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Based on the evidence from listed company microdata and data from 285 cities in China, this paper studies the coordinated development of two-way FDI (CDFDI) in improving green energy efficiency (GEE). In particular, this paper examines the spatial heterogeneity effects of CDFDI on GEE. The results showed that CDFDI had a positive impact on the GEE of local and surrounding cities. Mechanistic examinations show that the effects of CDFDI on GEE are mediated by technological diffusion, nationalization, and environmental regulation. After dividing different city types, the impact of CDFDI is also different. By constructing a spatial decay weight matrix, this paper also finds that the positive spatial spillover effect of CDFDI is limited to 1050 KM. Finally, different investment motive portfolios also has a heterogeneous impact on the local and surrounding cities' GEE. After dividing the time nodes, the effect of this heterogeneity is more prominent. • We use multiple undesired output indicators covering eight pollutants to measure green energy efficiency (GEE). • CDFDI has a significant boost to GEE in local and surrounding cities. • The impact of CDFDI on GEE is moderated by technological diffusion, nationalization, and environmental regulation. • The spatial spillover effects of CDFDI are heterogeneous by city category and geographic distance. • CDFDI with different investment motives has heterogeneous effects on local and surrounding cities' GEE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the scale of China's outward foreign direct investment has been expanding, and the political risks are also intensifying. How does political risk affect the decision-making of outward foreign direct investment? This paper collected the relevant data of 134 countries from 2003 to 2016, using the regression method of System Generalised Method of Moments. It studies the political risk preference of outward foreign direct investment in the world and China. The study found that there is no political risk preference in the world as a whole. In contrast, China's outward foreign direct investment has obvious political risk preference. China does not have a political risk preference for developed countries. At the same time, China has shown strong default risk preference for emerging market countries and countries along the "the Belt and Road". This study adds default risk when measuring political risk, and further subdivides political risk into five categories, taking into account their internal interaction mechanism. In addition, this paper not only studies the similarities and differences of outward foreign direct investment 's political risk preferences between China and the world, but also introduces investment motivation to better explain the location choice of China's outward foreign direct investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), an exogenous innovative model of economic integration proposed by China, to examine the growth effects of economic integration on local economies. From 2013 to 2019, more than 120 countries successively participated in the B&R, which intensified the regional integration and interdependence of B&R countries. Employing a difference-in-differences estimation methodology that exploits the cross-country, cross-time variation in the timing of participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, the author finds that the Belt and Road Initiative materially improved the economic performance of local economies, with particularly strong effects for lower-income countries. This paper also provides suggestive evidence that the growth effects can be interpreted in terms of foreign trade and foreign direct investment inwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship among trade liberalization, the degree of trade openness (DTO) and regional foreign direct investment (FDI) using Chinese data for 2001–2018 by hand collection. We apply the fixed effect model and find that both trade liberalization and regional DTO have a significantly positive relationship with regional FDI. Furthermore, a variable coefficient model is used to prove that the effects of trade liberalization on regional FDI are heterogeneous across regions. Finally, we use the threshold model to prove the significant threshold effects of DTO on the relationship of trade liberalization and FDI. This paper provides theoretical and policy support for countries with obvious regional differences to attract FDI. • First, we argue that the relationship of trade liberalization and FDI is affected by DTO. • Second, we study the threshold value of DTO between trade liberalization and regional FDI. • Finally, we study the relationship between trade liberalization and FDI across regions in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By purchasing emission reduction equipment or reducing production scale, it is possible to effectively decrease CO 2. Therefore, understanding the marginal abatement cost (MAC) associated with these methods is crucial for making decisions. However, previous studies using the directional distance function (DDF) approach often mis-specified production functions and neglected data noise. They also assumed decision-making units (DMUs) to be on the production frontier and used proportional changes in inputs and outputs as abatement paths. This paper addresses these limitations by developing the convex quantile non-radial directional distance function (CQR-NDDF) method, which estimates the MAC of CO 2 and determines optimal abatement paths for DMUs without assuming a specific production function, employing linear programming techniques. Applying this method to 30 provinces in mainland China from 2011 to 2019, the study finds that China's CO 2 MAC increased from 182 to 247 yuan/ton. The lowest-cost abatement path varies by province and time. The club convergence and ordered probit model are employed to conclude that the second industry and urbanization increase the MAC of CO 2 , while factors such as foreign direct investment, openness level, and human capital decrease the MAC. Moreover, the CQR-NDDF method yields significantly lower MAC estimates than the NDDF method. In conclusion, this paper provides new insights into China's CO 2 MAC, emphasizing the importance of considering inefficiency and data noise in MAC estimation. We anticipate that utilizing CO 2 MAC as a benchmark for carbon trading market prices could lead to an increase in prices within China's carbon trading market. • A novel method for estimating CO 2 MAC has been developed. • Ignoring inefficiency will result in an overestimation of CO 2 MAC. • Three different emission reduction pathways are considered in the estimation. • The heterogeneity of the lowest cost abatement pathways has been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 2013 launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has long been recognized as one of the most complex international cooperation activities, a large proportion of the 90 billion in Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the regions constituting the BRI, has flowed into the transport infrastructure sector. Chinese enterprises select transport infrastructure locations as an effective way to mitigate the uncertainties associated with institutional voids in host countries that undermine the functioning of market institutions and expose investors to additional risks. Theoretically, drawing on institutional theory, we propose that bilateral diplomatic activities between host countries and China can serve as an effective risk-reduction mechanism, while institutional distance and common land borders have significant moderating effects on this process. Empirically, based on a unique set of data manually collected from the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, our Poisson count regression and negative binomial regression analysis results generally confirm our hypotheses. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed at the end of the paper. • This paper empirically tests bilateral diplomatic activities' impact on transport infrastructure investment. • Institutional distance and land common border play significant moderate effects. • Manually collected qualitative data from Chinese government official website is used in empirical analysis. • Regression models for count data are applied to prove our hypothesis and the results are positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of corporate governance in China's outward foreign direct investment (ODI) using a sample of Chinese public firms over the period 2009–2015. Different from previous studies, which mainly use country-level aggregate data to examine China's ODI behavior, this study utilizes firm-level data to explore the impact of corporate governance on firms' ODI decision making. Building on the integration of agency theory and foreign direct investment theories, the study finds that ownership concentration, share ownership, and executive compensation significantly influence China's ODI flows in both full-sample and sub-sample estimations. The corporate governance has an essential effect on firms' ODI flows in that the firms with better corporate governance are more interested in undertaking ODI projects. The results are robust across different sample periods and in both state-owned and non-state-owned firm sub-groups. The government may design some policies such as friendly tax regulations to stimulate private firms to invest overseas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturing is both an essential pillar of China's economy and a significant source of environmental pollution, and there is an urgent need for the manufacturing industry to use green innovation to accelerate its goal of sustainable development. From the intellectual property protection (IPP) perspective, this paper uses Chinese manufacturing and its 26 sub-sectors as a sample from 2003 to 2018, examining the impact of two-way foreign direct investment (FDI) coordinated development in manufacturing green innovation capability. The empirical results suggest that two-way FDI coordinated development enhances manufacturing green innovation, and this finding still holds after endogeneity and robustness tests. Under the influence of IPP, the relationship between two-way FDI coordinated development and manufacturing green innovation capability is nonlinear. Under the influence of macroscopic, mesoscopic, and microscopic dimensions IPP, the effect of two-way FDI coordinated development on manufacturing green innovation capability is U, Steps, and N shaped respectively. This paper's findings can provide empirical evidence for the government to formulate industrial development strategies and for manufacturing enterprises to improve their green innovation capabilities to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Chinese government has committed additional resources in promoting research and development (R&D). At the same time, China has started implementing a more targeted foreign direct investment (FDI) policy. Using firm level panel data from China's iron ore mining industry, this paper aims to evaluate the performance differences between the firms that undertake R&D and those who do not. We also examine the role of FDI, which has not been the subject of an in-depth investigation. In addition, we use a relatively recently developed coarsened exact matching technique. We find that domestic firms in China's iron ore mining industry that conduct R&D are on average 0.3937% more productive and their sales are 0.0253% higher. While this industry attracts less than 1% of the total FDI in China, FDI has a positive and sizable impact on both productivity and profitability of domestic firms in China's iron ore mining industry. The results presented in this paper suggest that investment in China's iron ore mining industry offers attractive returns to foreign investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down international investment and trade, and partially disrupted the global supply chain. This paper provides an overview of the findings in 80 scholarly articles from recent years, comprehensively summarises and analyzes the research on international capital flows and global value chain（GVC）reconstruction, and deeply reveals the impact of COVID-19 on OFDI, the change of OFDI performance before and after the pandemic and factors that may accelerate GVC reconstruction in the future. We identify research gaps in a combination of OFDI and GVC reconstruction at both the macro and micro level and suggest several future research topics such as political risk and bilateral relations factors, the role of China in OFDI and GVC dynamics, network and OFDI performance, network characteristics of GVC reconstruction, OFDI and GVC reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The rise of emerging economies challenges the conventional understanding of ILTT. • Actors in emerging economies have become more assertive. • Political-economic and multi-level governance processes are important. • These processes shape partnership building and technology adaptation of ILTT. The rapid rise of emerging economies challenges the conventional understanding of international low-carbon technology transfer (ILTT) from a North-South perspective. Rather than acting like passive recipients of foreign investment and technology, actors in emerging economies have become more assertive, seeking control over the processes of ILTT. To understand this emerging trend, this paper conceptualizes ILTT as political-economic and multi-level governance processes involving two key elements—partnership building and technology adaptation. The empirical findings, drawing from a case study on the transfer of the passive house concept from Germany to China, show that the priorities of domestic rather than foreign actors have defined the scope for collaboration and the purpose of the technology, resulting in the adoption of a version of the technology that best serves domestic political-economic interests. These findings suggest that ILTT is becoming increasingly complex geographically, which opens new perspectives into the spatial dimension of socio-technical transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most swiftly industrializing countries in the world, China is struggling with significant challenges facing its environment, in particular in its marine ecosystems. Hence, economic activities increasingly are influencing these ecosystems, requiring their study crucial for sustainable development. Therefore, it is paramount perceiving the potential implications of economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) for marine health. The study aims to explore the impact of economic growth and FDI on China's marine ecosystem during 1980–2019, examining the probable intersections of economic advancement, FDI, and marine sustainability, the study used a novel nonlinear Fourier Autoregressive Distributed Lags (FARDL) approach. Notably, the paper confirms the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Curve (FGLCC) hypothesis, demonstrating a nonlinear affiliation among income levels and maritime conditions. Moreover, the results point out that FDI initially worsens marine conditions until a certain threshold is reached, marking a pivotal change in the influence of FDI from environmental degradation to improvement. In addition, the study underscores the critical need for policies that balance economic development with Chines' marine environmental sustainability, emphasizing the importance of intended regulatory and strategic interventions. These insights are vital for enhancing marine requirements and ensuring well-being and health of future generations, providing significant implications maritime policymakers in addressing marine environmental challenges amid economic development. [Display omitted] • Analyzes China's marine sustainability from 1980 to 2019 using the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Factor. • Proposes and tests the Fishing Grounds Load Capacity Curve hypothesis. • Evaluates marine Pollution Haven and marine Pollution Halo hypotheses. • Provides evidence for FGLCC and marine Pollution Haven based on Fourier ARDL modelling. • Offers insights into balancing economic growth and marine ecosystem preservation in China through key policy levers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China Railway Express (CRE) has changed the cargo transportation between China and Europe, as well as the environmental efficiency of relevant cities. This paper uses panel data for China's 256 cities from 2005 to 2018 and multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) method to study the impact and influence mechanism of CRE on environmental efficiency. The results found that the implementation of CRE has significantly improved environmental efficiency. The opening of CRE has improved environmental performance by promoting technological innovation and reducing the introduction of polluting foreign investment. The paper further examines and verifies that there are effects on resource crowding out and knowledge spillover between cities. The opening of CRE has a much greater impact on knowledge spillover. This study provides useful policy insights for improving environmental efficiency. • Cargo transportation and environmental efficiency have been changed. • China Railway Express has significantly improved China's environmental efficiency. • Technological innovation and Foreign investment are two influence channels. • There are both pollution transfer and knowledge spillover effects between cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• China's green investment efficiency (GIE) in the "Belt and Road" (B&R) countries is estimated. • The influence of the domestic investment environment of B&R countries on GIE is investigated. • A minimum distance to a strong efficient frontier approach (Min-DS) and spatial lag model (SLM) are employed. • The overall level of China's GIE in B&R countries has been at a relatively low level. • The domestic investment environment of B&R countries has a negative effect on China's GIE. GI (Green Investment) plays an important role in China's building of the Green B&R (Belt and Road). Studying China's GIE (Green Investment Efficiency) not only investigates the effectiveness and progress of the construction of "B&Rs" but also establishes a foundation for China's reasonable investment decisions. In this paper, we first employed Min-DS-U-M (a minimum distance to a strong efficient frontier with an undesirable output model) to evaluate China's GIE in 51 B&R countries from 2009 to 2018 and subsequently analyzed the influence of the domestic investment environment of B&R countries on GIE with SLM (Spatial Lag Model). The study results showed that (1) China's GIE in B&R countries is low, and there is still great potential for investment and cooperation. (2) In 51 B&R countries, there are nine countries whose GISE (Green Investment Scale Efficiency) is invalid and ten countries whose GIPTE (Green Investment Pure Technical Efficiency) is invalid. Moreover, both GISE and GIPTE of 24 countries are invalid. (3) The B&R countries have formed a solid spatial cluster, and the spatial advantage cluster shows a gradual expansionary trend, which indicates that China's GI has improved the spatial agglomeration of B&R countries. (4) On the whole, the domestic investment environment of B&R countries has a negative influence. The restraining effect of industrialization on GIE is far greater than the total facilitation of service industrialization, technological investment and dependence on foreign trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The huge energy intensity gaps among Chinese prefectures make the overall reduction of energy intensity extremely difficult. Energy intensity convergence (EIC), i.e., catching-up of the high energy intensity prefectures with the low ones, is imperative for narrowing these gaps. As one of the most important channels for international technology diffusion, foreign direct investment (FDI) has great impact on energy intensity and may be beneficial for the convergence. Based on pollution haven Hypothesis, however, FDI may result in energy intensity divergence. To provide an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of FDI-induced convergence/divergence, this paper employs Markov Chain approach to examine the impact of FDI on EIC for 256 Chinese prefectures in the period from 2005 to 2014. Moreover, we particularly emphasis on the influences of local specific characteristics, such as human capital, resource endowment, and environmental regulation, on FDI-induced convergence/divergence. Our study on 256 Chinese prefectures finds that FDI helps prefectures with higher energy intensity to catch up with lower ones, which strengthens EIC. The impact of FDI on EIC varies depending on different local characteristics. Among all characteristics mentioned above, human capital and environmental regulation benefit the convergence-driving effect of FDI, while this effect is hindered by resource endowment. More comprehensive and detailed policies are recommended to address energy intensity gaps in China. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • The impact of FDI on energy intensity convergence is investigated. • The Markov chain approach is employed in this paper. • The results suggest FDI strengthens energy intensity convergence in China. • Human capital and environmental regulation promote FDI-induced convergence. • FDI-induced convergence is hindered by resource endowment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International technology spillovers have important impacts on innovation quality. In this paper, we integrate three main sources of international technology spillovers – imports, inward foreign direct investment (FDI), and outward FDI – into the framework of China's innovation quality. Accordingly, we empirically investigate the characteristics and channels of international technology spillovers that affect innovation quality. We find that, first, overall, the main sources of international technology spillovers that can significantly affect China's innovation quality focus on imports and outward FDI, especially imports, which plays a more dominant role; second, the characteristics of technology spillovers vary across different regions, that is, imports promote innovation quality more significantly in eastern and western China than in the central region, where only outward FDI affects innovation quality significantly; third, the channels of these three kinds of international technology spillovers that affect innovation quality cannot be separated from R&D capital investment and R&D personnel input. Our study not only enriches the extant literature about international technology spillovers affecting innovation quality but also sheds light on how to achieve high-quality economic development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Constructs an evaluation index system of high-quality development of logistics industry. • Improved entropy weight method is used to assess the level of high-quality development. • There are differences in the high-quality development of logistics industry between regions. • GTWR is used to examine the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of influencing factors. Promoting high-quality development of logistics industry (LHQD) becomes imperative to decrease logistics costs in real economy and intensify endogenous power of economic development. In this paper, we construct an evaluation system consisting of 21 indicators in four dimensions: output scale, operation quality, social contribution and green development. Thereafter, we apply improved entropy weight method, kernel density estimation and Dagum Gini coefficient to carve out spatial and temporal distribution, dynamic evolution and regional differences of LHQD. Finally, we adopt geographical and temporal weighted regression (GTWR) model to reveal heterogeneous effect of each selected factor on LHQD. Outcome indicates: (1) The level of LHQD rose at average annual growth rate of 2.776% between 2004 and 2018, however with significant regional and inter-provincial differences. (2) The LHQD in the whole nation and the three major regions were bipolar or multipolar, with distinctive gradient characteristics. (3) The overall difference of LHQD primarily came from deviation in growth among three major regions, and this difference kept expanding. (4) The impact of various factors on LHQD was characterized by spatial and temporal heterogeneity. Specifically, the positive impact of innovation capacity, digitalization level, foreign direct investment, transportation infrastructure and environmental regulation on development of logistics industry gradually increased with time. It was stronger for eastern region than western region. In contrast, industrial agglomeration's stimulus to LHQD had diminished, and the high-value region of its positive impact had shifted from east to center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The study used the NDDF model to measure the efficiency of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance. • We identified the spatial aggregation patterns of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance efficiency. • We compared the magnitude of the drivers of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance efficiency. • There is an east-high and west-low development pattern of carbon mitigation. • The findings suggest enhancement of the capability of urban coordinated governance in carbon mitigation. This paper is based on the construction of the evaluation system of urban pollution reduction and carbon reduction synergistic governance efficiency indicators. Firstly, we used the NDDF model to measure the efficiency of urban pollution reduction and carbon reduction synergistic governance. We then used the ArcGIS technology and spatial autocorrelation method to explore its spatial distribution pattern, and the spatial econometric model is used to explore its driving factors. The results show that from 2006 to 2020, the synergistic governance efficiency of Chinese cities in terms of pollution reduction and carbon reduction is in a state of continuous improvement, with an increase of 38.07 per cent in 2020 compared with 2006, and overall the synergistic governance efficiency of cities in terms of pollution reduction and carbon reduction shows a pattern of development in which the east is high and the west is low, but there is a tendency for the gap to narrow from one year to the next. There is a positive spatial aggregation of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance efficiency, which is further shown by the Lisa aggregation diagram that the spatial aggregation of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance efficiency in China is characterized by urban agglomerations, with the high and high aggregation zones being concentrated in the central and eastern urban agglomerations, such as the urban agglomerations of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and Guangdong-Fujian-Zhejiang, and the low and low aggregation zones being concentrated in the western urban agglomerations, such as the Lanzhou-Western urban agglomerations and the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomerations. The results of the SDM model indicate that the efficiency of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance can significantly promote the process of pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance in neighboring areas. The six drivers, namely, industrial structure, economic development level, innovation level, urbanization rate, population size and foreign direct investment, all have a significant impact on the efficiency of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance in a local area. The spatial spillover effects of the remaining variables, except for urbanization rate, on the efficiency of urban pollution reduction and carbon synergistic governance are significantly negative. Based on this, corresponding countermeasures are proposed to improve the synergistic governance of urban pollution reduction and carbon reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution has aroused extensive concern worldwide. Existing literature on the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and environmental pollution has, however, seldom taken into account spatial effects. Addressing this gap, this paper investigated the spatial agglomeration effects and dynamics at work in FDI and environmental pollution (namely, in waste soot and dust, sulfur dioxide, and wastewater) in 285 Chinese cities during the period 2003–2014, using global and local measures of spatial autocorrelation. Our results showed significant spatial autocorrelation in FDI and environmental pollution levels, both of which demonstrated obvious path dependence characteristics in their geographical distribution. A range of agglomeration regions were observed. The high-value and low-value agglomeration areas of FDI were not fully consistent with those of environmental pollution. This result indicates that higher inflows of FDI did not necessarily lead to greater environmental pollution from a geographic perspective, and vice versa. Spatial panel data models were further adopted to explore the impact of FDI on environmental pollution. The results of a spatial lag model (SLM) and a spatial error model (SEM) revealed that the inflow of FDI had distinct effects on different environmental pollutants, thereby confirming the Pollution Heaven Hypothesis and Pollution Halo Hypothesis. The inflow of FDI was found to have reduced waste soot and dust pollution to a certain extent, while it increased the degree of wastewater and sulfur dioxide pollution. The findings set out in this paper hold significant implications for Chinese environmental pollution protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper illustrates several factors that make corporate public diplomacy a fundamentally different approach to activities that aim at legitimacy alone. A case study of a suspended Chinese hydropower project (i.e., the Myitsone Dam) in northern Myanmar is presented to address the functional differences and their implications for corporate practice. In particular, it illustrates how public resistance can prevent the success of direct foreign investments despite favorable agreements with host governments; also, it shows that corporate public diplomacy can be used to develop sustainable win–win solutions supported by the general public. While existing research suggests that an important function of public relations is to create a perception of legitimacy and that the hope of economic and commercial public diplomacy is to create a perception of attractiveness among the public in foreign countries, this paper suggests that the concept of corporate public diplomacy – that is, collaboration with the general public in a host country through negotiations directly with civic society – should be considered a supplement to other forms of corporate diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of globalization, China has been widely regarded as the most successful country in the world in utilizing inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for economic development. The mainstream of the literature has produced a wide range of studies that are largely within the theoretical framework of neoclassical economics, and they tend to conclude that FDI has contributed significantly to Chinese economic development—through capital formation, export expansion, technology transfer, and the transformation of the economic structures and institutions. The objective of this paper is to assess the role of FDI in Chinese economic development with reference to the broader theoretical literature on FDI and late development, which encompasses structuralism and radical political economy along with neoclassical economics. From the perspectives of the broader literature, the analyses of the paper find that FDI in China has indeed promoted economic development in one respect (improving allocative efficiency), but has also had unfavourable effect in another respect (worsening productive efficiency), resulting in an overall impact that tends to be on the negative side. The mainstream story of China is thus judged to be partial, and the lessons to be drawn from the experience are arguably far more complex than have been hitherto perceived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is experiencing a tough transformation from rapid growth to quality development, with extensive implementation of land redevelopment. Previous studies have analyzed the mechanisms of land redevelopment at the urban and neighborhood scales, but little attention has been paid to its spatial heterogeneity at national scales, making it impossible to measure the role of macro factors and the central government, and the differences in the driving factors across cities. Using a city-level database of 287 Chinese cities from 2012 to 2018, this paper quantitatively reveals the spatial heterogeneity of land redevelopment among different regions, administrative levels, and city sizes, and analyzes how government and market forces generate such geographic characteristics. The findings reveal that: 1) The national land redevelopment ratio increased from 26.44% in 2012 to 31.95% in 2018, with an average yearly rise of 1%. 2) Eastern cities have the largest land redevelopment scale, while Northeastern cities have the highest proportion of land redevelopment, accounting for about 40%. Despite having the highest amount of land redevelopment, high-level administrative cities and large cities do not have a higher proportion of land redevelopment than other cities. 3) Market mechanism is imperfect and unbalanced. Foreign direct investment affects land redevelopment in eastern cities with a coefficient of 0.19, while real estate development affects the western cities and small cities, with coefficients of 1.72 and 1.11, respectively. Although the government plays a crucial role in propelling land redevelopment in China, the involvement of administrative power in expanding new construction land and non-market transactions has hindered the transition to the redevelopment of existing land. • Spatial heterogeneity of land redevelopment among cities of different regions, administrative levels and sizes. • The proportion of land redevelopment increased from 26.44% in 2012 to 31.95% in 2018. • High-level administrative and large cities do not have a higher proportion of land redevelopment than other cities. • The state, local governments, market forces and regional context jointly affect land redevelopment. • Market mechanisms are imperfect and unbalanced, with western cities driven by real estate, eastern cities driven by FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese state-owned enterprises are playing an expanded role in international port development, utilising their privileged access to state capital to finance, build, and operate hundreds of ports globally. This paper argues that the political nature of these investments vis-à-vis state ownership of the investing firms has introduced an array of unique economic, strategic, and political risks for recipient port states. We identify four such risks—port overcapacity, military entrapment, commercial and military espionage, and economic coercion—we argue that these risks flow specifically from state ownership of the port investor, and we demonstrate that these risks manifest in China's state-led foreign port investments. On this basis, we argue for FDI screening at the national level to manage the risks associated with foreign investments in critical infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international investment literature consistently indicates that enterprises, functioning as pivotal components of the economic system, engage in diversified outward foreign investment activities, thereby catalyzing the transition towards a greener and more sustainable economy and society. Based on the overseas investment data of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2019, this paper adopts a comprehensive approach comprising the two-way fixed effects model, propensity score matching technique, and difference-in-differences set up to evaluate the impact of the enterprise's overseas investment quantity and decision-making of host countries on green development. The findings explore that an increase in outward investment quantity facilitates the enterprise's green transition, which withstands robustness testing, including the decomposition of the green transition index, adjustments to the sample timeframe, and exclusion of corporate samples from top-tier cities. Such promoting effects are more pronounced among listed companies investing in low- and middle-income countries, as well as those located in provinces aligned with the Belt and Road Initiative in China. Further, an enterprise's overseas investment decision-making by the proposal of the BRI has exhibited a substantial and enduring enhancement of green development. This discovery underscores a pragmatic trajectory for the enterprise's green transformation, driven by proactive engagement in high-level openness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality economic development focuses on achieving effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth in the economy, which is the essential way for China to achieve sustainable development. This paper aims to investigate the role of financial development in the impact of foreign direct investment on high-quality economic development. GDP and green total factor productivity are used to measure the quantity and quality of economic development, respectively. We construct benchmark panel regression models, nonlinear interaction term models, and panel threshold models to examine the threshold effect of FDI on high-quality economic development based on the scale, structure, and efficiency of financial development. A series of tests are conducted to check the robustness of the estimates. Our results show that green total factor productivity in China is primarily driven by green technology progress. Additionally, foreign direct investment has a positive impact on China's high-quality economic development, with a threshold effect and nonlinear characteristics. Specifically, the scale of financial development affects the influence of foreign direct investment on the quantity of economic development, while the efficiency of financial development affects its influence on the quality of economic development. Furthermore, the structure of financial development affects both the quantity and quality of economic development. This study presents novel findings that contribute to understanding the role of financial development in the impact of foreign direct investment on high-quality economic development. Likewise, our research has implications for achieving high-quality development. The introduction of foreign direct investment under the high-quality development of the economy should comprehensively consider financial development. • The impacts on high-quality economic development of financial development and FDI were discussed. • The scale, structure and efficiency of financial development were considered. • Both quantity and quality of economic development were focus on. • The green total factor productivity in China was measured. • Policy implications of introducing FDI in China were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a hotspot of foreign direct investment (FDI), China's coastal areas have seen rapid development in its marine economy. However, the frequent occurrence of pollution incidents in multinational companies, along with the continuous deterioration of the marine eco-environment has motivated the government to enact numerous environmental policies to avoid the potential adverse effects of FDI on marine sustainable development. To clarify the effects of these policies, this paper investigates environmental regulations' moderating effects on the relationship between the FDI and marine green economy efficiency, and the spatial performances of these moderating effects by the spatial Dubin model (SDM), using data from 11 provinces and cities in China's coastal areas. The results show that environmental regulation overall has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the FDI and marine green economy efficiency, i.e., it enhances FDI's contribution to marine green economy efficiency. Specifically, different-type environmental regulations' moderating effects are heterogeneous, where command-and-control and public-participation environmental regulations have positive moderating effects, while economic-incentive environmental regulation has a negative moderating effect. From the further spatial performances, these environmental regulations' moderating roles, excluding the economic-incentive environmental regulation, have significant positive spatial spillover effects on the marine green economy efficiency, promoting the marine green economy efficiency in the surrounding areas. Based on the above findings, this paper proposes some recommendations to policymakers. • Environmental regulation as a moderator of FDI and marine green economy efficiency. • Environmental regulation enhances FDI's boost to marine green economy efficiency. • Different-type environmental regulations' moderating effects are heterogeneous. • These moderating roles have positive spatial spillover effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to provide a more systematic view of the relationship between environmental information disclosure (EID) and environmental public goods (EPG) to reconcile the existing conceptual controversy and empirical inconclusiveness. Based on the data on 202 cities and listed companies in China from 2008 to 2018, this paper constructs a dynamic spatial panel Durbin model to systematically investigate the impact mechanism of the impact of EID on the supply of EPG by local governments. The results show that there is a certain path dependence in the supply of EPG, and that there is a race to the bottom exists among local governments. EID helps promote the supply of EPG in local and surrounding cities. EID has a crowding-out effect on foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, which subsequently improves the supply level of EPG. In areas with a high degree of corruption, the authenticity of EID is questioned; thus, so the incentive effect on EPG is reduced. These findings can serve as an important reference provide important references for developing economies to improve their environmental management systems and achieve green transformation. • The impact of EID on EPG is examined with macro and micro data • Spatial spillover effects are considered • FDI is an important mediating variable • Objective media attention is used as an instrumental variable • Corruption has a moderating effect [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial green competitiveness has gradually become a core competitiveness for industrial development of a country in the world. Meanwhile, whether foreign direct investment (FDI) has pollution halo effect or pollution haven effect has always been the focus of academic debate. However, the impact assessment of FDI on the industrial green competitiveness in a large developing country, such as China, has received little attention. This paper first develops an evaluation system of China's industrial green competitiveness based on a panel dataset covering 30 provinces from 2001 to 2017 and adopts the meta-frontier, undesirable outputs and super slacks-based measure model to evaluate it. Then, this paper employs the dynamic spatial Durbin model (DSDM) to investigate the impact of FDI on China's industrial green competitiveness from the perspective of FDI quality, FDI quantity, and spatial spillover effects. The result indicates that the impact of FDI quality on industrial green competitiveness of a province and its neighbors is not significant. However, FDI quantity has a significantly negative effect on industrial green competitiveness of neighboring provinces, but an insignificant effect on that of the local province. Interestingly, the long term negative indirect effect of FDI quantity on industrial green competitiveness is not significant. Finally, FDI quality has a negative indirect effect on industrial green competitiveness in eastern and central China, while an insignificant effect in western China. A noteworthy phenomenon is that the long term negative indirect effect is greater than that of short term. Based on the above conclusions, specific recommendations for FDI to improve industrial green competitiveness are put forward for China and other developing countries. • This paper adopts the Meta-US-SBM model to evaluate China's industrial green competitiveness. • This paper employs the DSDM to investigate the impact of FDI on China's industrial green competitiveness. • The impact of FDI quality on industrial green competitiveness of a province and its neighbors is not significant. • The impact of FDI quantity on industrial green competitiveness of neighboring provinces is significantly negative. • The impact of FDI on China's industrial green competitiveness is with regional heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, countries around the world are increasingly emphasizing the green concept in their foreign investment cooperation. As an important means to guide the green development of China's economy, green credit policy may affect the overseas investment decisions of Chinese enterprises and ultimately affect the investment efficiency. Based on the overseas direct investment data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2019, this paper calculates the overseas investment efficiency at the enterprise level by expanded Richardson model, and further tests the influence of green credit policy on the overseas investment efficiency of Chinese enterprises. The results show that green credit policy can improve the efficiency of enterprises' overseas investment, especially for state-owned enterprises and enterprises in low environmental regulations areas. Therefore, China's financial institutions should strengthen the implementation of green credit policies and formulate differentiated credit schemes for enterprises with different characteristics under the supervision of relevant departments. The results of this paper verify the effectiveness of the green credit policy, which is very important for accelerating the green development of China's overseas investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines empirically the role of selected macro-economic variables in determining FDI inflows in the context of BRICS countries. The study employed the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) Auto-Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) method for annual dataset over the period 1994 to 2018. The findings of the study indicate that factors like GDP, trade openness, exchange rate, gross capital formation and availability of infrastructure facilities are significant in long run. The country-specific analysis for short run indicates that among BRICS, the FDI determining variables differ in each country. Among BRICS, China is the finest country with the significant and positive effects of examined variables in stimulating FDI inflows. As BRICS economies are facing challenge at the global level, the study suggested the need of adoption of liberal policies to attract more FDI along with growth promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since China opened its economy to foreign investment in 1979, it has become the second largest foreign direct investment (FDI) destination in the world after the USA. Over the past three decades, the manufacturing sector has dominated China's FDI inflow, however, when manufacturing activity is bifurcated into low and high technology classes, it becomes evident that China is in a transition stage moving from FDI in traditional low-tech activity to a high-tech manufacturing environment. This paper attempts to analyse the key determinants of FDI inflow across low and high technology manufacturing industry across four geographical regions of China. In the paper we empirically investigate the determinants of FDI high–low tech inflow by market size, labour cost, labour quality, and government spending on human capita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's special economic zones helped the country industrialize by attracting foreign investment. In 2006, Beijing initiated an overseas trade and cooperation zone program, assisting Chinese companies to invest abroad while also building China's soft power through the transfer of a key component of China's development success. Little is known about the 19 zones approved so far under this program, or the impact they are likely to have on structural transformation and industrial development in their host countries. This paper identifies the 19 zones and their proposed locations, the process of selection, developers, implementation, and the Chinese incentive regime. It then focuses on the African zones. Using a typology of factors that have proven critical for zone development in the past, the paper evaluates the potential of these zones for fostering structural transformation in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The relationship between OFDI and the environmental quality of the home country is investigated. • A carefully designed simultaneous equation model is employed to address potential endogeneity. • A panel data of 29 Chinese provinces for the period of 2003–2016 is utilized. • OFDI affects the environment through technological effects, scale effects and compositional effects. • Technical effects and compositional effects can reduce environmental pollution. In this study, the provincial panel data of 29 provinces in China from 2003 to 2016 were selected to conduct an empirical study on the impact of China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on domestic carbon dioxide emissions. The three major effects of OFDI on environmental pollution in the home country, namely scale effect, technical effect and composition effect, are estimated by a single equation model and simultaneous equation model. The results show that China's OFDI has increased domestic environmental pollution by improving economic scale (scale effect). However, the reverse technology spillover effect brought by OFDI has improved the domestic technology level (technical effect) and optimized the domestic industrial structure (composition effect), thereby reducing domestic environmental pollution. Based on the research results, this paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions for the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economy has flourished since reform and opening up. At the same time, China's ability to attract foreign investment in the world continued to increase. However, with the rapid development of the economy, China's energy crisis and environmental pollution have been continuously deepened, exposing increasingly serious problems in the energy consumption structure. As a critical mean to address the environmental problems and achieve sustainable development, the production and utilization of renewable energy resources is particularly critical. This paper aims to investigate the relationship amongst renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment and gross domestic product in 31 Chinese provinces from 2000 to 2015. Specifically, the unit root test, cointegration test, vector error-correction model, impulse response function analysis, and Granger causality test are employed for the estimations. The empirical results indicate that there is a long-term and stable equilibrium relationship between gross domestic product per capita, foreign direct investment per capita, and renewable energy consumption per capita. Additionally, in the short term, foreign direct investment cannot significantly cause renewable energy consumption change; but in the long run, a modest slowdown in gross domestic product growth and targeted foreign direct investment will generate a significant boost on renewable energy in China. • Relationship amongst renewable energy consumption, GDP and FDI in China is examined. • Vector error correction model and fully modified ordinary least squares are employed. • Long-run equilibrium exists between renewable energy consumption, GDP and FDI. • There is unilateral causality from GDP and FDI to renewable energy consumption in the long run. • FDI cannot significantly cause renewable energy consumption change in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies pay little attention to when or under which conditions foreign direct investment (FDI) can spill energy-saving technologies. From a perspective of energy-biased technical change and using a two-layer nested constant elasticity of substitution (CES) production function, this paper investigates the energy-saving spillover effect of FDI on technical change (i.e., energy-saving spillovers) in China between 2002 and 2015. In particular, we consider the conditions of marketization, industry, technology, and labor mobility to examine whether and when FDI has energy-saving spillovers. The results indicate no income inequality effect, i.e., there is no evidence supporting that FDI flowing into low- and middle-income regions increases energy consumption, while FDI flowing into high-income regions conserves energy. However, there is a condition effect: FDI can improve (support the halo effect) or deteriorate (contradict the halo effect) the environmental performance under different conditions. Moreover, there is a threshold effect: the direction of FDI spillovers varies with the different levels of the threshold variables. An increasing marketization motivates enterprises to select energy-biased technologies. It is more likely to generate energy-saving spillovers in the regions with a lower specialized agglomeration level. FDI will have energy-biased spillovers when domestic technological level is relatively high with an evident energy-biased technology. In addition, a moderate labor mobility is beneficial to the energy-saving spillovers of FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of foreign direct enterprises in China, our study developed a novel conceptual Structural Equation Model for assessing the role of environmental innovation behavior in mediating environmental regulations and performance of Chinese foreign direct investment enterprises, from the perspective of host country government and parent company. This paper performed a thorough investigation of selected foreign direct investment enterprises in China. Through the structural equation model analysis and the bootstrap mediating method, we established that innovation behavior plays a fully mediating role. Although environmental regulation and cross-border environment management have no direct effect on high-level environmental performance, environmental regulation stimulates environmental innovation behavior either directly or indirectly through the parent company. Further, our study revealed that the effect of parent company cross-border environment management is more obvious than that of local environmental regulation on environmental performance. Nevertheless, the combined effect of the two mediating variables is the highest; though, they play varied roles across the different independent variables. This study, additionally, offers crucial policy recommendations for managers, governments and key stakeholders of China towards augmenting FDI whilst embracing environmental protectionism mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the active promotion of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, overseas investment has shown a market prospect of explosive growth in various countries and has received continuous attention from scholars at home and abroad. With the proposal of the goal of carbon neutrality in countries and regions along the Belt and Road, green investment has become a new driving force for foreign investment. Based on the theory of quality function deployment (QFD) and the G1 entropy method in fuzzy mathematics, this paper constructs 10 risk indicators of China's foreign investment from the perspective of green from the four levels of economic risk, environmental risk, social and cultural risk and political risk, and studies 61 countries along the line. The results show that the four types of risks have an important impact on China's foreign investment. Therefore, Chinese government and enterprises should strengthen the comprehensive evaluation of the overall situation of the host country when investing. Our research has not only achieved theoretical improvement and practical innovation, but also put forward targeted suggestions for China to strengthen risk prevention and control of investment in countries along the "Belt and Road" from the perspective of green finance. • Putting forward an investment risk index evaluation system based on "green" perspective for the first time. • We innovatively draw on the quality function development (QFD) theory in marketing and the G1-entropy method in fuzzy mathematics to conduct quantitative analysis. • Facing the complex external environment of overseas markets, China should pay attention to identifying various risks such as unbalanced economic development and increased environmental pollution caused by carbon emissions, and strengthen risk identification and the development and investment of green technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous road transportation sustainability studies not only neglected the epistemic uncertainty that surrounds the impact of innovation and Research and Development (R&D) expenditure on pollutant emissions performance but also failed in designing and simultaneously exploring the strengths of alternative MCDM (Multiple-Criteria Decision-Making) approaches to better discriminate performance scores. This paper focuses on these two gaps by presenting a road transportation sustainability performance assessment of 29 Chinese provinces for a 14-year period in light of relevant socioeconomic and demographic variables. First, a novel TEA-IS model is developed to assess road transportation sustainability performance. Besides possessing the beneficial features of each model, this hybrid DEA-TOPSIS can analyze the sustainability performance from the perspective of the synergistic effects among the criteria. From the socioeconomic and demographic perspectives, we use machine learning techniques for predicting high-low performance and synergistic Chinese provinces. Results suggest that the discriminatory power of TEA-IS is good and there is high synergy in Chinese provinces in terms of sustainable road transportation. We further find that there is a high level of heterogeneity in road transportation sustainability among different geographical locations in China. The results further suggest that higher levels of synergy are strongly associated with medium and high-performing provinces. Finally, we find that innovation index, foreign direct investment, and non-coastal cities have both higher performance and synergy levels. We recommend that Chinese government should further provide favorable policies to enhance innovation and efforts should also be made to provide better environment for attracting more foreign direct investment. Finally, instead of road transportation, other modes of transportation, such as air and sea, are recommended to be further developed and utilized. • a TEA-IS model is developed to assess road transportation sustainability performance. • Machine learning methods are employed to predict high-low performance. • There is a high level of heterogeneity in road transportation sustainability in China. • Innovation and foreign direct investment are positively related to performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value of cultural goods varies across consumers with different backgrounds. Exchange of cultural goods may lead to better mutual understand and trust, which helps mitigate the entry obstacles in the investment targets. This paper studies how cultural trade affects Chinese firms' outbound foreign direct investment (OFDI). We find that both likelihood and total volume that a firm invests in a foreign country increase with the amount of bilateral cultural trade. We further show that cultural trade boosts the success rate of OFDI projects. These effects are intensified in targets with weaker institutional quality or a great cultural distance to China. • China's surging OFDIs coexist with its large volume of cultural trade with rest of the world. • This study explores how cultural trade affects Chinese firms' OFDI. • Cultural trade promotes the firms' entry decision and performance of the OFDI. • The impacts are intensified in the countries with a weak institutional environment or a great cultural distance to China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper explores the effects of industrial structure caused by FDI from the aspects of scale and structure by using empirical analysis method. Especially, the paper analyses the impacts of FDI in secondary sector which absorbs the largest portion of FDI. Empirical evidence indicates that we should build up better investment environment to attract more inflow to tertiary industries and bring into the positive foreign capital spillover so as to realize the country's industrial structure upgrading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The spatial and sectoral distribution of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China has changed dramatically in the past two decades. FDI was largely concentrated in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and other Southern Coastal provinces in early stages and shifted to the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the Bohai Economic Rim (BER) sequentially in later stages. It created unique and dynamic paths of the spatial evolution of FDI in China. Although many provinces have received relatively more FDI since the late 2000s, Guangdong and Jiangsu are still the two major recipients of FDI in China, demonstrating and over-arching polarization process. Furthermore, most FDI in China has been in the manufacturing sector, making China well-known as the “World Factory of Manufacturing”. This paper analyses the most recent trends, characteristics and patterns of FDI in China. It portrays the factors that determined the investment location and the dynamic pathways of different kinds of FDI. This paper also foresees the possible changes in spatial and sectoral distribution of FDI in the near future and provides policy suggestions for both China and other developing countries in seeking new FDI inflows and transforming their industrial structures and economies in this particular phase of globalization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The frequency, sum of money and scope of transnational mergers made by Chinese firms are growing. This paper, based on the ESP paradigm in FDI, analyzes the impact of non-economic factors such as politics, law, national awareness, public opinion and the union''s forces upon transnational mergers. In the meanwhile, the paper makes effort to propose some countermeasures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper, while reviewing the development and growth of the rubber production sector in China from a historical perspective, discusses the major challenges confronting the sustainable growth of rubber-based industries in the era of global market integration. The challenges arise from the growing shortage of resources (both natural and synthetic rubber) against the fast-growing automobile and tyre manufacturing industries. While the dynamic growth of the rubber industry in the pre-reforms era was achieved under a heavy import-oriented trade policy regime, the sustaining of the same is fraught with serious challenges in the context of market integration. Following a comprehensive analysis of the development of the rubber industry in retrospect, this paper suggests some important policy options for carrying forward and, thereby, sustaining the growth dynamism of the industry in the country in the emerging scenario. It emerges from the study that the sustainable growth of the rubber-based industry in China calls for a thorough revamping of state policies and devising new institutional development strategies covering a broad spectrum of activities, including: (a) demand and supply management; (b) redefining the status of natural rubber as a strategic commodity and industrial raw material; (c) restructuring the production sector favouring smallholder producers; and (d) R&D investments facilitating rubber expansion to agro-ecologically suitable areas. Given that global market integration would continue to stimulate the growth of the domestic rubber industry, this paper highlights that issues at the production sector are to be tackled on a priority basis. However, this would need China to make a rational choice between one or a combination of alternatives, including: (a) strengthening the existing domestic natural rubber production sector; (b) continue with the prevailing natural and synthetic rubber import policies; (c) increased substitution between natural and synthetic rubber; and (d) strengthening rubber investment programmes (including domestic and foreign direct investment) in neighbouring countries, namely, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper examines the Internet security environment as an FDI location determinant and its mechanisms. • The spatial econometric approach is employed to analyze both the direct and spatial spillover effects. • Internet security plays an increasingly important role in acquiring FDI with time passing. • Internet security becomes more crucial for attracting FDI when host country turning into Internet society. This paper examines the impact of the Internet security environment on Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) using a merged cross-country data set over 2010–2017 with a dynamic spatial model. The results show that Internet security is a crucial determinant for Chinese firms to make location decisions overseas. Particularly, a secure Internet significantly promotes Chinese outward FDI to a host country. In contrast, Internet security in surrounding countries yields negative spatial location spillovers that hinder Chinese firms from investing in the host country. This phenomenon can be regarded as a national competition for Internet security to attract FDI. Mechanism tests show that Internet security promotes FDI in host countries through four channels: operating cost reductions, transaction cost-cutting, information asymmetry decreases, and confidentiality protection. Further heterogeneous analyses show that the impact of Internet security is more significant as time passes and the host country becomes an Internet society. In contrast, specific international cooperation frameworks led by China weaken the location effect of Internet security for Chinese outward FDI. These results are robust after controlling for potential endogeneity and to different specifications. Therefore, the host authorities should endeavor to create a high-quality Internet security environment to attract FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Nationwide migrations have drawn much attention from both geographical and social sciences. Compared to census-data-based studies, data collected from broadly used location-awareness devices enable us to describe migrant patterns with timely and fine spatial resolutions. Using a mobile positioning dataset, this paper first analyzes the spatial patterns of mobile-data-based active population estimation (MAPE) and aims to uncover the socioeconomic factors associated with migrant patterns based on the MAPE change around the Chinese Spring Festival of 2016. Time series analysis presents obvious regular patterns and characteristics of MAPE before and during the holiday. Results from a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model show that MAPE differences are significantly associated with the development of secondary and tertiary industries, wage levels and foreign investments. Spatial disparities of the GWR model coefficients reveal that areas in China have different degrees of association with the explanatory variables. Explanations of this spatial nonstationary phenomenon are further detailed with the perspective of a geographical background. Finally, associated social and economic development strategies among cities in China are analyzed, and policy implications regarding the newly emerged data and their insightful findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The imbalance and insufficiency of China's regional economic development has led to huge differences in regional energy efficiency. Reducing the differences in regional energy efficiency has become an urgent energy issue in China. The constant absorption of foreign direct investment (FDI) has brought advanced technologies to China, which has an important impact on China's energy efficiency. To explore whether FDI can reduce regional energy efficiency differences, this paper investigates the existence of energy intensity convergence while incorporating foreign direct investment (FDI). Since existing research on regional energy intensity convergence lacks of consideration of the data spatial dependence, we focus on spatial econometric model to test energy intensity convergence. We use panel data of 30 provinces in China over the period of 2005–2014 to test energy intensity convergence by β convergence model. The empirical results show that considering the spatial dependence of the data, FDI can promote the formation of conditional energy intensity convergence. Further analysis found that the spillover effect of FDI plays an important role in this formation. In addition, the convergence speed accelerates after considering the spatial dependence. Finally, the spillover effect of FDI, which is global, inhibits the declining speed of energy intensity during the research period. The scale effect of FDI and energy rebound effect plays an important role in the effect of FDI on energy intensity. These results show that guiding foreign investment more reasonably in each province in China can make contributions to the reduction of energy efficiency differences. Highlights • Use spatial econometric approach to test the convergence of energy intensity. • FDI can promote the convergence of energy intensity. • The spillover effect of FDI plays an important role in the formation of energy intensity convergence. • The effect of FDI on energy intensity has brought a rebound effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: China''s rapid growth and structural change since the reform in the late 1970s have generated many intriguing issues for scholarly research. This paper notices the drastic rise of China in foreign investment, export, and ICT production. Through a comprehensive review of the literature on globalization, industrial restructuring and regional development, this paper holds that the research on China is embedded in China''s reform process, as well as theoretical development in economic geography. It highlights the important role of institutions and global-local interactions in industrial and regional development. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Globalisation has led to a rapid increase in the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) globally. Over the last decade China has become the largest recipient of FDI whilst simultaneously increasing its outward FDI dramatically. The growth in China''s outward FDI has attracted little attention from scholars in mainstream research publications. The motivation behind this paper is to investigate the factors driving this growth from both economic and strategic backgrounds. The paper employs panel data analysis covering the period 2003–2009 where we quantify the main drivers of China''s outward FDI across a range of variables including bi lateral and multi lateral trade, market size, GDP growth, openness and resource endowment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper explores the role of indigenous and foreign innovation efforts in technological upgrading in developing countries, taking into account sectoral specificities in technical change. Using a Chinese firm-level panel dataset covering 2001–05, the paper decomposes productivity growth into technical change and efficiency improvement and examines the impact of indigenous and foreign innovation efforts on these changes. Indigenous firms are found to be the leading force on the technological frontier in the low- and medium-technology industries, while foreign-invested firms enjoy a clear lead in the high-technology sector. Collective indigenous R&D activities at the industry level are found to be the major driver of technology upgrading of indigenous firms that push out the technology frontier. While foreign investment appears to contribute to static industry capabilities, R&D activities of foreign-invested firms have exerted a significant negative effect on the technical change of local firms over the sample period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In China many investments especially from foreign companies are located in industry parks. However, the general situation and management perspectives of developing Chinese industrial parks are not very clear to the westerners. With the rapid development, industrial parks will play a key role in China''s economy, therefore, those issues relating with China''s industrial parks need to be further discussed. This paper is one of such efforts. It will review the development of China''s industrial parks, including characterizing industry parks in China and discussing the main site selection criteria and important aspects for foreign investors. The main focus of this paper is to discuss the current environmental management practices of industrial parks because such parks have been main sources of pollution. New development strategy for industrial parks, such as eco-industrial development, should be considered and implemented. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]