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Such large-scale disruptions as the pandemic increase the uncertainty and risk related to business. Therefore, the business continuity management (BCM) has become an essential technical solution for enterprise emergency response. Since the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 has spread worldwide at an alarming rate causing many threats to sustainable development of the business sector. The decline in consumer demand has hugely impacted service industries, such as wholesale and retail sales, tourism. Enterprise production and operations have faced severe challenges. In this study, we develop a risk factor analysis of BCM under the presence of COVID-19 in China. Based on a statistical survey of 940 enterprises in Hangzhou City, China, this study employs ordinal logistic regression to explore the hindering effect of risk factors introduced by the epidemic on business performance. Then, the interpretive structure model (ISM) is applied to analyze the hierarchical structure of the factors under examination. The key factors influencing the enterprise production and operation during COVID-19 outbreak significantly differ across the sub-sectors of the service industry. Therefore, this paper assesses the resilience of the productive technologies and business models of different industries amid the pandemic. This paper proposes epidemic prevention and control strategy focusing on investment and government regulation to ensure sustainable business development. • The effects of the COVID-19 outbreak are analyzed. • The micro-data for Chinese enterprises are applied. • The interpretive structure model is used to identify the factors of business performance. • The strategy for recovery is proposed based on the empirical analysis. [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]

This article examines China's path to joining the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a private international organization founded in Paris in 1920, of which China was a member from 1931–1949 and from 1994 onwards. The article charts the actors and debates behind two meaningful encounters. The first took place while the Nanjing government was raising funds for economic reconstruction, and the ICC aimed to mediate China's fundraising efforts through private multilateral channels. The second was in the 1980s, when the People's Republic was seeking to enter the world trade system. ICC members acted as educators and facilitators of world trade practicalities for the People's Republic, which eventually rejoined the ICC in 1994. The article draws on Chinese, European, and American source material collected from governments, chambers of commerce, and private businessmen to make a twofold contribution. First, it adds nuance to the narrative of China's economic internationalization by identifying an important non-governmental diplomatic channel. Second, it questions the ICC's self-proclaimed identity as a non-political economic organization by showing how the political was indissociable from the economic when it came to China's membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The five Central Asia countries are the core regions along the “Silk Road Economic Belt”. The deeply study of the trade potentials between China and the five Central Asia countries has great significance to push forward our country’s strategy of “Belt and Road”. Regarding to the analysis of current trade situation between China and the five Central Asia countries, this paper builds the corresponding gravity model to analyze the total trade potentials between China and the five Central Asian countries. The result of empirical analysis shows that the factors such as economic development level, transportation cost, tariff level and SCO are the main factors affecting export and bilateral trade. The economic development level of the two sides and SCO have positive impact on the export and bilateral trade total volume, while distance and tariff level play hindering role in the export and bilateral trade total volume. China and the five Central Asian countries have strong trade complementary, and therefore have a good trade development prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Panax ginseng, as a kind of rare and valuable Chinese materia medica with the largest global trade volume, has been widely applied in many fields, such as medicine, food, health care, and production of daily chemical products. It is widely used in Asia, Europe, and America. However, its global trade and standardization present different features and an uneven development in different countries or regions. As the main country for its production and consumption, Panax ginseng in China is characterized by its large cultivation area and high total yield and is mainly sold as a raw material or primary processed product. By contrast, Panax ginseng produced in South Korea is mainly sold in manufactured products. Besides, European countries, as another consumption market of Panax ginseng, pay more attention to the research and development of its products. Although Panax ginseng has been widely recorded in various national pharmacopoeias and regional standards, the current standards of Panax ginseng differ in quantity, composition, and distribution, and the existing standards cannot be enough to meet the demands of its global trade. Based on the above issues, we systemically summarized and analyzed the status and features of Panax ginseng standardization and put forward suggestions on the development needs of international standardization of Panax ginseng to guarantee its quality and safety, regulate the order of its global trade, and resolve trade disputes, thereby promoting the high-quality development of the Panax ginseng industry. [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]

Pension inequality resulting from fragmented arrangements among different population groups – such as public sector employees, enterprise workers, rural residents, and urban informal workers – has become an essential obstacle to China's socioeconomic development. This commentary analyzes the impacts of the 2015 pension reform on the inequality within China's pension system. We claim that the unification of pension rules should be considered the greatest achievement in mitigating pension inequality. However, the integrated pension rules do not necessarily reduce gaps in pension opportunity and benefits among groups because of differentiation in their labor incomes as well as pension attributes. In addition, although the pension structures were flattened at the basic level, structural disparities exist at the supplementary level, strengthening unequal pension benefit outcomes. We argue that the 2015 pension reform enables public sector employees' privileged status to continue while enterprise employees and rural residents and urban informal workers remain at the pension system's margins. [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]

The emerging Northern Sea Route (NSR) represents change to the existing liner network for China-EU container shipping. It is necessary to re-examine the container network in this context and assist liner companies in decision-making. This paper assesses the potential of the NSR based on designing a multi-port multi-trip liner service by establishing a two-stage optimization model. Based on the estimated data of NSR shipping, ship routing schemes on both the NSR and conventional routes are proposed. It is determined that container service along the NSR is largely influenced by ice-breaking charge, seasonality, and cargo volume, which makes NSR more likely to act as a supplementary line of the liner network in the short or medium term. The results also indicate that use of NSR may drive the redeployment of shipping network and hub ports in the long term. This study's conclusions may prove useful for strategic planning by liner companies, port authorities, and governments to assess the operation of liner service via the NSR. [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.

The aim of this paper is to present Polish and Chinese developments in this area in the period of 1999-2009 for the former and 2005-2008 the latter and then to compare both markets for 2007 and 2008 using different metrics. The time horizon is limited due to the lack of Chinese data. The results show that both economies used leasing to finance ongoing business and both markets have many common features. The results show also that although the Chinese leasing market is less developed, it catches up with the more developed Polish counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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Until recently Anglophone business research into the issues surrounding the costs of and barriers to internationalisation has focused on cultural barriers and their potential for conflict and misunderstanding. Most of this research assumes that, as English is the international language of business, language itself is not an issue and that communication problems are situated in underlying cultural assumptions. This paper surveys recent research on issues relating to the use of a lingua franca, normally English, in intercultural business dealings, and in communication and conflict management, and relates it to a pilot study of five Chinese business people who use English in their daily business transactions. The results confirm that the choice of language itself has considerable potential for causing conflict, and raises interlinked issues of face, harmony, hierarchy, directness and power. Furthermore, the Chinese preference for conflict avoidance and indirectness means that many of these conflicts may be hidden from the English speaking interlocutors. This has implications for monolingual English speaking businesses in their future dealings with Chinese counterparts. It also contributes to identifying potential underlying sources of conflict in these interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economic crisis in 2007 forced China to move from export-led growth to promoting domestic demand. The move is significant, but the success of this new growth strategy depends critically on the level of domestic market integrations. In this paper, we use the methodology proposed by Anderson and Wincoop to examine China's domestic market integrations. We find evidence of border effects at both national and regional levels with significant regional differences, but they are smaller than some earlier studies suggest. Income growth, lower transportation costs, and higher intra-industry trade all have positive effects on China's regional trade. Among the factors affecting regional trade, a better business environment has the largest positive impact on lifting China's domestic trade between regions, especially in intermediate goods, suggesting that improving business environment should be the priority of government at all levels in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, when we apply the technique to the bilateral trade balance between the USA and Hong Kong, we find neither short-run nor long-run effects. Suspecting that this could be due to aggregation, we disaggregate the trade data between the two countries by commodity and apply the same method. While we find short-run negative effects in the majority of industries, positive long-run effects are observed in 58 of 108 industries, supporting the J-Curve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the author's three years' ethnographic research of karaoke bar hostesses and male clients in the Chinese urban sex industry, this paper argues that men's health practices are impacted by the practices of entrepreneurial masculinity and the development of social relationships with the state. In addressing the ways in which men's health practices are impacted by social factors rather than individual factors, this research has significant implications for HIV intervention programs, which should be devised to alter men's health practice through breaking the association of condoms with authoritarian, top-down, and coercive family planning programs and changing peer culture, peer behaviors, and peer worldviews in men's workplaces including companies and government offices in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Information ethics codes play a vital role in clarifying the responsibilities of MIS (management information systems) professionals and providing them with a point of reference when dealing with ethical issues. In view of the important 21st Century role played by China, particularly Mainland China, which represents a hugely significant market to all global enterprises, it is hoped that this study will assist the business world in understanding the culture in which Chinese business is conducted, and will facilitate the building of a suitable information ethics code in the future. Academically, this paper aims to explain how Confucian ethics and the guanxi [1] Guanxi: literally means “relationships,” and stands for any type of relationship. In the Chinese business world, however, it is also understood as the network of relationships among various parties that cooperate together and support one another. The Chinese businessmen’s mentality is very much one of “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” In essence, this boils down to exchanging favors, which are expected to be done regularly and voluntarily. Therefore, it is an important concept to understand if one is to function effectively in Chinese society. 1 culture perspective affect MIS professionals’ ethical dilemmas and reactive processes. Specifically, it examines the reactive processes of MIS professionals in CHSyst (pseudonym) in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China. In practice, this study provides a good reference for enterprises such as the above that wish to find the most appropriate way to create an ethics code suitable for a Chinese company context to prevent Chinese MIS professionals from behaving unethically in their workplace. Such a code will serve to reduce the negative consequences of unethical conduct for the organization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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]

This paper examines mining management in Chenzhou and Guiyang prefectures in eastern Hunan, discussing the conflicts between government officials and merchants as well as provincial and prefectural officials over the rights to manage mines. The essay argues that the government's conception of trade was heavily influenced by ideas of "rent seeking" and it was this objective, rather than the development of the mines, which drove changes in government policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information regarding the potential of present drivers of economic governance, trade and investment, and envisions intersections and cross-cutting impacts on poverty and human development. It reflects a review employed to highlight scenarios shaping Africa's economic governance and the magnitude of the impact on pro-poor growth. It emphasizes on changes in Africa's economic policy which include stakeholders, poor farmers, economic governance and policy processes. It mentions that the emergence of China and India on the world market have brought about major changes in the character of the global commodity market.

It is well-known that Dasheng Group founded by Zhang Jian and Rongshi Group founded by Rongshi brothers were the two earliest, largest and most important private enterprises in modern China. Both the groups began in the late of the nineteenth century, located in the south of Jiangsu Province. Originally Dasheng Group was much stronger than Rongshi Group. However, with decades of frustrations and tortuousness, Dasheng Group has come down the world, yet Rongshi Group has increasingly become prosperous. This paper reveals the causes of their prosperity and decay by making a profound contrast of the two groups from their respective development strategies, marketing tactics, managing systems, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the ways and mechanisms of how the European Union attempts to support its economic interests in relations with China. It also examines if the EU can be considered effective in assisting European companies that export to China and invest in China. Moreover, it focuses on the fact, if the tools designed by the EU can help entrepreneurs from small EU member states, such as for example Slovakia, in their commercial activities in China. The author derives from scholarly works which discuss EU-China relations, and moreover from official documents published by the EU and China, trade and investment statistics, as well as from her empirical research on the problems that Slovak exporters and investors encounter in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the political, economic and cultural aspects in relation to the extent and impact of trade between Song, China and other parts of Asia. The sudden forceful flow in Song foreign trade impacted Ðai Viêt greatly, helping to incorporate the upper and lower valley of the Red River economically, politically, and culturally. Major change across the land was due to the embarkation of coastal wealth, power and classical Chinese scholarship in the inland capital of Hanoi.

Drawing upon the New Industrial City (NIC) projects by China Fortune Land Development (CFLD), a Shanghai stock-listed top 10 real estate enterprise, this article accounts for the emergence of business-promoted city-regionalism as a novel mechanism for industrial zone development in small cities near large metropolises. Lacking sufficient capital and professional personnel, local governments of these small cities made long-term contracts with CFLD, a private company, to build and develop industrial zones under the brand CFLD NIC. This novel phenomenon demonstrates the state orchestration of business-promoted city-regionalism, namely, a variegated form of state entrepreneurialism prevalent in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how political connection shapes firm owner preference on economic openness and international competition in China, a topic that is getting increasingly relevant today amid China's trade disputes with its trading partners over the nature of the country's business-government relations. Politically connected entrepreneurs and their enterprises usually exploit and benefit from their political resources, but this can lead to both supporting and opposing views on expanding trade liberalization. To solve this puzzle, this article proposes a theory that focuses on (1) a selection effect of political connection on firm productivity and (2) trade-related institutional development in China. With survey data on China joining the world trade organization, I develop a modified Bayesian item response theory model to measure political connection and find that Chinese politically connected entrepreneurs held a less supportive view before joining the world trade organization than their less connected counterparts. This suggests an anticipation that the imminent opening would neutralize the privileges of politically connected entrepreneurs. By looking at trade liberalization, this article offers a firm level analysis that political opposition to sustained economic reform may derive from the short-term winners, instead of the losers, in transitional societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability constitutes an important part of the political and educational context in China as it strives to move toward an ecological civilization. However, there is limited literature documenting the ways in which sustainability is embedded in higher education (HE) teaching. This qualitative research involves interviews and focus groups with 30 faculty in Business and Economics disciplines at three high-ranked Chinese Universities and offers an original exploration of how they include environmental sustainability in their teaching, and the opportunities and challenges they encounter. The findings are significant in suggesting that a broad range of sustainability concepts and aligned pedagogies are incorporated but that political and institutional culture, limitations on obtaining research data, constraints on curriculum design, and individual beliefs are significant barriers to implementation. Strategies employed by faculty to embed sustainability are investigated and reviewed in the context of the 'theory of the second best', previously used in UK research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is sometimes said that Chinese culture is simultaneously the oldest and the youngest culture in the Hybrid: oldest because it has about 5000 years of history and youngest because of a history that often made radical changes in the cultural values possible, if not necessary. This article contains information that is useful to international business practitioners and academics interested in Chinese business by specifically focusing on the cultural trends that affect the young and educated population of Shanghai in today's China. This group is important as it consists of both the potential labor force and the target market for multinational companies, and is likely to form the present and future business leaders of China. The paper discusses the new hybridized form of Chinese culture that has emerged among the educated youth in Shanghai, one that embodies a unique combination of Eastern and Western cultural elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper study up the contribution degree and development policies of service trade to Beijing economy by macroeconomic modeling method. The result shows contribution degree of service trade to Beijing economy is 2.419. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has actively implemented an industrial policy during the last two decades. However, despite important progress, the overall result is rather disappointing. Should China continue to pursue industrial policy? Should China focus instead on developing successful globally competitive firms within the global value chain? This paper, based on an in-depth case study on the Shenhua Group, which has been deliberately built as an indigenous globally competitive coal corporation, argues that it is still possible for China to build powerful big businesses in some sectors. However, a well-designed industrial policy is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper moves from the general to the particular. First, it examines the differential speed of globalization in different types of market - specifically markets in finance, goods and services, and finally labour markets. It then analyses the location and ownership strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs), both as regards individual national markets and then in terms of the interaction between national markets (the 'local/global' spectrum). This analytical framework is applied to the place of China in the global strategy of MNEs. This application illuminates the role of DFI (direct foreign investment) in China and illustrates the peculiarities of China's place in the global system. The distortions in China's domestic system interact with the global strategies of MNEs to produce several interesting results, including: (1) the importance of MNEs' ownership strategy; (2) non-optimal location decisions; (3) the 'excessive internalization' of activities in China; and (4) the growing importance of China as a location for DFI and, in future, the potential for growth of outward DFI from China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applies a resource-based view of the firm to analyze data from a sample of 898 joint-venture firms in China, including both joint ventures established by overseas Chinese and by firms from Western cultures. It is hypothesized that culture could influence the timing of entry of joint ventures, their investment preferences, and performance. ANOVAs and regressions were conducted, and the results suggest the impact of cultural as well as technological resources. This paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brokers have played important roles in the trade of green tea between China and Mali, from the 19th century when tea first came to Mali up to the present. They mediate between tea buyers and sellers, work on their own account, use soft skills, knowledge and networks and make a living from the commission they gain. This article examines the work of brokers in the tea trade, the social constellations in which they are active and the scope of their activity. Based on extensive field research in Mali and China, this article shows how brokers create their own jobs in a dynamic business landscape, which is often delimited by governmental policies, competing entrepreneurial activities and social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 has a direct impact on the employment of older people. This adds to the challenge of ageism. The World Health Organization has started a worldwide campaign to combat ageism and has called for more research and evidence-based strategies that have the potential to be scaled up. This study specifically aims to identify solutions to combat the adverse effects of COVID-19 on the global ageing workforce. Methods: We present 15 case studies from different countries and report on what those countries are doing or not doing to address the impact of COVID-19 on ageing workers. Results: We provide examples of how COVID-19 influences older people's ability to work and stay healthy, and offer case studies of what governments, organizations or individuals can do to help ensure older people can obtain, maintain and, potentially, expand their current work. Case studies come from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Nigeria, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, South Korea, Thailand, United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Across the countries, the impact of COVID-19 on older workers is shown as widening inequalities. A particular challenge has arisen because of a large proportion of older people, often with limited education and working in the informal sector within rural areas, e.g. in Nigeria, Thailand and China. Remedies to the particular disadvantage experienced by older workers in the context of COVID are presented. These range from funding support to encouraging business continuity, innovative product and service developments, community action, new business models and localized, national and international actions. The case studies can be seen as frequently fitting within strategies that have been proven to work in reducing ageism within the workplace. They include policy and laws that have increased benefits to workers during lockdowns (most countries); educational activities such as coaching seniorpreneurship (e,g, Australia); intergenerational contact interventions such as younger Thai people who moved back to rural areas and sharing their digital knowledge with older people and where older people reciprocate by teaching the younger people farming knowledge. Conclusion: Global sharing of this knowledge among international, national and local governments and organizations, businesses, policy makers and health and human resources experts will further understanding of the issues that are faced by older workers. This will facilitate the replication or scalability of solutions as called for in the WHO call to combat ageism in 2021. We suggest that policy makers, business owners, researchers and international organisations build on the case studies by investing in evidence-based strategies to create inclusive workplaces. Such action will thus help to challenge ageism, reduce inequity, improve business continuity and add to the quality of life of older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]