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Purpose: Learning and development are critical to a business's success. This paper aims to focus on organizational factors at multiple organizational levels that facilitate learning culture in a small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in northwestern China. Design/methodology/approach: This study is qualitative in nature. A single case study method is used to explore an SME's organizational factors that facilitate learning culture. Findings: This paper categorizes the organizational factors into seven dimensions: shared vision, creating continuous learning opportunities, informal learning that promotes inquiry and dialogue, collaboration and team learning, knowledge management systems, work-family enrichment and encouragement and support. This paper also compares the findings with learning culture models from Western research. Research limitations/implications: Chinese culture has far-reaching and fundamental effects on many East Asian countries and regions. For SMEs in similar cultural settings with a collectivist orientation, future research may focus on the effect of the work-family enrichment on learning culture. Originality/value: Work-family enrichment was found to be an important factor that influences learning effectiveness in this Chinese small business based on traditional values in Chinese culture.

Embedded system is an interdisciplinary, profound foundation and practice-oriented course; at present, in the traditional teaching mode, embedded systems in colleges and universities generally have problems such as disconnected theory and practice, outdated assessment methods, and low enthusiasm of students. Arming to cultivate compound embedded development talents that meet the needs of enterprises, based on CDIO engineering education mode, this paper analyzes the characteristics of the "Embedded System" course, and takes engineering project development practice as the dominant idea to discuss the course system, teaching material construction and teaching method reform of "Embedded System." By designing a complete project teaching system, closely combines the theoretical teaching and practice of the course. Multiple rounds of teaching practices show that through the project-driven teaching method, students' engineering practice ability can be significantly improved, so that students can deeply master the basic principles of embedded systems, and possess the engineering development ability of embedded products at the same time, thus meeting the needs of enterprises for innovative and interdisciplinary talents.

Chinese enterprise personnel are faced with the problem of intercultural adaptation. Based on Black's theory of "three-dimensional" model of intercultural adaptation, this paper proposes a "four-dimensional" model of intercultural adaptation, namely, life adaptation, work adaptation, interpersonal adaptation and Chinese image adaptation. The research method of semi-structured in-depth interview is used to interview 23 Chinese people from one Chinese enterprise in Saudi Arabia, who have worked there for at least one year. We get findings as follows: (1) Life adaptation: maladjustment is mainly reflected in religious restriction. Especially, religious regulations and taboos make the life of Chinese enterprise personnel restricted. However, there are also many aspects of adaptation, such as Saudi cuisine, living environment and leisure life, which bring the satisfaction of life demands to Chinese enterprise personnel. (2) Work adaptation: foreign companies must employ a certain proportion of local people to work in their companies; the roles of buyers and sellers in Saudi Arabia and in China are different; the concept of time is different. (3) Interpersonal adaptation: Chinese people in Saudi Arabia still have the most frequent contact with their Chinese compatriots, and it is difficult for them to develop close friendship with foreigners. Chinese people are good at creating harmonious interpersonal relationships for work through some after-work activities, such as drinking tea, eating out and holding football matches. (4) Chinese image adaptation: Chinese enterprise personnel in Saudi Arabia have decent income, and Saudi police fail to check Chinese cars, all of which make the Chinese people have a positive face value. In view of the above four adaptation situations of Chinese enterprise personnel in Saudi Arabia, the following suggestions are proposed: (1) Be strict with yourself in life, respect local social and religious customs, and also keep a careful attitude and actively deal with disadvantageous factors. (2) While benefiting from working or doing business in Saudi Arabia, we should make contributions for the development of local economy and society, providing employment and training for local people. (3) We should observe the local laws and regulations, and also follow the local and international market rules. (4) In interpersonal communication, we should combine the maintenance mode of Chinese "guanxi" (relationship) with western "principle" on the one hand, and make a difference between them on the other hand. (5) In terms of image adaptation, besides maintaining a good image politically and economically, it is also necessary to improve our individual quality and our cultural cultivation overseas, be a communicator bridging Chinese and foreign excellent culture, and build a positive national image and individual image.

Despite the tremendous economic progress made by the Chinese economy, averaging a nine percent growth per year, one section of the community remains outside the economic boom. As state-owned enterprises (SOEs) restructure into more efficient organisations able to compete in the global economy, the plight of workers within these enterprises has become a pressing issue. No longer able to depend on a job for life, these workers present challenges for local governments. One initiative proposed by the International Labour Organisation called the Start Your Own Business (SYB) Program has been identified as a way to retrain laid-off workers, xiagang. By focussing on one city in China, this paper analyses some of the key issues associated with this program. Using anecdotal evidence from workers who have undergone the retraining, the paper has identified at least three areas of concern for workers participating in the SYB retraining program. Access to seed funding, the implementation of knowledge and skills into practice, and furthering support and guidance in market analysis remain issues for the continued success of this program.

This paper comprises results concluding the research activity done so far regarding enhanced web services and system integration. The objective of the paper is to define the software architecture for a coherent framework and methodology for enhancing existing web services into an integrated system. This document presents the research work that has been done so far in this aspect by applying the proposed architecture for system integration in the academic field. The basics concepts used are Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), as the most commonly used approaches to information systems integration lately. SOA is an Information Technology (IT) architectural style that supports the transformation of businesses into a set of linked services, or repeatable business tasks that can be accessed when needed over a network. This may be a local network, it may be the Internet, or it may be geographically and technologically diverse, combining services in New York, Paris, and Beijing as though they were all installed on a local desktop. These services can coalesce to accomplish a specific business task, enabling businesses to adapt quickly to changing conditions and requirements. (Contains 6 figures.)

Identity directly impacts how university students behave and make decisions in entrepreneurial practice. Therefore, it is significant to explore the factors influencing the identity construction of student-entrepreneurs to understand how processes are internalized by students, which may then affect their entrepreneurial identity. This article interrogates the formation and transition of the entrepreneurial identity of student-entrepreneurs in a Chinese research university. This paper argues that identity formation is a dynamic and nonlinear process where both role and social identities are involved in its development. Factors that would promote the desired identity formation would include, among others, a tolerant atmosphere across universities, integrating identity issues into the process of entrepreneurship education, and providing university-wide support for entrepreneurship which will be beneficial to improving and sustaining entrepreneurial identity among students.

The online retail market shows a sharp increase in traffic during holiday sales. The ability to distinguish customers who will likely purchase is critical for provisioning traffic and for providing cost-effective promotions. This paper uniquely studies the browsing and purchasing behaviors of online shoppers during a yearly sale event in China, the world’s largest online marketplace. Based on 31 million action logs gathered from wide residential areas, we characterize the steps leading to purchases and determine their precursors. We investigate the effect of time (e.g., date, time of date), environment (e.g., platform, viewed category), and action (e.g., session time, clicks, sequence) on purchases. Action cues from shopping behaviors can be used for early detection. While most shoppers start with strong intentions to purchase, yet the moment of ordering comes rather impulsively within 30 seconds to several minutes of browsing. The predictive accuracy reaches as a high AUC of 0.924. The findings in this paper provide an understanding of traffic during mega sale events that can help online shops plan and provide a better user experience for upcoming shopping festivals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to construct a notion of well-being in the workplace applicable to Taiwan society as an example of the Chinese cultural communities. The construction involves the following steps. Different domains of the well-being in the workplace are identified based on the results of workplace research. A set of integrative values combining universal values and Chinese values is constructed to serve as the ground for constructing the components of workplace well-being. Both the universal portion and the Chinese portion have a generic and a workplace-specific portion as their integrative parts. The values in effect help to define specific contents of the components, thus making them relevant and applicable to the Chinese culture. The construct serves as the basis to develop specific indicators to measure, monitor and assess well-being in the workplace. The construct of workplace well-being forms a part of the general well-being in business which contains various well-beings associated with the multiple stakeholders in the business communities--customers, shareholders, citizens, competitors, communities, and the environment. In today's globalized business environment, this construct is especially significant when more multinationals are operating with an increasingly multicultural workplace where people with different cultures communicate, cooperate and interact.

This paper investigates the ownership and location strategies as contingency factors, which affect the relationship between SMEs’ open innovation activities and innovation performance in the context of emerging economies. Drawing from the corporate strategy and open innovation literature, we argued that SMEs with state and foreign ownership can more effectively capture economic rents from open innovation in a weak intellectual-property-rights regime. Meanwhile, the subnational environments in which SMEs locate their businesses is also crucial for them to capture value from open innovation. Using the data of 1050 SMEs in China, we found that state ownership positively and significantly moderates the relationship between openness and innovative performance, while foreign ownership partially supports the same effect. By disentangling the pro-business environment and the market development, we found that for SMEs that are located in a region with a stronger pro-business environment and a higher level of market development, open innovation can bring more value than it does for those located in regions with lower levels of those factors. Overall, this paper also contributes to our understanding of the complementary relationships between ownership and location strategies and open innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the deepening of electricity market reform in China, the competition in the electricity retail market becomes increasingly intense. Electricity retailers (ERs) need to explore new business models to enhance their competitiveness in the retail market. Meanwhile, with the improvement of industrial production and people's living standards, more and more nonlinear electrical equipment have been put into use, leading to severe harmonic pollution problems. Harmonic pollution causes loss of electricity, resulting in the economic loss of customers, especially for large industrial customers. In the above contexts, this paper proposes a novel business model that incorporates harmonic control as a value-added service into electricity retail contracts for utility-owned ERs. Both utility-owned ERs and customers can benefit from the designed business model. For customers, it helps them to improve the power quality while saving the electricity cost. For ERs, it helps them to cultivate the customer loyalty and improve the customer satisfaction. A case study is performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed business model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crowdsourced live video broadcasting services, such as Twitch and YouTube Live, are becoming increasingly popular. In such a service, viewers are allowed to perform rich interactions, such as posting comments and donating monetary virtual gifts, while watching videos. Understanding viewer interactions is essential for people to comprehend the production and consumption of the crowdsourced live video content and improve the service. However, the basic characteristics of the viewer interactions are still unknown. In this paper, we present a comprehensive measurement study of the viewer interactions on Douyu, a popular crowdsourced live video broadcasting website in China. Our measurement spans four months and contains comment posting and virtual gift donating interactions from tens of millions of viewers in hundreds of thousands of channels. Based on the measurement data, we carry out a content analysis on danmu comments and characterize the patterns of the viewer interactions. We build a suite of models for capturing the gift donating process, viewer activity, and channel popularity. We further analyze the influences of the broadcaster’s behavioral factors on a channel’s popularity and present methodologies for popularity predicting. Our measurement and analysis have important implications on the design and business policy of the crowdsourced live video broadcasting services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationships between inequality, trade, and capital flows into China since the early 1990s and particularly in the first years of the present decade. We show that the rise in economic inequality in China has more to do directly with the activities associated with China's financial and building boom, notably in Beijing, than with the massive growth in manufacturing employment and in Chinese exports since China joined the WTO in 2001. Nevertheless, it is likely that a flow of profits from the export boom did feed the speculative fires in the capital and elsewhere, and therefore it should be no surprise that the fall of one should be linked to the fall of the other, in a particularly painful reduction of economic inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact and effect of renqing in Chinese business relationships. The research focused on a multinational organisation that is based in China. Design/methodology/approach – As the research was exploratory, a qualitative approach was adopted. The researcher was based in the organisation for a six-month period, and interviews were undertaken with purchasing managers. Findings – The findings show that the Chinese concept of renqing comprises favours and opportunities. Research limitations implications – The research is exploratory and further research is required to confirm the wider applicability of the findings. Practical implications – The findings illustrate the importance of understanding the use of both favours and opportunities in business relationship in China. The findings also indicate the importance of being sensitive to cultural factors in business relationships. Originality/value – This exploratory research indicates that previous conceptualisation of Renqing was limited, as the aspects it encompasses, favours and opportunities, were not identified. This research identifies the importance of opportunities in Chinese business relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, many companies obtain financing by improving their ESG scores. This inevitably affects the financial performance of enterprises. We provide a view that companies should balance non-financial and financial performance rather than only increasing ESG scores. High ESG score companies that are not profitable will not perform well in the market. By applying the coupling coordination model (CCM) and China's listed firm data from 2010 to 2022, we assess the coupling coordination between ESG and financial performance among listed companies in China. We found that the overall level of corporate coupling coordination in China is not high, locating at the transitional stage. East, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Chengdu-Chongqing City Group, and foreign firms have a higher level of coupling coordination. Northeast, Yellow River Basin, and private enterprises perform poorly. Coupling coordination is higher for firms that are larger, more capital intensive, and more socially responsible. From the decomposition results, improving corporate coupling coordination needs to focus on enhancing the E (environmental) score and S (social) score in the non-financial performance, as well as the growth capacity and profitability in the financial performance. The innovation of this paper is that it assesses the firm's coupling coordination from the perspective of balancing ESG and financial performance. It provides a warning to firms that focus too much on ESG scores. Enterprises should avoid excessive focus on ESG that leads to poor financial performance. • We analyzed the coupling between financial and non-financial (ESG) performance of more than 1000 listed firms in China. • Chinese listed companies' coupling coordination improves, but overall level is low from 2010 to 2022. • The East, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and foreign enterprises performed better in terms of coupling coordination. • Improving coupling coordination requires boosting environmental score, social score, growth capacity, and profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research explores the interplay between innovation, economic systems, governance structures, and law, and how they interact with one another in the context of China and Ethiopia's investments in the Digital Silk Road. The way cutting-edge methods related to governance and economic systems might help lower the risks involved in major infrastructure projects, like the Digital Silk Road, particularly in light of law and 5G developments, is investigated. China–Africa connections are to be strengthened, sustainable development is to be encouraged, and healthy economic progress is the goal of the partnership between Ethiopia and the Hainan Free Trade Port. The impact of these transnational investments on fair growth and sustainable development is assessed, while exploring the evolving agendas and procedures governing investments. This research draws attention to how the law and legal cooperation between Ethiopia and China may promote mutually advantageous outcomes, promote transparency and governance mechanisms, and lessen the likelihood of disputes. This research on the factors influencing the future of the Digital Silk Road and its consequences for long-term, sustainable economic growth, and business in the area, aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers, development professionals, and academics, and for the copromotion of China and Ethiopia in terms of digital investment. This research relates to the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in terms of construction and economic development. It also examines how the DSR raises concerns about data security and privacy, cross-border transactions, technology transfer, and cyberterrorism, as well as encourages digital investment, such as through enhancing digital governance regulations, modernizing international investment agreements (IIAs), and bolstering global health, coordination, and cooperation; the article concludes by analyzing the implications for Africa. The findings show that such cooperation would support Africa's digital transformation and sustainable development, while strengthening China–Africa cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within a framework of ecological modernization theory this paper focuses on the process of environmental reform in Hong Kong. It argues that there is significant inertia within the environmental policy process in Hong Kong, but that with leadership from the business sector there exists the potential for positive change. We identify ways to further drive the process of environmental reform through an emphasis on the role of the business sector and technological innovation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper proposes two weighted goal-programming models for optimizing crude oil production in the middle and later periods of oilfield development. These models divide the oil yield optimization problem into two stages according to the characteristics of Chinese oil companies' yield compositions. In the first stage, the total planned crude oil yield will be optimized by four sub-yields, while each sub-yield will be allocated optimally among different oil extract plants in the later stage. A case study is conducted to validate the proposed models. The results show that the model can address the annual crude oil yield planning subjectively. Moreover, the proposed model can rationally allocate resources among various extract oil plants and effectively reduce production costs in the context of ensuring planned oil yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Given that organizational decisions are made by individuals and thus shaped by their subjective and objective characteristics, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of SME business owners’ characteristics on their firms’ research and development (R & D) spending in a transition economy. Design/methodology/approach – The authors first build the arguments that, among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), business owners’ perceived importance of R & D-related activities, their education, related experiences, and social connections, should affect their firms’ R & D spending positively. Then the authors use a Chinese nationwide survey of private SMEs to test the arguments. Tobit regression analyses are conducted by taking Stata 12.0 as the statistic tool. Findings – The authors find that business owners’ perceived importance of R & D-related activities is positively associated with their firms’ R & D spending. In addition, better-educated owners and owners who have technology-related working experience tend to invest more in R & D activities. Finally, owners who have social connections, especially industrial connections, tend to spend more on R & D activities. Originality/value – This study improves the understanding of R & D spending determinants among SMEs. Going beyond general environmental determinants, it reveals the important agency role of SME owners, and thus contributes to a better understanding of how decisions leading to SME innovations are influenced by business owners’ perceptions and demographic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guanxi (favor and reciprocity) is known to be an important feature of Chinese society. While there are numerous important studies of this topic, the present paper examines guanxi linked to social capital, in order to illustrate the similarities and differences between these two concepts and how Chinese guanxi varies from Western conceptions on social networking. As such, there are three steps to be followed: to describe the Confucian root of the social phenomenon; to show the main types of guanxi: and to depict the similarities and differences between guanxi and social networking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the book "The Business Environment in Hong Kong," 3rd ed. edited by David G. Lethbridge and Sek Hong Ng. The book contains seven updated papers plus one new essay exploring the business environment in Hong Kong. Author Edward K.Y. Chen evaluates the economic setting. Author Thomas W.P. Wong and David A. Levin assess the social structure. Authors Lethbridge and Ng consider labor and employment. Author Norman Miners addresses government and politics and author Y.C. Jao discusses Hong Kong's monetary system and banking structure.

For companies to take full advantage ofthe potential offered by the Web, it is essential that their e-commerce websites be prepared and organized in highly usable manner. Companies with better website quality will save time and money, promote customer satisfaction and continued business, and gain an advantage over their competitors. This paper investigates the current issues and challenges for the top 10 B2C e-commerce websites in terms of promoting and marketing their products and services in China. A HP and Fuzzy TOPSIS are employed to evaluate the quality ofthese websites from the website design, transmission speed, popularity of the website, information quantity and the service quality. The managerial implications and suggestions for future research are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the determinants of government size at the provincial level in China. We employ the panel data model as a platform for empirical analysis and control for endogeneity in the study. Our study shows that openness to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) may curtail government expansion, and that the provincial-level public sector is characterized by economies of scale. This study also documents that Wagner's law does not hold true for China. Moreover, both expenditure decentralization and revenue decentralization contribute to the expansion of China's government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applies the principles of glocalization theory to Disney's successful adaptation in Hong Kong. Glocalization refers to the interface of the global and the local. After Hong Kong Disneyland's lack of success within a year of its opening in 2005, Disney executives attempted to cater to the local Chinese context. From a glocalization perspective, four major changes were made: (1) reduction of prices; (2) adaptation to local visitors' customs; (3) change of décors and settings; and (4) adaptation of labor practices. Ever since, Hong Kong Disneyland has proved successful: park attendance and revenues from growth have increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explored how leading Chinese and global companies operating in China communicate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles and practices to the Chinese stakeholders through a content analysis of these companies’ corporate websites. It was found that companies usually take one of the following three major approaches in their CSR communication: CSR as ad hoc public philanthropy, CSR as strategic philanthropy, and CSR as ethical business practices. Furthermore, this paper examined the effects of country of origin and industry on companies’ CSR communication and found that whether companies are targeting at businesses or consumers has a bigger impact on their CSR communication than whether they are Chinese or global. Finally, despite a tendency towards convergence, Chinese and global companies still present their CSR principles and practices differently because of their different relations with major Chinese and global stakeholders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we provide an overview of the extant research on the development of entrepreneurship in China. This research focus is a relatively recent phenomenon since China’s market transition started from late 1978. We review the literature over the 26 years from 1980 through 2005, as published in 11 leading English-language academic journals. We identify 68 articles from this review and analyze them based on the research subjects, methods, and firm types. From this review, and integrating with research on market transitions, we propose a three-stage model of market transitions that has important implications for entrepreneurship research in transition economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides empirical evidence on the value relevance of accounting information in different stock market segments of China. Using the available data of listed A-, B-, and H-shares from 1999 to 2003, and based on the modified Ohlson model, the value relevance of accounting information is compared among different Chinese stock market segments. Further, important factors that might influence the value relevance of accounting information in the Chinese stock market (e.g., the percentage of total tradable shares [PTS] and the B-share opening event of 2001) are studied in this paper. Four primary results are drawn from this study. First, the accounting information is value-relevant in all the A-, B-, and H-share markets, and the accounting information in the B- and H-share markets is more value-relevant than that of the A-share market. Second, within the A-share market, the value relevance of accounting information does not differ between firms issuing both AB- and AH-shares and firms issuing only A-shares. Within the A-share market, firms with higher PTS do not enjoy higher value-relevant accounting information than the firms with lower PTS. Last, our results indicate that the opening event of B-shares to domestic investors in 2001 did indeed lower the value relevance of accounting information for B-shares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the orthopedics markets in the US and the EU reaching a plateau, the market size in countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China is steadily growing. As a result, major orthopedic companies are shifting their focus towards these markets and developing products tailored to their needs. However, a significant challenge associated with this new opportunity is the requirement for the development of more affordable prostheses compared to those sold in the US and Europe. With the introduction of these lower-cost models into the market, this article aims to assess their performance in comparison to traditional models. A literature review was conducted, analyzing four parameters—the Hospital for Special Surgery Score, Knee Society Score, Range of Motion, and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index—to evaluate different models. The findings indicated that low-cost models perform either equally well or, in some cases, slightly worse than traditional ones. It is worth to mention that the existing literature on this topic is limited, resulting in a relatively small number of models and studies included in this specific study. Nevertheless, this latter serves as a valuable foundation for future in-depth analyses and investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese petty traders are the most popular and yet most controversial foreign population that most Africans meet and engage with on a regular basis. Although the quality of their goods is suspect, their contribution of affordable goods to some African societies is recognized. There has been much discontent directed towards them, especially by small traders, because they are seen as undercutting local traders, not contributing to the local economy, and only interested in short-term gain. This paper examines the role of Chinese traders in Kampala, Uganda and their contributions to that country's economy according to a number of economic indicators as informed by the survey that the authors conducted in Kampala in 2012. It also analyses the Ugandan government's attitude toward these traders, the policies it implements, and the prospects for further investment in Uganda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background China is the home to the world's largest cigarette maker, China National Tobacco Company (CNTC), yet little is known publicly about the design and emissions of Chinese cigarettes. CNTC is currently in the process of consolidating its brands and has ambitions to export its cigarettes. Machine-measured tar yields of many of its cigarette brands have also been reduced, similar to what occurred in Western countries from the 1970s through the 1990s with so-called ‘low-tar’ cigarettes introduced to address consumer concerns about health risks from smoking. Method The current study examines the design and physical characteristics, labelled smoke emissions and tobacco metals content of leading brands of Chinese cigarettes from seven cities purchased in 2005–6 and in 2007. Results Findings suggest that similar to most countries, tar levels of Chinese cigarettes are predicted primarily by tobacco weight and filter ventilation. Ventilation explained approximately 50% of variation observed in tar and 60% variation in carbon monoxide yields. We found little significant change in key design features of cigarettes purchased in both rounds. We observed significant levels of various metals, averaging 0.82 μg/g arsenic (range 0.3–3.3), 3.21 μg/g cadmium (range 2.0–5.4) and 2.65 μg/g lead (range 1.2–6.5) in a subsample of 13 brands in 2005–6, substantially higher than contemporary Canadian products. Conclusion Results suggest that cigarettes in China increasingly resemble those sold in Western countries, but with tobacco containing higher levels of heavy metals. As CNTC looks to export its product around the world, independent surveillance of tobacco product characteristics, including tobacco blend characteristics, will become increasingly important. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article aims to summarize the development and challenges of real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE) in China and introduce a unique opportunity for medical devices to gain accelerated regulatory approval in China by utilizing RWE generated in a free trade pilot zone "Boao Lecheng" in Hainan Province. In 2020, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) issued a draft guideline on the "Use of real-world data to support clinical evaluation for medical devices", suggesting that RWE derived from RWD could support clinical evaluation throughout the life cycle of a medical device. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has allowed qualified RWD collected in Boao Lecheng to support registration application of innovative medical devices and drugs in China. These medical devices and drugs should have been approved abroad, but not in China yet, and met urgent and unmet medical needs in China. The article also presents the successful story of an innovative Glaucoma drainage tube as the first medical device approved in China using RWE generated in Boao Lecheng in 2020. Although we are witnessing an increased interest in RWE, a few challenges remain, e.g., limited data accessibility and data sharing, concerns on data quality, etc. Collaborations among relevant stakeholders in the RWE research are vital to address the challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops and tests a primary conceptual model of the direct effects of business environment on supply chain integration (SCI) and an alternative moderation model to better understand the role of the environment in developing integration and financial performance improvement. Structural equation modeling and moderated regression are used to analyze the survey data collected from manufacturing firms in China. The results reveal significant positive relationships between environmental dynamism and all three dimensions of SCI, and between environmental hostility and internal integration. The results also indicate that internal integration fully mediates the relationships between environmental hostility and both customer and supplier integration. Supplier integration is significantly and positively associated with financial performance, whereas internal and customer integration are not significantly associated with performance. Importantly, through the test of an alternative model, environmental hostility and environmental dynamism are shown to affect SCI directly, rather than moderating the SCI-performance relationship. This article provides useful guidelines for managers to develop integrated supply chains to improve the financial performance under dynamic and hostile environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction of the monograph is presented, which discusses various topics including the institutional features of China, research on the effects of government control and ownership on managerial turnover and accounting, and some research directions.

The article focuses on state ownership, auditor choice and accounting transparency of special state-owned enterprise (SOE) in China. Topics discussed include the government control on SOEs, the earnings management and issuance process of shares, party transactions, the ownership structure, and the auditor choice and state ownership.

Digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the Internet of Things, are becoming increasingly mature. They have become the driving force behind a new wave of innovation and entrepreneurship activities worldwide. AI is the core of the contemporary digital technology industry. New high technologies bring greater opportunities for entrepreneurs to carry out entrepreneurial activities and bring unprecedented challenges to traditional entrepreneurial activities and theories. The existing literature on the impact of AI on entrepreneurial activities is still in the exploration stage. Based on this, this study aims to explore the entrepreneurial process of AI start‐ups, combining with existing literature, select AI unicorn start‐ups ByteDance for a case study, and apply the grounded theory method to analyse and summarise the entrepreneurial process of Internet start‐ups with AI. Thus, it can provide insights for many AI start‐ups and contribute to the existing entrepreneurial research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to large companies, the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in China are more likely to fail in developing green supply chain management (GSCM). Capturing its failure factors could be useful for managers and policymakers to decide how green supply chains can be successfully designed and developed. Meanwhile, these factors can include complex interrelationships. Properly dealing with them can help identify the critical factors which can assist decision-makers to efficiently manage green supply chains. This study thus proposes a comprehensive framework to explore and understand failure factors of GSCM in China's SMEs to improve the opportunities of GSCM in China. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) are combined and applied to identify critical failure factors through translating interrelationships in a hierarchical cause–effect model. The results indicate that collaboration and support are the most critical perspectives for GSCM, and these two perspectives also interrelated with each other and affect the perspectives of knowledge, technology and economy to varying degrees. Moreover, the critical failure factors include lack of top management support, poor guidance from authorities, difficulty in supplier selection and inadequate supplier commitment. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to check the robustness. Conceptual and managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Information and communication technology (ICT) has affected almost all activities of education with great impact during the past 20 years. Whereas most comprehensive regional higher education institutes (CRHEIs) deploy ICT mainly to automate ordinary tasks in China. Now graduate of CRHEIs, especially Business graduate of CRHEIs, are main source of workers. Those CRHEIs should improve their quality of learning for their student being good workers. In this paper, we analyses ICT–based learning issues from Business undergraduates at Linyi University and Henan University. The methodology for carrying out the tasks mainly contains questionnaires according to normative Delphi technique. The research provides development strategy which CRHEIs authorities should take in order to properly integrate ICTs in their institutes and get their benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Nowadays, the major developed countries stipulate the development policies and measures for low-carbon economy and one after another in order to promote the domestic low-carbon related industries. Low-carbon economy has officially stepped into a phase in which government is the main lead. This paper will analyze the reality of the sustainable development of China''s overseas trade and the effects to it brought by the policies of other countries from the government management point and offer advises to promote the sustainable development of overseas trade with low-carbon economy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

China's opening to trade is interpreted as a shift in world average factor endowments, which altered the comparative advantage of other countries. In the rest of the world on average, this shift lowered the share of labour-intensive manufacturing in the sum of labour-intensive manufacturing and primary output by 1-3.5 percentage points, and the corresponding export share by 1.5-5 points. The de-industrialising effect varied among countries, and was clearest in East Asia. It was significant, but not big enough to be a serious threat to growth or equity in most other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]