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This paper provides a preliminary examination of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs)—limited to mobile phone and internet use—in contemporary China. Based on fieldwork undertaken since 2003 in Guangzhou and Beijing, the paper focuses on the relationship between society and technology in the Chinese cultural context. An analysis of the data on ICT use in China shows how Chinese cultural traits and the speed of the ICT evolution in China have combined to bring about a unique cyber experience. This analysis may be helpful to other scholars who wish to compare the impact of ICTs in various cultures or who are interested in discovering how Mainland China went ‘cyber’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In recent years, green building has become a social hotspot and raised much concern of academic. However, traditional researches of green building mostly focused on technology, while research on social and humanity demand on green residential districts is still scarce. To complement the gap of research and reality, this paper is intended to establish a quantitative evaluation method for social humanity needs of green residential districts based on social life cycle assessment (SLCA).Methods: Based on the SLCA method, an evaluation indicator system for social and humanity demand of green residential districts was proposed, considering different stakeholders (real estate developers, construction enterprises, community residents, and decision makers). Additionally, the adopted evaluation indicator system was applied to a practical community in China as a case study by questionnaire surveys and the method of analytic hierarchy process.Results and discussion: Case study results show that the residents prefer to pay more for a better living environment, and the real estate developers are willing to increase the investment moderately on the projects. Meanwhile, the local government likes to support the development of green residential districts, as well.Conclusions: Analysis results are in line with the social demand for high-quality living environment of Chinese residents and the public concern about buildings’ comprehensive benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subsequently, with the recent wave of industrialization, China has become the “factory” of the globalized world. The modernization of this country, however, is not confined to the provision of production at a low added value: It also entails technological appropriation and innovation. In particular, China represents the biggest world market for mobile phones and will soon dominate the Internet market. In this country, the total number of mobile and fixed-line subscribers exceeds 750 million, and the total number of Internet users is more than 162 million. The present study focuses on how, after a decade of mobile phone use, the inhabitants of Beijing evaluate the changes in the social and communicative sphere as a result of the introduction of the mobile phone. In this paper, we present some results of a quantitative research, specifically focused on mobile communication. Based on face-to-face questionnaires administered to a convenient sample of 487 respondents, this study addresses the following research questions: After a decade of mobile phone use, how do Chinese people perceive the importance of this device? To what extent do the adoption and use of mobile phones increase or decrease social connectivity in contemporary China? To what extent does the use of mobile phones in everyday life enhance or reduce the communications – do they make you feel closer to or more distant from other people? What are the variables that predict users’ attitudes toward mobile phones in China? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Changchun-Jilin-Tumen economic area is the center of the Old Northeastern Industrial Base with substantial mineral resource in Northeast China. Historical mining exploitation has caused extensive impact on environment. The objective of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the impact induced by mining activities in 106 mining sites and then find out the most significant factors contributing to the environmental damage. The affected environment components were divided into fifteen impacting factors, and environmental assessment was performed by using developed Folchi methods which was combined with adaptive Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy neural network (TSFNN). Correspondence analysis was adopted to explore the effects of the impacting factor on mining environment. Through the comparison with Improved Analytic Hierarchy Process, 96.23 % of evaluation results are the same. Our results showed that TSFNN model can effectively assess impacts of mining exploitation in three categories: slight, moderate, and heavy. The assessment result shows that 64.15 % mining sites are moderately damaged, while 7.5 % are heavily damaged. For all factors studied, environmental geological problem is the dominant factor in Environmental Impact Assessment, accounting for 56.67 % of the weight-wise including geological disasters, environmental pollution, and resources destruction. The anthropic factor exerts a more considerable influence on environment than natural factor. With mining exploitation, geological disaster is the main threat to the mountains in southeast, but environmental pollution and resources destruction are the main threats to the central plains. The assessment and analysis results can provide useful insights in the decision-making process for national authorities in the prioritization of environmental remediation and protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao instituted a “Harmonious Society” policy marking a new China’s approach toward development. This generated intense excitement among observers of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) who perceive an overlap in objectives between CSR and Harmonious Society and believe that Harmonious Society will lead to increased CSR engagement in China. However, there is little exploration of how Harmonious Society will contribute to increasing CSR engagement. This article seeks to explore whether Harmonious Society will meet this promise. It does so by drawing up a list of actions that if taken by the government would increase the level of CSR in China and make Harmonious Society a relevant factor in the development of Chinese CSR. To do so, my article studies comparative literature on CSR development to develop a framework that divides causes of CSR in a country into environmental constraints and discretionary responses. Understanding what drives the development of CSR allows us to understand what measures the Chinese government can take to influence the level of CSR. Using this framework, my article suggests that Harmonious Society is unlikely to promote CSR in China’s growing private sector because policy measures that affect the “constraints” driving CSR are bounded by other political considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]