry since the global financial crisis in 2008. The whole industry has experienced multiple pressures such as demand contraction and supply chain disruption. In addition, the rising prices of raw materials and energy have further increased the cost of enterprises and greatly reduced economic benefits. Although difficulties have increased, the paper industry has made unremitting efforts to overcome unfavorable factors, achieved a steady increase in production and ensured the market supply of paper products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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June 2023 is the 22nd Production Safety Month in China. So how can the paper industry do a good job in production safety and discharge major hidden dangers? This article introduces seven major safety hazards faced by paper companies, and how to deal with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper Industry is the property of China Pulp & Paper Industry Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of the accounting system reform on corporate innovation behavior and the heterogeneity and underlying mechanisms of this impact. This paper further aims to study the impact of accounting system reform on corporate value. Design/methodology/approach: This study takes China's A-share listed corporates as a sample and uses the exogenous policy shock of the implementation of the New Accounting Standards in 2007 to design the identification strategy of propensity score matching and difference-in-differences method. By comparing the differences between the innovation level of corporates in high-tech industries and non-high-tech industries before and after the implementation of the New Accounting Standards, the impact of the accounting system reform on corporates' innovative behavior can be identified. Findings: Results show that compared with corporates in traditional industries, high-tech corporates obtained higher patent output after the implementation of the New Accounting Standards. This reform mainly affects corporate innovation by improving corporate risk-taking. In addition, this paper finds that the reform of the accounting system has increased the market value of high-tech corporates in the long run. Originality/value: This study provides new empirical evidence for addressing the insufficient innovation incentives for market entities and enriches the existing literature on the economic effects of the change of accounting systems and the influencing factors of corporate innovative behavior from the accounting system perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper Industry is the property of China Pulp & Paper Industry Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper Industry is the property of China Pulp & Paper Industry Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The paper's purpose is to investigate the effects of digital finance on the risk of stock price crashes and the underlying transmission mechanisms, and to provide suggestions to inhibit the stock crash risk (CR). Design/methodology/approach: This paper selects all companies that were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2020. It then uses the two-way fixed effect model and the intermediary effect model to verify such effects. Findings: The overall outcomes demonstrate such a result that the CR of listed companies in China can be significantly reduced by the development of digital finance, and the overall transparency of business financial information and the equity pledge of controlling shareholders are the two underlying transmission mechanisms that digital finance can cause effects on the CR of stocks. Research limitations/implications: The main limitations are that there may exist some problems in the method for evaluating the CR of stocks. And there may be a problem of endogeneity caused by the empirical model cannot control all correlation variables. Practical implications: This paper would provide policy implications, for different roles, to inhibit the stock CR and to make the development of the economy more stabilize. Social implications: Digital finance can promote economic development while restraining financial risks at the same time. Therefore, although this study is based on the relevant data from China, it can also provide a reference for other economies with different basic conditions from China, to promote the overall development of the world economy. Originality/value: The current academic research on digital finance or stock price CR has been relatively sufficient, but there are few papers that combined both. By combining digital finance with stock CR, this paper researches the influence of digital finance on the CR of stocks through empirical analysis. So, this paper would provide new research ideas and evidence for potential influence factors of the CR of stocks, fill the gap in this research field and provide certain help for subsequent scholars to conduct relevant research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, the complex flow evaporation process of droplet impact on the liquid film in a horizontal falling film evaporator is numerically studied based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The purpose of this paper is to present the mechanism of the water treatment problem of the falling film evaporation for the high salinity mine water in Xinjiang region of China. Design/methodology/approach: To effectively characterize the phase transition problem, the particle splitting and merging techniques are introduced. And the particle absorbing layer is proposed to improve the nonphysical aggregation phenomenon caused by the continuous splitting of gas phase particles. The multiresolution model and the artificial viscosity are adopted. Findings: The SPH model is validated qualitatively with experiment results and then applied to the evaporation of the droplet impact on the liquid film. It is shown that the larger single droplet initial velocity and the smaller single droplet initial temperature difference between the droplet and liquid film improve the liquid film evaporation. The heat transfer effect of a single droplet is preferable to that of multiple droplets. Originality/value: A multiphase SPH model for evaporation after the droplet impact on the liquid film is developed and validated. The effects of different factors on liquid film evaporation, including single droplet initial velocity, single droplet initial temperature and multiple droplets are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The relationship between industrial policy and exploratory innovation is imperfect. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use Chinese high-tech enterprise identification policy (HTEP) as a natural experimental group to test policy impacts, spillover effects and mechanisms of action. Findings: First, HTEP promotes exploratory innovation. In addition, HTEP has a greater impact on non-exploratory innovation. Second, HTEP has spillover effects in two phases: HTEP (2008) and the 2016 policy reform. HTEP affects exploratory innovation in nearby non-high-tech firms, and the policy effect decreases monotonically with increasing distance from the treatment group. Third, HTEP affects innovation capacity through financing constraints, technical personnel flow and knowledge flow, which explains not only policy effects but also spillover effects. Fourth, the analysis of policy heterogeneity shows that the 2016 policy reforms reinforce the positive effect of HTEP (2008). By deducting the effects of other policies, the HTEP effect is found to be less volatile. In terms of the continuity of policy identification, continuous uninterrupted identification has a crucial impact on the improvement of firms' innovation capacity compared to repeated certification and certification expiration. Finally, HTEP has a crowding-out effect in state-owned enterprises and large firms' innovation. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the existing literature in several ways. First, the authors enrich the literature on industrial policy through exploratory innovation research. While previous studies have focused on R&D investment and patents (Dai and Wang, 2019), exploratory innovation helps firms break away from the inherent knowledge mindset and achieve sustainable innovation. Second, few studies have explored the characteristics of industrial policies. In this paper, the authors subdivide the sample into repeated certification, continuous certification and certification expiration according to high-tech enterprise identification. In addition, the authors compare the differences in policy implementation effects between the 2016 policy reform and the 2008 policy to provide new directions for business managers and policy makers. Third, innovation factors guided by industrial policies may cluster in specific regions, which in turn manifest externalities. This is when the policy spillover effect is worth considering. This paper fills a gap in the industrial policy literature by examining the spillover effects. Finally, this paper also explores the mechanisms of policy effects from three perspectives: financing constraints, technician mobility and knowledge mobility, which can affect not only the innovation of beneficiary firms directly but also indirectly the innovation of neighboring non-beneficiary firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: At present, the scale of China's floating population has reached 376 million people. Compared with the local inhabitants, the poverty problem of the floating population is more complex, and this problem should also attract the attention of all sectors of society. This paper aims to measure and analyze the multidimensional poverty of the floating population in China. Design/methodology/approach: The data used in this paper are the data of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) in China. This survey is a large-scale national migratory population sampling survey organized by the China National Health Commission, covering 31 provinces (autonomous regions and cities) and other autonomous regions. This paper uses the dynamic monitoring and Alkire and Foster (A-F) method to study the multidimensional poverty problem of the floating population. Findings: This study finds that income poverty is no longer the main type of poverty faced by the floating population. The multidimensional poverty of the floating population mainly occurs in the social security and education dimensions, of which social security has become the most severe poverty dimension of the floating population. From the perspective of group differences, compared with the floating population in urban areas, the multidimensional poverty of migrant workers is more serious. However, the poverty of migrant workers is mainly concentrated in one-dimensional poverty and two-dimensional poverty. Social implications: In the future, the authors should focus on the social security of the floating population in the place of influx and the education of the floating population. Originality/value: Through the review of the existing literature, the authors find that the current research on the multidimensional poverty of the floating population is mainly concentrated on the migrant worker groups that move from rural areas to urban areas. However, insufficient attention is paid to the urban floating population groups moving between cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Pulp & Paper Industry is the property of China Pulp & Paper Industry Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduced in April 2022, China's "Global Security Initiative" is now two years old. This essay takes stock of the GSI's development since its introduction, examining and assessing how the GSI's content has been fleshed out, how it has been received by other states, and how its implementation has progressed. To date, the GSI's content remains vague and broad, most likely to increase support, pursue opportunistic implementation, and discredit the United States as a security actor. Formal support from other states, as reflected in including the GSI in joint documents, is limited. The GSI's implementation has been uneven, especially in Asia, with few regional organizations offering unqualified support and or pursuing cooperation under the banner of the initiative. Looking ahead, the prospects for the GSI and its implementation are mixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's leadership has modified the military's formal role in national strategy, which is known as its "historic missions." The change reflects an appreciation of both the opportunities and the perils posed by China's rise as a great power as well as by anxiety about the intensifying domestic political vulnerabilities that stem from economic deceleration and persistent official malfeasance. Paradoxically, the government's expanded view of national security has meant a diminution in the role of the military in security policy toward one of "strategic support." As non-military threats intensify, the role of the People's Liberation Army in national strategy will likely focus on modernization and assistance to non-military efforts to protect an expanding array of interests along China's periphery and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The behavior of the entities in a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) cooperation network is influenced by the core enterprise. Addressing the problem of how the network vulnerability changes when the core enterprise is attacked is a challenging topic. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the failure process of SME cooperation networks caused by the failure of the core SME from the perspective of cascading failure. Design/methodology/approach: According to the Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, Ministry of Science & Technology in China, 296 SMEs in Jiangsu province were used to construct an SME cooperation network of technology-based SMEs and an under-loading cascading failure model. The weight-based attack strategy was selected to mimic a deliberate node attack and was used to analyze the vulnerability of the SME cooperation network. Findings: Some important conclusions are obtained from the simulation analysis: (1) The minimum boundary of node enterprises has a negative relationship with networks' invulnerability, while the breakdown probability has an inverted-U relationship with networks' invulnerability. (2) The combined effect of minimum boundary and breakdown probability indicates that the vulnerability of networks is mainly determined by the breakdown probability; while, minimum boundary helps prevent cascading failure occur. Furthermore, according to the case study, adapting capital needs and resilience in the cooperation network is the core problem in improving the robustness of SME cooperation networks. Originality/value: This research proposed an under-loading cascading failure model to investigate the under-loading failure process caused by the shortage of resources when the core enterprise fails or withdraws from the SME cooperation network. Two key parameters in the proposed model—minimum capacity and breakdown probability—could serve as a guide for research on the vulnerability of SME cooperation networks. Additionally, practical meanings for each parameter in the proposed model are given, to suggest novel insights regarding network protection to facilitate the robustness and vulnerability in real SME cooperation networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to improve the offshore wind farm (OWF) site selection evaluation index system and establishes a decision-making model for OWF site selection. It is expected to provide helpful references for the progress of offshore wind power. Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, this paper establishes an evaluation criteria system for OWF site selection, considering six criteria (wind resource, environment, economic, technical, social and risk) and related subcriteria. Then, the Criteria Importance Though Intercrieria Correlation (CRITIC) method is introduced to figure out the weights of evaluation indexes. In addition, the cumulative prospect theory and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (CPT-TOPSIS) method are employed to construct the OWF site selection decision-making model. Finally, taking the OWF site selection in China as an example, the effectiveness and robustness of the framework are verified by sensitivity analysis and comparative analysis. Findings: This study establishes the OWF site selection evaluation system and constructs a decision-making model under the spherical fuzzy environment. A case of China is employed to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the model. Originality/value: In this paper, a new decision-making model is proposed for the first time, considering the ambiguity and uncertainty of information and the risk attitudes of decision-makers (DMs) in the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Since 2017, China's digital economy has accounted for more than 30% of the country's GDP. The digital economy has become the main driving force of China's economic development. Moreover, the digital economy has also changed the traditional modes of production and distribution between urban and rural areas. This paper aims to explore the influential mechanism of digital economy infrastructure (DEI) on the urban-rural income gap (URIG). Design/methodology/approach: By analyzing the theoretical model of the URIG, this paper constructs a theoretical analysis framework and clarifies the key roles of rural land circulation (RLC) and resident population urbanization (RPU) in the relationship between DEI and the URIG. Findings: The DEI can effectively reduce the URIG; the regression coefficient (RC) was −0.109. The reduction effect is mainly reflected in: 1) the wage income gap between urban and rural residents (RC = −0.128) and 2) the net property income gap of urban and rural residents (RC = −0.321). Also, for the spatial spillover effect, the path effect of "DEI – RLC – URIG" is almost equal to the path effect of "DEI – RPU – URIG"; for the local effect, the path effect of the former is far smaller than the latter. Moreover, when the RPU reaches the threshold of 86.29%, the DEI will expand the URIG (RC = 0.201). Originality/value: This paper proposes a theoretical framework for the impact of DEI on the URIG, explores the mechanism of RLC and RPU in the DEI and URIG and enriches the theory of traditional research on URIG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the impact of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on regional economic growth and innovation-driven development. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the panel data of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper explores the impact of DIF on economic growth and innovative development. Findings: (1) DIF has a direct positive effect on economic growth and innovative development; (2) there is significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of DIF on economic growth and innovative development. (3) DIF can indirectly affect economic growth and innovative development by increasing residents' personal disposable income, increasing fiscal expenditure and improving educational level. Social implications: Exploring the relationship between them and digital inclusive financial development can provide a reference for national productivity construction and development. Originality/value: Economic growth and innovation-driven development have been one of the main concerns of China's policymakers. Exploring the relationship between them, digital inclusive financial development can provide a reference for national productivity construction and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of energy technological innovation on carbon emissions in China from 2001 to 2016. Design/methodology/approach: Conditional mean (CM) methods are first applied to implement our investigation. Then, considering the tremendous heterogeneity in China, quantile regression is further employed to comprehensively investigate the potential heterogeneous effect between energy technological innovation and carbon emission intensity. Findings: The results suggest that renewable energy technological innovation has a significantly positive effect on carbon emission intensity in lower quantile areas and a negative effect in higher quantile areas. Contrarily, fossil energy technological innovation exerts a negative correlation with carbon emission intensity in lower quantile areas and a positive effect on carbon emission intensity in higher quantiles areas. Originality/value: Considering that energy consumption is the main source of CO2 emissions, it is of great importance to study the impact of energy technological innovation on carbon emissions. However, the previous studies mainly focus on the impact of integrated technological innovation on carbon emissions, ignoring the impact of energy technological innovation on carbon emissions mitigation. To fill this gap, we construct an extended STIRPAT model to examine the effects of renewable energy technological innovation and fossil energy technological innovation on carbon emissions in this paper. The results can provide a reference for the government to formulate carbon mitigation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What Does a New White Paper Tell Us About China's International Aid? China's new white paper on international development cooperation has spurred a renewed debate around the Chinese government's aid. According to the white paper published in 2014, China spent 89.34 billion RMB on aid, including 32.32 billion RMB in the form of grants (36.2 percent of the total) from 2010 to 2012. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the factors affecting urban economic development in emerging economic market countries and to provide a new research perspective on urban skyscraper construction. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical analysis based on a difference-in-differences (DID) model is conducted using data of urban data in China that expand into developed markets from 2003 to 2018. Findings: The results of the spatial heterogeneity test indicate that the construction of skyscrapers has a significant promotional effect on the eastern city's economy. In contrast, it has a significant inhibitory effect in the central and western regions. Further findings demonstrate that the construction of skyscrapers can influence urban economic development by promoting industrial agglomeration, especially when the transmission effect of the diversified accumulation of tertiary industry is more prominent. The expansion analysis shows that skyscrapers have increased the level of trade in the city, and the impact on trade has an optimal height. Research limitations/implications: This paper focuses on the economic and trade effects of skyscrapers, and the optimal height of skyscrapers needs to be discussed in more depth, which is also the next problem the researchers need to study. Practical implications: The government should attach importance to and promote the construction of urban skyscrapers, and do a good job in overall planning and design. The city should formulate preferential policies in land, taxation, finance, system and other aspects to increase support for urban skyscraper construction and promote local economic development. Originality/value: This study focuses on the impact of urban skyscraper construction on the economic and trade development of cities in developing countries, which not only complements the relevant research on the economic effects of urban skyscraper construction, but also helps to provide reference for the sustainable development of urbanization in many developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: High-quality labor supply is inevitable to maintain sustainable and steady economic growth. This study mainly explores the impact of the social pension system on the health of human capital, and further explores its impact mechanism. Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of the data from China Family Panel Studies from 2012 to 2018, this article uses the fixed effect model and the mediation effect model to empirically study the influence of the social pension scheme on the health of human capital and further explore its influence mechanism. Findings: This study shows that the social pension scheme can significantly improve the physical and mental health of laborers, especially for low-income and agricultural groups. The implementation of the social pension scheme contributes to increasing medical services and reducing the labor supply for the benefit of human health capital. Therefore, the government should continue to expand the coverage of the social pension scheme and comprehensively improve the importance of human health capital on economic growth. Practical implications: Medical costs and labor supply play a mediating effect in the relationship between social pension and rural labors' health status, which indicates that medical costs and labor supply level are still important factors affecting the health status of rural labor. There are essential factors affecting the health status of the rural labor force, and their role should be given more consideration in the process of system design and improvement. Originality/value: The existing studies have more frequently studied the effect of the implementation of social pension schemes from the perspective of economic performance, but this paper evaluates the policy effect of social pension schemes based on the perspective of health human capital, which enriches research on health performance in related fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to enhance the Global Projection Model (GPM) developed by the International Monetary Fund by constructing a GPM4 model that includes the United States of America, the Eurozone, Japan and China. Design/methodology/approach: This article introduces the United States of America, the Eurozone, Japan and China into a comprehensive global forecasting model, analyzing the impact of liquidity management in G3 economies on nine key macroeconomic variables in China. Findings: The findings reveal that the liquidity management strategies employed by major economies do exert a certain influence on China's major macroeconomic variables. Different types of liquidity shocks elicit varying effects. Monetary shocks exhibit the strongest instantaneous impact, while credit conditions and policy rate shocks contribute more significantly to China's long-term macroeconomic fluctuations. However, no single shock stands out as the dominant factor. Originality/value: This paper attempts to expand the GPM model developed by the International Monetary Fund and build a GPM4 model including China, the United States of America, the Eurozone and Japan. For the first time, the GPM model was used to analyze the spillover effects of liquidity management in major economies on China's macroeconomy and revealed the impact of non-price factors such as credit conditions on China's macroeconomic variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Under the influence of the digital economy, the digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises has attracted widespread attention from scholars at home and abroad due to its uniqueness and importance. However, the existing literature is still deficient in the inner mechanism of digital transformation and lacks research on the digital transformation process. Through in-depth interviews and rooted theory, this paper focuses on the key factors of digital development of manufacturing enterprises and constructs a model of the digital transformation process. Design/methodology/approach: This paper takes China's manufacturing enterprises as research projects. First, through a literature search, the authors proposed three key factors for constructing sustainable competitiveness from digital transformation, that is, core technology innovation, business model re-engineering and organizational structure optimization. Second, the authors adopted the grounded theory approach to identify three sustainable competitive factors of manufacturing enterprises resulting from digital transformation and constructed a theoretical model. Third, based on Chinese manufacturing enterprises data, the authors used an empirical study to validate the three influencing factors. Finally, the authors identified the inner mechanism of the digital transformation of enterprises and put forward suggestions for enterprises to maintain sustainable competitiveness. Findings: First, based on the existing literature, this paper identified the importance of digital transformation of manufacturing enterprises, and the essence of digital transformation of manufacturing companies was found to lie in the change in the combined effect of technological, market and organizational innovation. Second, based on the grounded theory, through in-depth interviews with manufacturing enterprises on digital transformation and open coding of interview transcripts, it was concluded that the key factors for the digital transformation manufacturing companies are core technology change, business model re-engineering and organizational structure optimization. Third, based on a dynamic perspective, the authors evaluated and validated digital transformation. The study found that manufacturing enterprises can improve their digital transformation capabilities through the trajectory of "core technology change – business model re-engineering – organizational structure optimization" to improve their sustainable competitive advantage. Originality/value: Firstly, this study proposed three key factors for constructing sustainable competitiveness from digital transformation, that is, core technology innovation, business model re-engineering and organizational structure optimization, which enriched the theory of transformation and upgrading. Secondly, this study constructs the structural equation model of digital transformation and discovers the key factors pf digital transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates how the gap between the host country's actual and optimal financial conditions affects foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows through evidence from China. Design/methodology/approach: The authors first employ principal component analysis (PCA) to measure FDI target countries' actual financial conditions and use 30 OECD countries as a reference group to assess the optimal financial condition. The authors then estimate a two-way fixed effect model with panel data of China's outward FDI in 64 countries for the period 2003–2017 to get the regression results. The authors' results overcome endogeneity and are robust. Findings: Results show that (1) the gaps between host countries' actual and optimal financial conditions positively affect FDI inflows from China; (2) there is a heterogeneous effect between low-income and high-income countries. The gaps for high-income countries significantly increase FDI inflows from China, while the gaps are not significant for low-income countries. Research limitations/implications: The authors examine how the gap affects FDI inflows from China. An increase of 1% in the target country's gap promotes a 6.3% increase in FDI inflows. However, the authors do not explore what mechanisms are key to these results. The authors will explore these questions in the future. Originality/value: This paper complements the influence factors of FDI and enriches theories of FDI. The gap between actual and optimal financial conditions plays an essential role in FDI flows across countries for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study intends to explore the relationship between digital finance and the vertical specialization of firms. The following questions are discussed: (1) As a representative new financial development model, what is the role of digital finance in the vertical specialization of firms? (2) If digital finance improves the level of vertical specialization of firms, what is the mechanism behind such improvement? (3) How does digital finance impact the vertical specialization of firms in different regions, industries, and firms? Design/methodology/approach: A two-way fixed-effect model of panel data is proposed to verify the relationship between digital finance and the vertical specialization of firms. This model is constructed by matching the city-level data of digital finance with the data of China's A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2018. Meanwhile, the instrumental variable (IV) method and difference-in-difference (DID) method are adopted to deal with the endogeneity problem of the model. Findings: The authors' study finds that digital finance has significantly improved the level of vertical specialization of firms. The result is robust under the endogeneity consideration and a series of robustness tests. After the dimensionality of the index is reduced, the depth of digital finance usage is more conducive to the improvement of the vertical specialization of firms compared with the width of digital finance coverage and the level of financial digitization. Digital finance mainly improves the level of vertical specialization of firms by reducing transaction costs and increasing the market thickness of the intermediate products. Moreover, digital finance has certain heterogeneity in promoting the vertical specialization of firms, an effect that is more significant in the eastern region, manufacturing industry and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Research limitations/implications: The first limitation is the mechanism test. This research only analyzes the mechanism from transaction cost and the market thickness of the intermediate products. With the rapid development of information technology, digital finance will be further integrated into people's production and life. There will then be more mechanisms that should be explored between digital finance and the vertical specialization of firms. Another limitation is the data sample of this paper. The conclusions of this research are based only on the data of listed companies. However, in the authors' opinion, the specialization level of small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) should be higher. Therefore, the conclusions of this work are underestimated, which can be considered as the lower limit of digital finance for enterprise specialization. Social implications: As a favorable financing channel to supplement traditional financial service functions, digital finance plays a critical role in the operating efficiency of enterprises and the effective allocation of macro resources. The authors' research shows that digital finance has significantly improved the vertical specialization of firms. This conclusion provides guides to improve the production efficiency of enterprises and the quality of economic development. Originality/value: This paper has three main contributions. (1) The relationship between financial development and the vertical specialization of firms is innovatively discussed from the perspective of digital finance, which implies that digital finance can effectively promote the level of vertical specialization of firms. (2) This paper provides new perspectives and ideas to reveal the impact mechanism of digital finance on the real economy by systematically analyzing the mechanism of digital finance on the vertical specialization of firms from the perspectives of transaction costs and financing constraints. (3) The regional differences in the development of digital finance, industry differences in the vertical specialization of firms and differences in the nature of enterprise property rights are all under consideration, which improves the effectiveness and pertinence of digital finance in promoting the vertical specialization of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study empirically investigates the impact of directors' and officers' liability insurance on corporate environmental investment. Design/methodology/approach: This paper takes A-share listed firms in the most polluting industries from 2013 to 2019 as the research sample. The authors perform multiple regression analysis to examine the research question, and other approaches such as PSM and Heckman two-stage model are applied to test the robustness of the main results. Findings: The authors find that D&O insurance insured firms significantly decrease the level of corporate environmental investment. The results keep consistent after alleviating potential endogenous concerns. Further analysis shows that the negative association between D&O insurance and environmental investment is more pronounced in firms facing greater environmental pressure and stronger market supervision, and firms located in regions with a rich legal environment. Research limitations/implications: This research extends the literature on the antecedents of corporate environmental investment and the consequences of D&O insurance. Practical implications: The study may deepen people's understanding of D&O insurance and inform them of its negative effects. This research sheds light on the potential factor resulting in a relatively low level of corporate environmental investment in China, which has an important policy implication for government to carry out some regulations to make a difference. Originality/value: Against the backdrop that more importance has been attached to environmental protection globally, this paper is the first study to examine the impact of D&O insurance on corporate environmental investment in the context of the transitional and emerging market-China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to research the relationship between income gap (IG) and green economic growth based on the perspective of economic inequality. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the panel data of 283 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper uses the super slack based model (Super-SBM) to measure the efficiency of regional green economic growth, and constructs a regression model of the IG and regional green economic growth. Findings: Firstly, the IG has an inhibitory effect on the growth of regional green economy (GE). Secondly, the relationship between the IG and regional green economic growth will be affected by the threshold value of income level. Thirdly, environmental regulation and government competition will increase the inhibitory effect of the IG. Originality/value: According to the characteristics of China's regional economy, the researchers construct an empirical model of the IG and green economic growth to study their relationship, the threshold effect of income level and the moderating effect of environmental regulation and local government competition. The research content, methods and conclusions of this paper provide new evidence for the sustainable growth of China's regional GE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates the effect of business environment distance on innovation performance of emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) and explores the mediating effect of absorptive capacity between the two, and it further analyzes the moderating effect of skilled migrants in the relationship between business environment distance and absorptive capacity. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical analysis based on a fixed effect model is conducted using data of Chinese MNEs listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock that expand into developed markets from 2011 to 2018. Findings: The results suggest business environment distance positively affects the innovation performance of EMNEs, and can enhance innovation performance by affecting absorptive capacity of EMNEs. In addition, skilled migrants strengthen the relationship between business environment distance and absorptive capacity of EMNEs. Practical implications: Chinese MNEs should fully exploit business environment distance to acquire the technology needed for innovation activities, and strengthen absorptive capacity to maximize the benefits from innovation. Chinese government needs to strengthen the construction of skilled migrants to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer. Originality/value: Combining springboard theory and institutional theory, this paper integrates macro and micro perspectives to explore whether and how business environment distance affects innovation performance of Chinese MNEs. The paper provides a good theoretical basis and important practical reference value for enhancing the technological innovation capability of Chinese MNEs and the overall technological innovation level of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's 50-yuan note features a controversial ruler, Mao Tse Tung, and the Potala Palace in Tibet, which was once the Dalai Lama's winter home. The note has a unique design, with a changing serial number and a watermark of Mao. Mao's leadership was marked by the persecution of intellectuals and dissidents, as well as the destruction of cultural artifacts. The Potala Palace, known for its strong cultural significance, is depicted on the back of the note. Collectors interested in world leaders, China, Tibet, and the Dalai Lama may find this note appealing. [Extracted from the article]

China has released new rules for its national carbon market in an effort to reduce an oversupply of permits and encourage large polluters to transition to greener practices. The rules include stricter limits on carrying over unused permits from previous years and a ban on borrowing allowances from future years. These changes aim to create a "slight shortage" of allowances in the market, as opposed to the early years when an abundance of free allowances kept prices low and limited the incentive for power companies to reduce emissions. The market, which began trading in 2021, has faced criticism for its limited impact on emissions in the world's largest polluter. The new rules also set emissions targets for power utilities and require annual compliance reporting. The rules will not constrain power generation, will benefit the most efficient plants, and will continue to exempt gas-burning plants. The market price for allowances has risen since February in anticipation of tighter policies and an earlier compliance deadline. [Extracted from the article]

In 2023, China's mechanical paper and paperboard output recorded 144 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%; paper enterprises above designated size achieved operating income of 1393 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%; total profits was 51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%. The coming period will be a critical period for the transformation and upgrading of China's papermaking industry. Facing the complex and ever-changing external environment, we must focus on promoting innovative breakthroughs, quality improvement and upgrading in the paper industry, and enhancing the core competitiveness of independent brands. Starting from this issue, the column "Annual Summary" is launched to review the development of China's paper industry in 2023 from multiple perspectives. This issue summarizes the development of some influential pulp, paper, and related enterprises, outlining the annual development of the industry. Now let’s review the achievements and development highlights of these companies in 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asia Pulp & Paper Co. has reportedly entered the bidding for a stake in Vinda International Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed tissue maker. The Indonesian pulp producer has submitted a preliminary proposal to buy Vinda stock from its majority owner, Essity AB, at a price of over HK$20 per share. APP already sells tissues in China under various brands. Other potential suitors may also emerge, and there is no certainty that APP will proceed with a binding bid. Vinda owns one of China's top tissue brands and also produces products for feminine care, baby care, and incontinence. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show that research on policy diffusion mechanism of Government Procurement of Public Services (GPPS) is beneficial to improve the efficiency of policy formulation and implementation. Design/methodology/approach: In view of the four dimensions which are internal demand, external pressure, policy innovation environment and service characteristic, a system of factors affecting policy diffusion is established. On this basis, a Multilayer Fuzzy Cognitive Map (MFCM) model for policy diffusion of GPPS is constructed. Nonlinear Hebbian Learning algorithm and genetic algorithm are applied to optimize the two components of the MFCM model, which are relationship between nodes at the same layer and influence weights between nodes at different layers, respectively. Taking Nanjing municipal government purchasing elderly-care services in China as the empirical object, simulation of policy diffusion based on the MFCM model is carried out, aiming to obtain the key factors influencing policy diffusion and the dynamic diffusion mechanism of GPPS policy. Findings: Research results show that, compared with monolayer Fuzzy Cognitive Map, the MFCM model converges faster. In addition, simulation results of policy diffusion indicate that economic development level of jurisdiction, superior pressure, administrative level and operability of services are key influencing factors which are under four dimensions correspondingly. And the dynamic influencing mechanism of key factors has also been learned. Originality/value: This paper constructs the MFCM model, which is a new approach based on several monolayer FCMs, to study the policy diffusion mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As China's only ruling party, will the Communist Party influence corporate decisions? The purpose of this paper is to examine whether and how the political ideology of CEOs affects the environmental responsibility of Chinese family firms and its effects on Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER), in addition to a cohesive set of corporate governance contingency factors. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses a series of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression estimates and two-stage approach to examine four main hypotheses, based on 7,824 observations corresponding to 1,919 family firms in China from 2004 to 2015. Findings: The study's findings show that CEOs imprinted with communist ideology are significantly positively related to CER in family firms, that the moderating role of ownership concentration is not significant, that board independence positively moderates the focal relationship and that CEO duality negatively moderates this relationship. Originality/value: The paper expands the research of CEOs' political ideology to the ecological context, which are of significance to both theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study explores how to develop high-tech industries in Hunan province and enhance regional competitiveness. Through the comprehensive quantitative analysis of the development status of the high-tech industry in Hunan province, this paper provides a reference for the development of the high-tech industry in China and the world. Design/methodology/approach: This study constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system of regional competitiveness in Hunan province from the five dimensions of innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing of the "new development concept." Through the screening and analysis of relevant economic indicators in Hunan province from 2011 to 2020, the principal component analysis method is used to measure the five development dimensions, verify the hypotheses in the study and finally draw the conclusion. Findings: Hunan's high-tech industry is positively correlated with Hunan's regional innovation development competitiveness, regional coordinated development competitiveness, regional green development competitiveness, regional open development competitiveness and regional shared development competitiveness. Among them, the promotion effect on innovation development is the best, followed by the promotion effect on green development, coordinated development and shared development dimension. In contrast, the promotion effect on the open development dimension is relatively weak. Research limitations/implications: The statistical data selected in this study have certain timeliness. At the same time, the current economic environment is affected by the new corona pneumonia epidemic, showing specific particularity. In this context, it is bound to cause changes in the impact of high-tech industries on regional competitiveness. In addition, this paper studies the regional competitiveness of Hunan's high-tech industry from a macro perspective. Although relevant studies are conducted from five dimensions, there is a lack of micro-level research. Social implications: From five aspects of the new development concept, this study provides suggestions for developing high-tech industries in Hunan province and even China and the path to enhance regional competitiveness. Originality/value: Up to now, no article measures regional competitiveness with the five development dimensions of new development: innovation, coordination, green, openness and sharing, and quantitatively analyses regional competitiveness on this basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Through this study, the aim is to provide reference for the improvement of CEO related theories, the reform of internal governance mechanisms and compensation systems in enterprises, and ultimately contribute to economic and social development and the achievement of dual carbon goals. Design/methodology/approach: In the context of accelerating the implementation of the "dual carbon" goal and promoting sustainable economic and social development, this paper builds a panel data model based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2011 to 2019 to empirically test the impact of CEO stability on green innovation and total factor productivity of enterprises. Findings: The results show that CEO stability has a positive role in promoting enterprise total factor productivity and green innovation and enterprise green innovation also has a positive role in promoting total factor productivity; Heterogeneity testing found that CEO stability has no significant impact on green innovation in state-owned enterprises. Corporate green innovation has a partial mesomeric effect between CEO stability and total factor productivity; The proportion of independent directors has a negative moderating effect on CEO stability and corporate green innovation, while equity incentive has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between CEO stability, corporate total factor productivity and green innovation. Originality/value: First, it develops the research on CEO stability and its economic consequences. Second, it expands the impact of CEO stability on heterogeneous enterprises. Third, provides new ideas for the reform of internal governance mechanism and salary system of enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Minimizing the impact on the surrounding environment and maximizing the use of production raw materials while ensuring that the relevant processes and services can be delivered within the specified time are the contents of enterprise supply chain management in the green financial system. Design/methodology/approach: With the continuous development of China's economy and the continuous deepening of the concept of sustainable development, how to further upgrade the enterprise supply chain management is an urgent need to solve. How to maximize the utilization of resources in the supply chain needs to be realized from the whole process of raw material purchase, transportation and processing. Findings: It was proved that digital twin technology had a partial intermediary role in the role of supply chain big data analysis capability on corporate finance, market, operation and other performance. Originality/value: This paper focused on describing how digital twin technology could be applied to big data analysis of enterprise supply chain under the green financial system and proved its usability through experiments. The experimental results showed that the indirect effect of the path big data analysis capability digital twin technology enterprise financial performance was 0.378. The indirect effect of the path big data analysis capability digital twin technology enterprise market performance was 0.341. The indirect effect of the path big data analysis capability digital twin technology enterprise operational performance was 0.374. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The demand for the cold chain logistics of agricultural products was investigated through demand forecasting; targeted suggestions and countermeasures are provided. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned statement. Design/methodology/approach: A Markov-optimised mean GM (1, 1) model is proposed to forecast the demand for the cold chain logistics of agricultural products. The mean GM (1, 1) model was used to forecast the demand trend, and the Markov chain model was used for optimisation. Considering Guangxi province as an example, the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method were verified, and relevant suggestions are made. Findings: Compared with other models, the Markov-optimised mean GM (1, 1) model can more effectively forecast the demand for the cold chain logistics of agricultural products, is closer to the actual value and has better accuracy and minor error. It shows that the demand forecast can provide specific suggestions and theoretical support for the development of cold chain logistics. Originality/value: This study evaluated the development trend of the cold chain logistics of agricultural products based on the research horizon of demand forecasting for cold chain logistics. A Markov-optimised mean GM (1, 1) model is proposed to overcome the problem of poor prediction for series with considerable fluctuation in the modelling process, and improve the prediction accuracy. It finds a breakthrough to promote the development of cold chain logistics through empirical analysis, and give relevant suggestions based on the obtained results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The stock indexes are an important issue for investors, and in this paper good trading strategies will be aimed to be adopted according to the accurate prediction of the stock indexes to chase high returns. Design/methodology/approach: To avoid the problem of insufficient financial data for daily stock indexes prediction during modeling, a data augmentation method based on time scale transformation (DATT) was introduced. After that, a new deep learning model which combined DATT and NGRU (DATT-nested gated recurrent units (NGRU)) was proposed for stock indexes prediction. The proposed models and their competitive models were used to test the stock indexes prediction and simulated trading in five stock markets of China and the United States. Findings: The experimental results demonstrated that both NGRU and DATT-NGRU outperformed the other recurrent neural network (RNN) models in the daily stock indexes prediction. Originality/value: A novel RNN with NGRU and data augmentation is proposed. It uses the nested structure to increase the depth of the deep learning model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of the financial system (financial development and financial structure) on firms' innovation efficiency in China. Design/methodology/approach: This study employs country level data of capital markets and financial institutions along with innovation data from 18 high-tech industries in China spanning the 2009–2016 period, and the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) is applied to explore how financial development and financial structure affect the innovation efficiency of these industries. Findings: Results show that financial development influences firms' innovation efficiency positively and the capital-market-based financial structure has a positive impact on innovation efficiency of high-tech industries. Furthermore, when the high-tech industries are grouped into five sub-industries, the results show that financial structure had different effects on the innovation efficiency in each sub-industry. Originality/value: This work contributes to the empirical research on considering the influential factors of innovation efficiency from the perspective of financial system. This paper also extends the existing literature by the different influences of financial system on innovation efficiency in each sub-industry of Chinese high-tech industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Safety efficiency is the key to balance safety and production in construction industry; but the existing safety efficiency evaluation methods have the limitations of overestimating efficiency and ignoring undesirable outputs; therefore, according to the characteristics of safety production in construction industry, this paper innovatively develops a new cross-efficiency data envelopment analysis method to analyze safety efficiency, which can solve the limitations of traditional methods; and then the safety efficiency and its influencing factors of China's construction industry are analyzed, and some useful conclusions are obtained to improve its safety efficiency. Design/methodology/approach: A new cross-efficiency data envelopment analysis method with undesirable outputs is proposed; and the two-stage efficiency analysis framework is designed. Findings: First, the construction industries in different areas have different reasons for affecting their safety efficiency; second, the evaluation results of global safety priority tend to be more acceptable; third, frequent safety accidents and low resource utilization lead to a slow downward trend of the safety efficiency of China's construction industry in the long run; fourth, construction engineering supervision, construction industrial scale, and construction industrial structure have the significant impact on safety efficiency. Originality/value: Theoretically, a new cross-efficiency data envelopment analysis method with undesirable outputs is proposed for evaluating safety efficiency; practically, the safety efficiency and its influencing factors of China's construction industry are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While reaffirming China's longstanding "peace and development" line and offering a more positive take on many developments in Asia, the 2019 Defense White Paper highlights many negative features of the global security environment. This suggests an unresolved internal contradiction in China's security views and policies. Such an apparent contradiction is perhaps resolved by the Defense White Paper's description of strategic competition as driven largely by the U.S., not by China, and out of step with deeper global trends. Indeed, the PLA under Xi Jinping is depicted as working with other countries to realize Xi's "shared community for mankind" as it strengthens its deterrence capabilities. Yet this propaganda-laden take reinforces the suspicions of many regarding China's "real" goals. Beijing must inject a much more pragmatic, hard-power perspective into its public security stance and engage Washington on that basis in order to realize a meaningful level of stability based on mutual accommodation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper cutting is an ancient art in China largely performed by women in the countryside. Using red paper, they cut festive and auspicious images which are hung on doorways, windows, and elsewhere. For centuries the images and techniques survived in rural China. Recently such papercuts have become the focus of collectors, national programs, and professors who are dedicated to preserving the native art. Modern artists have taken this ancient art and transformed it into a new and exciting form of contemporary expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Devonian Xitun Vertebrate Fauna, represented by early members of crown sarcopterygians, such as Youngolepis, Diabolepis, Psarolepis, Achoania and Styloichthys, is mainly hosted in the Xitun Formation in the Qujing area, East Yunnan of China. Despite numerous research articles describing taxa from this famous Lochkovian fauna and its sedimentary and tectonic environments, there is no objective and coherent interpretation of the palaeoenvironment in which these early vertebrates lived. Based on detailed field geological investigation in recent years in the surrounding areas of Qujing City and measurements from the Xitun Formation section, this paper focuses on the analysis of some geochemistry indices of major, trace and rare earth elements to accurately elucidate the sedimentary environment of the Xitun Formation and deepen our understanding of the relationship between Early Devonian fishes and the environment. The analyses of the sensitive geochemistry indices of depositional and tectonic settings, sedimentary provenance, weathering, palaeoclimate, palaeosalinity and palaeoredox conditions indicate that the Lower Devonian Xitun Formation in East Yunnan was mainly deposited in a shallow marine setting with three phases of seawater–freshwater influx under a warm and humid climate, and a stable, oxygen-rich condition, which promoted the flourishing of Early Devonian marine fishes. Supplementary material: Data on the major (Table A), trace (Table B) and rare earth (Table C) elements are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7020642 Thematic collection: This article is part of the Chemical Evolution of the Mid-Paleozoic Earth System and Biotic Response collection available at: https://www.lyellcollection.org/topic/collections/chemical-evolution-of-the-mid-paleozoic-earth-system [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the decline in the number of international students studying in China, particularly from developed countries. The author highlights proposals made by Professor Jia Qingguo of Peking University to address this issue. Possible reasons for the decline include perception issues, limited employment opportunities, and concerns about academic research. Jia suggests measures such as clarifying the application of relevant laws and improving communication about China's policy intentions. The article concludes by questioning whether these proposals will effectively attract students from developed countries and how the relevant departments will respond to the issues raised. [Extracted from the article]