Determinants and impact of foreign direct investment in China: a national and regional analysis

Since the late 1970s, the Chinese economic system has experienced a series of economic reforms, which include attracting foreign direct investment and the liberalisation of Chinese international trade. Due to the successful reform, China has experienced a 30 year economic growth. Previous empirical studies found the positive effect of FDI in the Chinese economic development. This study plans to investigate the factors which attract the investment to China and the impact of the inward FDI on international trade and Chinese economic development under the geographic location condition. OLI model has emphasis the location effect in motivated FDI flows. The first research question is the determinant of FDI in China with concerning the geographic effect. Different with the previous empirical paper on the FDI determinants in China, the using the geographic effect as an dummy variable in the specification, this study investigate the effect of the other determinant under different geographic background. The geographic effect has been explore in two levels: national level and regional level. On national level, there are two countries have been selected as research samples: the investment from the U.S. and the investment from Japan. These two countries have similar economic size and FDI stock in China but have different geographic relationship with China. Through the ARDL research approach, this study finds that the key drivers of inward investment are relative wages, relative capital cost, market size and net exports, although the source of these FDI flows is also found to be important especially those from the USA and Japan. The determinants of FDI from the US and Japan have different effect. International trade has negative effect of export from US to China on the US FDI stock in China, while it has positive coefficient of the exports from Japan to China on the Japanese FDI. The large market size would drive the FDI from US but reduce the FDI from Japan. The geographic effect influences the motivation of FDI (Helpman 1984, Cushman 1988). This further lead the determinants has different effect. The study on regional FDI divided the Chinese provinces in two subgroups: the eastern coastal area and the western hinterland. The eastern area has more than 80% of FDI in China. The eastern coastal has rich resource in the transportation, openness, physical and human capital. The west hinterland area has cheaper labours. However, the result shows that the competition in the sub-regions are determined by it scare resources. Cheaper wage is the key factor to attractive the investment to the east regions. While the technology, human capital and economy openness is the key factors to determine the FDI stock in the west hinterland. The second research question is the impact of FDI on international trade. Chapter 6 investigates the plausibility of FDI driving trade. The granger causality test has been applied to test the endogenity between international trade and FDI stock in China, the results does not support the causality. The further regression results show that this model is not substantiated by the data, so the maintained hypothesis that FDI is the dependent variables seems to be appropriate for China. The third contribution is to examine the effects of FDI on economic growth. In this panel data analysis the impact of FDI on the regions of the country is examined. Furthermore, the impact on the sub-regions groups has also been explored. The results show that economy of the east coastal area in China is motivated by the inward FDI stock. However, due to the limitation of the catch-up capability, FDI has negative effect on the development of the hinterland in China. The hinterland economy is driven by the international trade, although the transportation resource in the hinterland is not as rich as ones in the eastern coast

Data_Sheet_2_The relationship between sense of community and general well-being of Chinese older adults: A moderated mediation model.docx

As China becomes an aging society, the impacts of the aging population on the social meso domain, namely, the community level, have received increasing attention in recent years. However, relevant studies are limited. With the assumption that regular community participation positively influences well-being, this study investigated the mediating role of community participation between the sense of community and the general well-being of Chinese older adults and the moderating role of social support. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a valid sample size of 566 participants aged 60 and above in the urban communities of Chongqing, Chengdu, and Zunyi in southwest China. Moderated mediation models were constructed to explore factors related to the well-being of older adults, finding that encouraging community participation can improve the general well-being of older adults and build a better society in Chinese cities. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) a sense of community significantly and positively relates to community participation and general well-being; (2) community participation partially mediates the relationship between sense of community and general well-being; and (3) each pathway through which sense of community influences older adults’ general well-being is moderated by social support.</p

Data_Sheet_1_The relationship between sense of community and general well-being of Chinese older adults: A moderated mediation model.docx

As China becomes an aging society, the impacts of the aging population on the social meso domain, namely, the community level, have received increasing attention in recent years. However, relevant studies are limited. With the assumption that regular community participation positively influences well-being, this study investigated the mediating role of community participation between the sense of community and the general well-being of Chinese older adults and the moderating role of social support. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a valid sample size of 566 participants aged 60 and above in the urban communities of Chongqing, Chengdu, and Zunyi in southwest China. Moderated mediation models were constructed to explore factors related to the well-being of older adults, finding that encouraging community participation can improve the general well-being of older adults and build a better society in Chinese cities. The main findings of this study are as follows: (1) a sense of community significantly and positively relates to community participation and general well-being; (2) community participation partially mediates the relationship between sense of community and general well-being; and (3) each pathway through which sense of community influences older adults’ general well-being is moderated by social support.</p

Heterostructured Bismuth Molybdate Composite: Preparation and Improved Photocatalytic Activity under Visible-Light Irradiation

A heterostructured photocatalyst containing the same Bi, Mo, and O elements (Bi3.64Mo0.36O6.55/Bi2MoO6) was realized by a facile hydrothermal method. The heterostructured composite was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, selected-area electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and high-resolution electron microscopy. The Bi3.64Mo0.36O6.55/Bi2MoO6 composite exhibited notable enhanced photocatalytic activity compared to Bi2MoO6 or Bi3.64Mo0.36O6.55 in the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B and phenol under visible-light irradiation. More interestingly, it is found that the heterostructured composite could mineralize organic substances into CO2 efficiently. This study offered a clue for the design of an efficient photocatalyst in the application of environmental treatment

Synergistic Effect of Betaines and Dialkyl Chain Anionic Surfactants on Interfacial Arrangement: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

Mixed systems of betaines and anionic surfactants can have a significant synergistic effect and greatly reduce the interfacial tension (IFT), which has attracted an extensive amount of attention. However, this synergistic effect requires an anionic surfactant and betaine molecular size matching, which limits the scope of its application. In this work, we studied three mixed systems of sodium dialkyl sulfosuccinate (AOT) and betaines with different sizes by molecular dynamics simulation and an IFT experiment and explored the interfacial behavior and synergistic mechanism of AOT in single and mixed systems. The hydrophobic tail chain center angle, average rising height of carbon atoms, stretch degree and distance between the terminal carbon atoms of AOT, and tilt angles of betaine were calculated and analyzed in detail. Simulation results showed that the hydrophobic tail chain center angle of AOT in the single system was smaller, and it tended to extend into the oil phase. After being mixed with different betaines, AOT can adjust its size according to the interfacial vacancies of different betaine systems by changing the alkyl chain orientation and forming tighter interfacial films. The IFT experiment showed that betaine/AOT mixed systems achieved a lower IFT value compared with that of the single system, indicating that AOT showed a synergistic effect with betaines with different structures. This study will be importantly instructively significant for the design and research of betaine mixed systems in crude oil exploitation

Crystallography Facet-Dependent Antibacterial Activity: The Case of Cu₂O

The dependence of antibacterial activities on different crystallography facets has been demonstrated by taking Cu2O crystals as an example. Owing to the different atomic arrangement of the exposed surfaces, Cu2O octahedral crystals bounded by {111} facets exhibited higher activity in killing E. coli than cubic ones bounded by {100} facets. Zeta potential measurement demonstrated that the electrostatic interaction between E. coli and octahedral crystals was more profitable in inactivating bacteria than that between E. coli and cubic ones. Moreover, the suspending medium, where the bactericidal process takes place, has been found to play a crucial role on the bactericidal efficiency. This work presents a way for the sterilization or killing of bacteria efficiently and selectively

Room Temperature Phosphorescence with Time-Resolved Color Changes by Tuning the Conformation of Polyheterocyclic Phenothiazine Derivatives through the Electronic Effect

The research on organic luminescent materials has attracted much attention for their wide applications. Generally, the molecular conformation is of great importance but is often overlooked, regardless of its importance for molecular packing in aggregated states and the corresponding performance. In this work, the relationship between the electronic effect of substituents and the thermodynamically stable conformation in phenothiazine derivatives is explored for the first time. When the substituent is phenyl or a 3-position pyridyl group, the quasi-equatorial (QE) conformer is the main thermo-stable conformation. At this time, the lone pair electrons of the 10-position nitrogen are stabilized by the polyheterocyclic phenothiazine core, resulting in the formation of a large p-π-conjugated electron system. When the substituents are a 2-pyridine or 4-pyridine group, the corresponding lone pair electrons are more easily stabilized by the electron-deficient pyridine system, and another thermo-stable p-π conjugated conformation, namely the quasi-axial (QA) conformer, is formed. In addition, the effects of the two conformations on the corresponding photophysical properties are investigated in detail. It was found that the emissive properties in both singlet and triplet states are largely affected by the molecular conformation. Excitedly, based on the adjustable conformation, one molecule containing two conformations is combined with 3D printing and successfully applied to advanced anticounterfeiting with time-resolved phosphorescence color changes

Two-Dimensional 3d–4f Networks Containing Planar Co₄Ln₂ Clusters with Single-Molecule-Magnet Behaviors

Two novel two-dimensional 3d–4f networks based on planar Co₄Ln₂ clusters supported by rigid 4′-(4-carboxyphenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine afford the first examples of high-dimensional networks with 3d–4f clusters behaving as single-molecule magnets

Two-Dimensional 3d–4f Networks Containing Planar Co₄Ln₂ Clusters with Single-Molecule-Magnet Behaviors

Two novel two-dimensional 3d–4f networks based on planar Co₄Ln₂ clusters supported by rigid 4′-(4-carboxyphenyl)-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine afford the first examples of high-dimensional networks with 3d–4f clusters behaving as single-molecule magnets

Room Temperature Phosphorescence with Time-Resolved Color Changes by Tuning the Conformation of Polyheterocyclic Phenothiazine Derivatives through the Electronic Effect

The research on organic luminescent materials has attracted much attention for their wide applications. Generally, the molecular conformation is of great importance but is often overlooked, regardless of its importance for molecular packing in aggregated states and the corresponding performance. In this work, the relationship between the electronic effect of substituents and the thermodynamically stable conformation in phenothiazine derivatives is explored for the first time. When the substituent is phenyl or a 3-position pyridyl group, the quasi-equatorial (QE) conformer is the main thermo-stable conformation. At this time, the lone pair electrons of the 10-position nitrogen are stabilized by the polyheterocyclic phenothiazine core, resulting in the formation of a large p-π-conjugated electron system. When the substituents are a 2-pyridine or 4-pyridine group, the corresponding lone pair electrons are more easily stabilized by the electron-deficient pyridine system, and another thermo-stable p-π conjugated conformation, namely the quasi-axial (QA) conformer, is formed. In addition, the effects of the two conformations on the corresponding photophysical properties are investigated in detail. It was found that the emissive properties in both singlet and triplet states are largely affected by the molecular conformation. Excitedly, based on the adjustable conformation, one molecule containing two conformations is combined with 3D printing and successfully applied to advanced anticounterfeiting with time-resolved phosphorescence color changes