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This article highlights the key motivations behind China's plan to launch the digital yuan and reviews the potential impacts on China and abroad. The article analyzes the digital yuan's benefits to consumers, such as a reliable low-risk, low cost, and high-efficiency payment solution and the potential to promote financial inclusion. It compares the digital yuan with its most prominent competitors. Also discussed is how the digital yuan is expected to provide the Chinese Communist Party with a new powerful tool to monitor and control its economy and people. The article provides a critical evaluation of the potential of the digital yuan's internationalization. This article also provides a perspective on the digital yuan to set global standards for the development of national digital currencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the photovoltaic (PV) systems of rural buildings have been demonstratively applied in severe cold areas of China. However, the lack of power generation performance and economic evaluation results is not conducive to the PV promotion. This study innovatively presented the performance and economic evaluation of the grid-connected rural building applied PV (BAPV) system in Hailar, China from the predicted and measured data. The measured monthly PV outputs were counted and analyzed from the year 2020 to 2021. The ambient temperature, solar radiation and predicted output were obtained by the software of PVSYST. The performance ratio (PR), efficiency and loss were investigated, and their relationship with temperature and sunshine was analyzed. According to the measured data and theoretical calculation, the payback periods and profits were calculated. The results indicate that the measured output yields are 14,123.70 kWh in 2020 and 13,265.10 kWh in 2021, which are 6.05%~11.76% lower than the predicted value due to snow cover in the cold months. The monthly predicted array output is about 3.4% higher than the energy output. The array capture loss (LC) is 14.99–34.80 kWh and the system loss (LS) is 29.6–5.81 kWh. The PR is 83.30%-99.80%. The average system efficiency and array efficiency are 16.15% and 15.62%. The lower PR and efficiency are caused by the high temperature. The measured and theoretical payback periods are 6.7 and 5.6 years, respectively. The theoretical annual rate of income is 4828.15 Chinese yuan (CNY). These results provide an important reference for the promotion of rural residential BAPV in severe cold areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the misalignment path of the RMB/US$ exchange rate, focusing on the managed floating period since July 2005 and determining the impact of the central bank's intervention on the RMB/US$ misalignment. We adopt the permanent-and-transitory component decomposition approach developed by Gonzalo and Granger (1995) to estimate the equilibrium RMB/US$ rate and its misalignment within a vector error correction model (VECM). The sample for our study is the quarterly data on the exchange rate and some fundamental variables for the US and China between the 1st quarter of 2000 and the 2nd quarter of 2020. The results show a trend of the RMB/US$ reducing its undervaluation during the sample period, going from 41% to 35%. The government intervention substantially increased the RMB undervaluation, from an average of 5% to 39% without accounting for the weak exogeneity of the intervention, but to 25.8% after accounting for the exogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on highly disaggregated customs data from 2016–19, this paper investigates the impact of the China–U.S. trade war on the exports of Chinese firms, from the perspective of the extensive margin of product scope. The paper finds that the rise in U.S. import tariffs during the trade war led to Chinese exporters concentrating on production of their core products and shrinking their export scope. Higher import tariffs resulted in an average 2.43 percent decline in export scope and an average 1.25 percent increase in the export share of core products. The damage was particularly pronounced for intermediate products and heterogeneous products, which is consistent with the high duties. The paper provides direct evidence on the harm to export diversification caused by the China–U.S. trade war, suggesting a welfare loss from the decrease in product variety, as emphasized in the literature. This result holds after controlling for factors such as production cycles and heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combination vaccines can reduce the vaccination visit, simplify the vaccination schedule and efficiently improve management. This study was primarily designed to evaluate the economic impact of integrating the diphtheria‐tetanus‐acellular pertussis inactivated poliomyelitis and Haemophilus influenzae type B (DTaP‐IPV‐Hib) combination vaccine into the China National Immunization Program. A cost‐minimization analysis (CMA) compared the costs associated with direct medical, direct nonmedical, and indirect social costs in four schemes was conducted. A budgetary impact analysis assessed the alternative schemes' financial impact on the healthcare budget. Direct medical costs were extracted using a costing questionnaire and an observational time and motion chart. Direct nonmedical (cost for transportation) and indirect costs (loss of productivity) were derived from parents' questionnaires. Replacement of the current vaccination scheme with DTaP‐IPV‐Hib combination vaccine, resulted in net increases in direct medical costs of 77.64% for alternative scheme 1, 146.54% for alternative scheme 2, and 294.67% for alternative scheme 3, respectively. However, the direct nonmedical and indirect costs and the cost of the alternative schemes were 18.18%, 36.36%, and 63.64% lower than the current scheme for alternative scheme 1, alternative scheme 2, and alternative scheme 3, respectively. From the societal perspective, when compared with the current scheme, the budgetary impact of the three alternative schemes were +66 million Chinese Yuan (CNY) (4.81%), +103 million CNY (7.53%), and +305million CNY (22.35%), respectively. The CMA considered a broader perspective of social costs and indicated that the alternative schemes would result in an overall saving of parents' transportation and work loss costs to bring their children for vaccination, translating into a total cost saving of 18.18%, 36.36%, 63.64%, comparing to the current scheme. Thus, fully or partly using the DTaP‐IPV‐Hib combination vaccine is cost‐saving in the context of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the dependence structure between the renminbi (RMB) onshore spot and offshore NDF markets using a GARCH-dynamic copula model. We document that the central parity reform in August 2015 marked a structural change in the dependence structure between the onshore spot and offshore NDF markets. Since the reform, the conditional correlation and tail dependence between the two markets have significantly increased and exhibited apparent time-varying patterns. We show that the difference between the central parity and spot rates and the degree of market segmentation between CNY and NDF markets are two crucial factors driving the time-varying CNY-NDF dependence. Furthermore, we find symmetric downside and upside risk spillovers between the two markets transmitted in both directions. The magnitude of spillovers has significantly increased since the reform. Our findings are particularly relevant for policy-making and portfolio risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the capabilities of six cryptocurrencies as a hedge and safe haven against the stock indices and foreign exchange rate in the East Asia-5 markets. According, MGARCH-DCC was adopted and implemented in data collection processes together with Rathner and Chiu regression method, which spanned from April 2013 to December 2019. The results revealed that these cryptocurrencies had dissimilar hedging and safe haven capabilities across various stock indices and exchange rates in the East Asia-5 markets. In particular, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum offered strong hedge properties on most of the East Asia-5 equity indices. Moreover, Bitcoin and Litecoin only provided a safe haven for Japanese Yen currency, while Taiwanese equity indices and Chinese Yuan currency can be safely protected via an investment into Stellar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: The stability of exchange rates facilitates international trade, diminishes portfolio risk, and ensures that economic policies are effective. The war in Ukraine is showing that the European financial system is still fragile to external shocks. This paper examines the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on five Euro exchange rates. The final goal is to empirically test whether the ruble caused the euro to depreciate with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Design/methodology/approach: The exchange rates analyzed are Euro/Russian Ruble, Euro/US Dollar, Euro/Japanese Yen, Euro/British Pound, and Euro/Chinese Yuan. The data collected are daily and cover the period from November 1, 2021, to May 1, 2022. In this context, the changes in the FX rates reflect two months of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The FX rates used in the study contain 137 observations indicating five months of daily series. Findings: The results from impulse response function, variance decomposition, SVAR, and VECM indicate that the EUR/RUB significantly influenced the Euro devaluation. On the other side, the FX rates used in our work altogether hold long-run cointegration. The situation is different in the short run, where only EUR/RUB, EUR/USD, and EUR/CNY possess significant relations with other parities. Originality/value: The Ruble is not among hard currencies, but its position strengthened during this period due to the importance of Russian gas to the Eurozone. The results indicate that even weak currencies can be influential depending on the geopolitical and economic situation. To this end, diversification remains a valid concept not only in portfolio construction but also for the preservation of the national economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt's book, "The Borders of Chinese Architecture," explores the enduring nature of Chinese architecture and its transmission across borders. Steinhardt argues that Chinese architecture maintained a visual sameness throughout history due to its foundation in the post-and-lintel timber-frame support system. The book examines the influence of Chinese building practices in regions such as Inner Mongolia, Korea, and Japan, as well as the impact of non-Chinese border empires on Chinese architecture during the Song and Yuan dynasties. Steinhardt also discusses the incorporation of architectural styles from other ethnicities during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The book highlights the importance of non-Chinese patrons and builders in sustaining and improving the Chinese building system beyond China's borders. [Extracted from the article]

For the last quarter century, Asia has been seeking greater autonomy within the existing international monetary system. While the region has had the resources to go its own way, intraregional rivalries and a reluctance to damage ties to the US and the International Monetary Fund have put a damper on regional initiatives. Now the ascendency of China offers a path toward greater regional autonomy in monetary affairs. Asia, led by China, has been playing a two-track strategy pushing for greater influence within the existing global institutions, while developing its own parallel institutions such as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization, the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Use of the Chinese renminbi will likely grow as a trade invoicing currency but expanded use of the renminbi as a reserve currency is more uncertain. It is possible that the dollar-centered international financial system could evolve into a multipolar system with multiple currencies playing key roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) is an indispensable part of the carbon removal technologies to achieve carbon neutrality for China. Our study focuses on China's CCUS pathways, and draws out three key conclusions: (1) in terms of the greenhouse gases emission reductions required to achieve carbon neutrality and based on current technology projections, the CO2 emission reductions to be achieved by CCUS are 0.6 ∼ 1.4 billion tonnes and 1 ∼ 1.8 billion tonnes in 2050 and 2060, respectively; (2) from the perspective of source-sink matching in China, the emission reduction potential provided by CCUS can basically meet the demand of carbon neutrality target (0.6 ∼ 2.1 billion tonnes of CO2); (3) with the development of technologies, the cost of CCUS in China has a great potential to be reduced in the future. It is expected that by 2030, the technical cost of the whole CCUS process (according to 250 kilometers transportation) in China will be 310 ∼ 770 Chinese Yuan per tonne of CO2, and by 2060, it will gradually drop to 140 ∼ 410 Chinese Yuan per tonne of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is an increasingly serious global issue. DR-TB has a lower success rate and more severe interruption of treatment than ordinary tuberculosis. Incomplete treatment not only reduces recovery rate in DR-TB patients but also increases the spread of DR-TB. Optimizing medical security policies for DR-TB can reduce the economic burden of patients and can thereby improve treatment success rate. Methods: Patients with DR-TB who were registered in Wuhan Center for Tuberculosis Control and Prevention from January 2016 to December 2019 were selected as research subjects. General descriptive statistical analysis methods were used in analyzing patients' treatment outcomes and medical security compensation rate. The binary logistic regression was used in analyzing the impacts of medical security level on treatment outcomes of DR-TB. Results: A total of 409 DR-TB patients were included in the study, and the refusal rate was 12.47%. The treatment success rate was only 37.09% for patients who started treatment and had treatment outcomes. The total out-of-pocket expenses (OOPs) per capita for DR-TB patients were 13,005.61 Chinese yuan. The outpatient effective compensation ratio (ECR) of DR-TB patients was only 51.04%. The outpatient ECR of DR-TB with subsidies of public health projects (SPHPs) were nearly 80% higher than those without SPHP. high outpatient ECR helped optimize treatment outcomes (P < 0.001, OR = 1.038). The inpatient ECR had no effect on patients' treatment outcomes (P = 0.158, OR = 0.986). Conclusion: Many DR-TB patients did not receive complete treatment. The key breakthrough point in improving DR-TB treatment outcomes is to optimize the outpatient medical insurance compensation policy. Including the costs of DR-TB in expenses for severe diseases in outpatient care is recommended, and financial investment should be appropriately increased to ensure the high coverage ratio of subsidies for public health projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper quantitatively analyzes the current status of North Korean consumer payment instruments through a questionnaire survey of 292 North Korean defectors. In the 2010s, it was found that the payment experience ratio of domestic currency cash and grain decreased, while the payment experience ratio of foreign currency cash increased. The use of foreign currency reached a stage where it was spread not only as a store of value but also as a medium of exchange. However, the most frequently used payment instrument by North Korean consumers was still domestic currency cash. By region, in inland urban areas both domestic currency cash and U.S. dollars are used and in the North Korea-China border region both domestic currency cash and Chinese yuan are used, while in inland rural areas dollarization does not occur because both domestic currency cash and grain are used. Meanwhile, despite the stable price trend during 2013-2019, the dollarization hysteresis effect is appearing, and both the purchasing power risk theory and the network externality theory are considered to have explanatory power for the cause. The results of this paper suggest that as dollarization is intensifying, it is expected that more costs such as shortages of commodities will be incurred than in the past if North Korea's de-dollarization policy is reimplemented. Also, in the case of domestic currency cards, which the North Korean authorities introduced in 2015 as part of a means of financial reform, this paper suggests that it may continue to be difficult for domestic currency cards to normalize official finance under the dollarization hysteresis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of green-bond financing on energy efficiency investment for green economic recovery. The fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was used to achieve the research objective. The study's findings showed that green bonds are currently the primary financing source for energy efficiency projects, enhancing economic growth by 4.9% and potentially increasing green economic recovery by approximately 17% per annum. The fuzzy analysis technique and alternative models of fuzzy modeling were applied in this study. An alternative to project-based financing is energy performance contracts (EPCs). Green bonds also invest in public and private funds for energy efficiency and economic growth. Alternatively, such bonds may finance environmental initiatives or companies. Testing energy-efficiency projects with low payback rates may be expensive. Expanding the green economy through green bonds is essential for financing to successfully promote energy efficiency finance and green growth. This study also has policy implications for stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the potential spillovers of a slowdown in Chinese growth to the United States and the rest of the world. Through a combination of structural VAR and DSGE analyses, we find that (1) spillovers from China to the rest of the world have grown significantly in the past decade; (2) the negative growth spillovers to the United States are more modest than to emerging market economies—particularly for commodity exporters—or other advanced economies, primarily because the latter group has larger direct exposure in trade to China; and (3) although the United States has limited direct financial exposure to China, the negative spillovers to the U.S. economy are amplified significantly if the negative Chinese growth shock leads to adverse global risk sentiment and monetary policy in the United States is constrained in its reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims are to analyze the fluctuation forecast of exchange rate markets, including the Chinese Yuan (CNY), and discuss applying the neural network model in the Value at Risk (VaR) measure. Therefore, six exchange rate markets are selected as the research objects, with the CNY exchange rate market as the main body, to analyze and explain the exchange rate fluctuation risks. Second, based on the overview of the neural network model, the Deep Belief Network (DBN), Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), and Long Short-Term Memory Network (LSTM) are introduced, and a VaR method based on risk measurement is proposed. Finally, based on the number of excess days (Exc) and the Kupiec test, the VaR measure results under different models are analyzed. Results demonstrate that the CNY exchange rate market's historical data are relatively concentrated, with minor fluctuations, and the overall change is a sharp right shift. Compared with the benchmark model Generalized AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity, the three neural network models show excellent risk measurement performance for different exchange rate markets. Based on Exc, the DBN model has the optimal risk forecast performance. In the CNY exchange rate market, the Exc values corresponding to the DBN and LSTM models are small, and the forecast performance is fair. Based on the Kupiec test, in addition to the Great Britain Pound exchange rate market, the three neural network models perform well in measuring the risks of the other five exchange rate markets. Besides, the MLP model has the optimal performance in measuring the CNY risks. Hence, the neural network models have excellent applicability in measuring the risks of exchange rate markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ESPINOSA, OSCAR, HERNÁN ENRÍQUEZ, DIEGO ÁVILA, SERGIO BASTO, DANIELA RIVERA, DANIELA LÓPEZ, PAOLA AVELLANEDA, and PAOLA RIVEROS. In Part 1, names of authors appear in capital letters, and titles of articles appear in lower-case letters. I See i OSCAR ESPINOSA. I See i OSCAR ESPINOSA. I See i OSCAR ESPINOSA. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the internationalization of the Chinese renminbi (RMB) in light of a redefined network effects framework to incorporate an original institutionalist perspective. Contradicting common wisdom, this approach shows that rather than slowing down in 2015, the strategy to internationalize the RMB has been redirected towards the creation of network effects, thereby directly challenging the institutions—such as the petrodollar system, creditworthiness, among others—that support the United States dollar's hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies China's recent exchange rate policy for the renminbi (RMB). We demonstrate empirically that a two‐pillar policy is in place, aiming to balance exchange rate flexibility and RMB index stability via market and basket pillars. We further extend and validate the formulation that incorporates the so‐called countercyclical factor. Theoretically, we develop a flexible‐price monetary model for the RMB in which the two‐pillar policy arises endogenously as an optimal response of the government. We estimate the model by generalized method of moments and quantitatively assess various policy trade‐offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the global financial recession of 2008 and the subsequent sovereign debt crisis, the US economic supremacy has experienced setbacks. China has steadily grown into a dependable economic force across the globe, particularly in Asia. Is the renminbi on the verge of becoming a global currency given the financial domination setbacks of the US economy? In this critical review analysis, I contend that the dollar’s hegemonic position is at risk, but the political and economic climate does not appear to be ripe for renminbi globalization. The Chinese hawks see the economic sanctions levied against Russia following the Ukraine invasion as a chance to challenge the dominance of the US dollar. Furthermore, China has benefited from the first-mover advantage through the launching of the Central Bank Digital Currency. However, China must gain the trust of foreign users in the robustness of its financial system, economy, and digital yuan’s functionality for the globalization of the digital yuan to be effective. Moreover, to promote renminbi internalization, China must ease capital regulations, increase renminbi convertibility, and restructure its financial system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of real exchange rate volatility and misalignment on exports and imports between China and the United States. Our empirical analysis used the quarterly time series data over the 1994Q:1–2019Q:4 period. We used the ARDL-bound testing approach for the short- and long-run relationship. The empirical results reveal that China's real exchange rate volatility and misalignment significantly impact China's real exports and imports over the sample period. In the short-run, the relationship between real exchange rate misalignments and China's exports is positive, whereas negative with imports from the United States. In the long run, the real exchange rate misalignment positively affects exports and negatively affects imports. The evidence suggests that both higher real exchange rate volatility and misalignment directly affect the relative price of goods and encourage China exports to United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firms that offshore final production should oppose trade barriers "protecting" their own industry. This pits them against onshore firms, especially when comparative disadvantage is most pronounced, and so fundamentally alters trade policy coalitions. The US-China trade war's exclusion process, where US firms could request that tariffs not be applied to a product, provides a golden opportunity to test this contention. We show that coverage by a tariff in the trade war and firm characteristics associated with offshoring—size, multinationality, and heavy imports from China—interacted to generate firm requests for exclusion from the trade war's tariffs. This finding is robust to input-sourcing and fears of export retaliation as alternative explanations, and across multiple measures of firm size, tariff coverage, and exclusion requests. We therefore test a key piece of the firm-centered model of trade politics and show its value in interpreting the US-China trade war. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adopts the New Keynesian theoretical model to analyse the heterogeneity spillover effect of U.S. permanent and temporary monetary policy shock on China's economy through an exchange rate channel. It also employs the Bayesian technique to estimate SVAR model and obtain two main results. First, the permanent increase in the nominal interest rate in the U.S. causes Chinese yuan appreciation and U.S. dollar depreciation, which has a negative spillover impact on China's economy and leads to the decline in China's real output. Second, the temporary increase in the nominal interest rate in the U. S. leads to Chinese yuan depreciation, which has a positive spillover impact on China' s macroeconomy and leads to the rise of China's real output. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes are to predict exchange rate fluctuations more accurately and enhance Chinese enterprises' abilities to avoid exchange rate risks. Renminbi (RMB) exchange rate fluctuation's prediction methods are studied based on data mining technology. The auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model is introduced first using a modeling method that combines linear and nonlinear models. The linear prediction is obtained by the ARIMA model's application in the RMB exchange rate's dynamic fluctuation analysis. The nonlinear residual prediction is obtained by integrating the ARIMA model with the convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm. The RMB exchange rate fluctuations' influence mechanism on China's economic growth is explored by theoretical analysis and empirical research. The US dollar's daily central parity rate (USD) data against the RMB from September 2015 to March 2019 are selected for model verification, obtaining the exchange rate's logarithmic return sequence (RUSD). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among Indonesian-Chinese authors, Yuan Ni is very well known. This paper analyzes her miniature novels by using Wolfgang Iser's blank theory to explore her writing on love and the values behind it. Firstly, Yuan Ni's view of love shows a call for genuine feelings, and the artistic blank in some of her novels leads readers to think critically. Secondly, her novels also show the notion that perfect love should be sublimated in the family, which is the result of Indonesian-Chinese women's conscious identification with traditional Chinese ethics. The concept of family is an important point in this traditional ethical view. However, in some of her works, the novel presents blank the meaning of the text, which reflects the fact that the family, a symbol of patriarchal power, often hinders love, and this feature of the text reveals the author's inner entanglement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights the increasingly important role of clean energy metals in return and volatility spillovers across energy and foreign exchange markets. During the collapse of oil prices from 2014 to 2016, crude oil futures were at the center of the risk contagion; however, since the COVID‐19 pandemic broke out, the spillovers of clean energy metal futures have become one of the main sources of the risk contagion. Additionally, crude oil and the US dollar are the most important contributors to the spillovers, but further spillovers are emerging between the Chinese yuan, euro, and Japanese yen with clean energy metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and Russia have been pushing for years to reduce the role of the US dollar in the international financial system. Beijing hoped that the yuan would take over the function of the dollar (and euro) in the global economy. Among the various initiatives underway. one of particular interest is the 2019 Sino-Russian Settlement and Payment Agreement. However, the continuing economic perturbations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of economic sanctions imposed on Russia in 2022 will strengthen structural limitations of RMB and force both countries, as well as their BRIC-supporters, to reevaluate their plans to build an alternative system of internati.onal jinancial settlements and transfers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clarifying the scientific identity of ancient biological names in historical archives is essential to understand traditional knowledge and literary metaphors of animals in human culture. Adopting a cross-disciplinary (Primatology, Linguistics, Historiography, Historical Sociology) analysis, we developed a theoretical framework for studies of the scientific identity of Chinese primate traditional names (e.g., Yuan 猿) throughout history, and interpret the historical evolution of the understanding of the Chinese word Yuan. Presently, the Chinese generally understand Yuan to be a gibbon (or "ape" in a broader sense), but this statement has many contradictions with the understanding of the word in relevant historical discourse. We review and comment on key evidence to support the traditional understanding of Yuan as a gibbon (Hylobatidae) and clarify the historical and current thought concerning Yuan. We find that the referent of the word Yuan has changed from "François' langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) with long limbs" to the "long-armed ape or gibbon" known today through two major changes in the idea of Yuan. One transformation in the conceptualization of Yuan took place during the Tang-Song period, with the other beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and ending in the 1950s. An interaction between the conceptualization of animals and power (e.g., political opportunity; cultural movement toward learning western sciences in the semi-colonial era) played an important role in these two diachronic changes to the idea of Yuan. In contrast to the clear linear relation between a species and its Latin name, our study indicates that one traditional name can represent varying animal species in China. Our findings exemplify the implications of the sociocultural and linguistic basis for the species identification of primate names found in historical discourse for historical zoogeography, our understanding of the intricate cultural and religious connections between humans and primates, and efforts to decolonize primatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analysed the impact of appreciation of the renminbi (RMB) on China's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) on a theoretical and empirical basis. Based on theoretical analysis, we found that the appreciation of RMB can promote OFDI, as it can lower the threshold for foreign direct investment. Then, by constructing export-weighted effective exchange rates, we found that for every 1% appreciation of the RMB, the probability of enterprises engaging in OFDI increased by 0.0069 over 2001–2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the impact of host country corruption on foreign direct investment (FDI) from China to developing countries in Africa. With the opposing arguments that corruption is detrimental to or instrumental in FDI and mixed empirical evidence, this paper contributes to the literature by providing new evidence on the issue. Additionally, little research has been done on the impact of corruption on FDI made by developing country multinationals to developing countries. This paper fills a void in this area. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the published literature, as well as China and Africa contexts, the authors develop hypotheses that host countries with low corruption receive more FDI and resource-seeking investments weaken the relationship. The annual stock of Chinese FDI in 35 African countries, host country corruption data and other control variables from 2007 to 2015 are collected. Feasible generalized least squares models are used to test the hypotheses. Additional robustness tests are also conducted. Findings: The findings support the hypotheses. Specifically, Chinese investors make more investments in host countries with low corruption except for resource-seeking investments in resource-rich host counties. The results are statistically significant accounting for various control variables. The results of the robustness tests show that the main findings are robust. Originality/value: First, this study provides new evidence on the impact of corruption on FDI. Second, this study also fills a void by examining FDI from a developing country, China to other developing countries in Africa. Finally, this study also has a practical implication for Chinese multinationals investing in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RESUMO Este artigo discute o papel que a moeda representa nas relações de poder dos Estados em relação aos agentes privados, bem como em relação aos seus pares no sistema internacional, a partir do caso da moeda digital chinesa. A análise do “e-Renminbi” parte do entendimento de que os Estados são a unidade básica do sistema internacional, de que eles disputam poder entre si e de que suas moedas são simultaneamente uma manifestação e uma fonte de poder. Esta pesquisa argumenta que as evidências existentes não autorizam qualquer diagnóstico definitivo de que o “e-Renminbi” representará uma ruptura iminente no sistema monetário e financeiro internacional centrado no dólar.

This study uses the DCC-GARCH model to analyze the impact of RMB internationalization on exchange rate linkages in China and four ASEAN countries (Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia) from 2009 to 2020. The results show that China, as the largest trading partner of ASEAN, has made exchange rate transmission very close between the two economic entities. In the process of RMB internationalization, exchange rate linkages exhibit varying characteristics in distinct stages. In the early stage, the direction of RMB internationalization was unclear, and exchange rate linkages were affected by international capital flows. Afterward, the RMB internationalization, combined with the Belt and Road Initiative, was gradually clarified, promoting a unilateral increase in RMB currency value and a decrease in the linkage level. With the implementation of the initiative, the dividends gradually spread to the four ASEAN countries, bringing the linkages to a peak. Subsequently, unilateral exchange rate reforms of the RMB, such as the '811 exchange rate reform,ʻ reduced linkages. After 2017, the cumulative effects of the reforms in the previous period appear. The RMB internationalization has taken shape in ASEAN, and the stability of the exchange rate linkages has been greatly improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the spatial evolutionary path and spatial evolutionary features of Renminbi (RMB) internationalization from three aspects: transaction intermediary, invoicing unit, and value storage. The main results show that: Firstly, the internationalization of RMB exhibits a certain path expansion pattern, such as initially expands to East Asian countries and regions, then gradually moves to Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, and Australia, and participating countries in the Belt and Road initiative. Secondly, the RMB settlement of cross-border trade presents the "coast-border-inland" spatial characteristics. Thirdly, bilateral currency swap shows "rapid growth" and "unbalanced growth." Finally, the spatial structure of RMB internationalization has the significant features such as "from points to the area and from lines to the area." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross-border Renminbi (RMB) business volume of third-party payment institutions makes up a small share of China's total cross-border business, but there is still an absolute amount of trade that cannot be disregarded. The third-party payment institutions are subject to policy restrictions in the process of seeking development and business promotion and hope to obtain policy support in the business, transaction amount limit, identification, and other aspects. Recently, China has made a strict policy for third-party payment institutions and warned against issuing any new licenses concerning payment. On the other hand, 39 payment institutions' licenses have been canceled for various reasons. Under the premise that strict supervision becomes normal, all payment institutions should be more cautious to develop businesses legally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Counterfeiting of banknotes remains a severe threat to economic security and social stability. The characterization of banknote has mainly relied on the assessment of various security features applied to the surface of the note. However, the surface features are easy to forge and contain insufficient information to discover the source. In this paper, a novel approach for banknote characterization has been proposed by employing spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT) that can provide structural and optical features. Three groups of counterfeit Chinese 100 Yuan banknotes produced by different printing manners and one group of authentic banknotes were examined by SD‐OCT without any sample preparation and four distinct areas were selected for imaging. High‐resolution tomographic and three‐dimensional (3D) volumetric OCT images were obtained and a set of features were first revealed to characterize the banknotes qualitatively and quantitatively. The results demonstrated that SD‐OCT was effective to detect and classify different types of counterfeit banknotes and could potentially be used to link counterfeit banknotes to their sources in a fast, simple and nondestructive manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We analyse the relationship between trade patterns and the allocation of investment projects carried out under the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). • Investments tend to concentrate in countries located in central nodes of the international production networks as well as towards suppliers of intermediate goods whose revealed comparative advantage overlaps with China. • High income countries closer to destination markets tend to attract fewer but larger investments. • The BRI represents an opportunity for China to upgrade its exports and for the countries receiving investments to enhance their participation in Global Value Chains with possible positive impacts on development. We analyze the relationship between trade patterns and the allocation of investment projects carried out under the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Rooted on a novel database, we construct the intermediate trade network and assess its role in the allocation of the projects. Investments tend to concentrate in countries located in central nodes of the international production networks as well as towards suppliers of intermediate goods whose revealed comparative advantage overlaps with China. High income countries closer to destination markets tend to attract fewer but larger investments. Controlling for gravity variables as well as for political proximity to China adds explanatory power without affecting the results on the importance of trade. The BRI represents an opportunity for China to upgrade its exports and for the countries receiving investments to enhance their participation in Global Value Chains (GVC) with possible positive impacts on development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: A growing number of biologics have recently been approved in China for psoriasis treatment, and some of these are eligible for Chinese medical insurance, resulting in a significant increase in the number of patients receiving these biologics. Nevertheless, real-world data on the efficacy and safety of biologics for treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in Chinese patients are limited, and relevant pharmacoeconomic studies are lacking. Therefore, we performed a prospective, single-center study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab (ADA) and secukinumab (SEC) in real-world practice. A cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) was also conducted. Methods: Participants were enrolled between January 2019 and December 2020 at the West China Hospital, Sichuan University. Baseline and follow-up assessments were conducted, and an appropriate statistical analysis was performed. Results: A total of 183 patients were included. At week 12, the number of patients achieving a psoriasis area and severity index reduction of 75% (PASI 75) with SEC treatment was higher than that with ADA and methotrexate (MTX) (SEC versus ADA versus MTX, 90.59% versus 58.70% versus 17.14%, respectively). Adverse events (AEs) were reported in 44.83% and 56.36% of patients in the SEC and ADA groups, respectively. The cost-effectiveness ratio in the SEC group was 46,311.83 Chinese yuan(CNY), compared with 17,580.92 CNY in the ADA group. Conclusion: In real-world practice, SEC and ADA are effective and safe for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis treatment in Chinese patients. On the basis of drug prices during our study period without considering access to health insurance, ADA was more cost-effective in real-world practice. Plain Language Summary: Adalimumab and secukinumab are two monoclonal antibodies used for the treatment of psoriasis, which target different cytokines in the pathogenesis. A growing number of biologics have recently been approved in China for psoriasis treatment including adalimumab and secukinumab, which are eligible for Chinese medical insurance, resulting in a significant increase in the number of patients receiving these biologics. With the purpose of evaluating its efficacy and safety in the real world, we registered the data of eligible patients in West China Hospital, Sichuan University over the past two years and conducted statistical analysis. In order to provide different therapeutic strategies for patients based on case-specific needs and access to financial resources, we performed pharmacoeconomic analyses to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the two drugs. Our study demonstrated that adalimumab and secukinumab were effective and safe for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in Chinese patients in the real-world practice. Based on drug prices during our study period and without taking into consideration access to health insurance, ADA was more cost-effective in real-world practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yuan dynasty is the first non-Han unified dynasty in ancient China. It is subtle to tell the similarities and differences between the classic Chinese poems in the Yuan dynasty written by the writers of Han nationality and non-Han minority nationalities. By graph theory and statistics, this article establishes a novel method for quantifying the similarity between the Han's and non-Han's Yuan poetry. First, we formulate the character co-occurrence networks (CCONs) of the Han's and non-Han's Yuan poem databases collected from 'Database of Ancient Chinese Classics'. The resistance distance, a graph theory concept, is introduced to describe the lexical relation between a pair of characters in the CCONs. Then, we propose the similarity index as the coefficient of variation for the ratios of resistance distances in the CCONs of Han's and non-Han's poem databases, which measures the consistency between the usages of characters in the Han's and non-Han's poems. The calculation results indicate that the Han's and non-Han's poems share a high percentage of common high-frequency characters and there do not exist significantly different lexical features in terms of the usage of these high-frequency characters. The obtained results offer new insights into the quantitative features of this long-debated issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a dataset of 3108 dichotomous renminbi (RMB) misalignment estimates from 95 studies, we conduct a meta‐analysis based on Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to assess the effects of study characteristics on these RMB misalignment estimates. The findings demonstrate that selected study characteristic types systematically influence RMB misalignment estimates, especially time series versus non‐time series approach and co‐integration versus non‐cointegration. Though lean toward RMB undervaluation inference, results from the BMA meta‐analysis and the corresponding median probability model and synthetic practice evaluation do not offer a conclusive statistical inference on RMB misalignment. Specifically, the evidence varies with the configuration of model specification and does not corroborate the RMB undervaluation claim for the periods of "2009–2010" and "2011–2014." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Hypertension is the most prevalent chronic condition in China and is associated with an increased risk of comorbidity. This study aims to investigate health services use and expenditures among community-dwelling residents with hypertension comorbidity. Data is from a 7-month follow-up study of 503 community-dwelling residents aged ≥45 years in Jiangsu Province, China. These participants were stratified into three categories based on their disease status at baseline (no chronic condition, hypertension, hypertension with one or more comorbidities), and followed up monthly to gather information on their health services use and expenditures (including self-medication, outpatient and inpatient services). We used generalized estimating equations to estimate the association between disease status and health services use. 58.1% of individuals with hypertension had a comorbidity. Compared with individuals without any condition, the fully adjusted odds ratio (OR) for those with hypertension comorbidity was 2.18 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.57–3.03) in overall health services use. Rural residents with hypertension comorbidity had a greater odds of health services use compared with their urban counterparts (age and sex-adjusted OR 4.21, 95% CI 2.56–6.93). The median monthly expenditure for individuals with hypertension comorbidity was 172 Chinese Yuan (CNY), which was much higher than those with no condition and those with hypertension only (90 and 91 CNY, respectively). Comorbidity in individuals with hypertension is highly prevalent and associated with elevated health services use and expenditures. These findings emphasize the importance of secondary prevention and integrated care for comorbidity in the population with hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]